Rose Fortune ( born Rose Fortune ; March 13, 1774 - February 20, 1864) is an African - American woman who arrived in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, among the black loyalists, where she became a successful entrepreneur. Considered Canada's first female police officer.
Biography
Rose Fortune was born into slavery in the British colony of Virginia. Her family escaped slavery during the American Revolution and settled in Annapolis Royal , Nova Scotia , being black loyalist immigrants (wishing to continue living under the British crown) when Rose was 10 years old [1] . In 1825, she started her own business, delivering luggage between ferry docks and a number of houses and hotels. Subsequently, she was entrusted with the preservation of property and maintaining order at the berths and warehouses in Annapolis Royal as a police embankment of the city.
Rose Fortune died in 1864 in a small house she owned, in the engineering quarter near Fort Ann. The business she founded was continued by her son-in-law Albert Lewis, who created the company Lewis Transfer Company , which continued its activities for several generations and remained in business until 1980 [2] . She was buried in Annapolis Royal at the Harrison Cemetery. [3] Her grave is not inscribed, but a plaque on the seafront of Petite Park in Annapolis Royal serves as a reminder of her life and contribution to the history of Nova Scotia [4] .
Notes
- ↑ Nova Scotia Archives: African Nova Scotians: Rose Fortune
- ↑ Ian Lawrence, Historic Annapolis Royal , Halifax: Nimbus Publishing (2002), p. 26, 154
- ↑ Rose Fortune . FindAGrave.com . Date of treatment November 10, 2009. Archived October 7, 2012.
- ↑ Rose Fortune Panel, Mathieu da Costa African Heritage Trail