Silk Sails

As Silk Sails entertainingly demonstrates, existing records show that women of the Atlantic region were owners of boats, ships and waterfront properties from as early as 1650. Women's involvement in early fishing adventures as sole owners and “co-partners in trade” was real and substantial. This sample of approximately 500 Newfoundland women depicts a hardy, durable and tenacious woman who was more than equal to the challenges and opportunities of her time. The study is complemented by interviews with some of the women who had owned working ships from the 1930s to the 1960s. A companion volume on more than 1,000 women ship owners of the Maritime provinces, Ontario and Quebec is in progress.