Rose Fortune
Source: Web (cbc.ca)
Public service • Historical Archive • 🇺🇸 United States • 4 views

Rose Fortune 🇺🇸

Rose Fortune (Known as "Rose Fortune")
Black Loyalist Entrepreneur, Cartage Pioneer, Canada's First Female Police Officer
Born c. 1774 🇺🇸 Virginia, United States
Passed Away Feb 20, 1864 Annapolis Royal (Nova Scotia), Canada
Lifespan 89 years old
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Notice / Correction
"Honesty, hard work, and a steady hand can carve out respect where the world offers none."

Archival Overview

African Nova Scotian entrepreneur and trailblazer who established Annapolis Royal's leading baggage transport service and maintained civic order along the waterfront, widely recognized as Canada's first female police officer.

Biographical Record

Born into enslavement in Virginia, Fortune escaped with her Loyalist family during the American Revolutionary War and arrived in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, in 1783 with the Black Loyalist fleet. As a young woman, she showed remarkable enterprise by using a wheelbarrow to haul baggage and goods from arriving sailing packets to town hotels.

Known for her imposing presence, integrity, and strict sense of order, Fortune took upon herself the duty of policing the bustling wharf, enforcing curfews and safeguarding passengers' luggage. Her great-granddaughter, Daurene Lewis, made history in 1984 by becoming Canada's first Black female mayor in the same town.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Garrison Cemetery (Fort Anne)
Annapolis Royal (Nova Scotia), Canada
GPS: 44.7431, -65.5186
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