sails, before he collapsed with fever and was taken below. He told Bessie she would have to take command with the carpenter as first mate. A delegate from the crew approached Bessie and said, "We know about the smallpox. Can you take this ship to England?". "I can," was Bessie's reply. She held a meeting in the saloon where the crew expressed their support for the 20-year-old woman and discussed alternatives. Bessie considered the options of turning back or changing course for Saint John, New Brunswick but decided to press on for Liverpool. In the days that followed, the squalls grew to a series of gales. Bessie navigated by dead reckoning and stood night watches from 8 pm to 2 am. On April 18, the skies briefly cleared and Bessie took sun sights with the sextant finding their position to be near the tip of the Grand Banks. Adjusting course for Liverpool, Bessie had to contend with light and contrary winds with a crew too small to add much canvas. However she safely brought the ship to the Irish Sea where they picked up a pilot who took the ship into Liverpool where they arrived on May 12 just as Capt. Hall and the mate began to recover. As Bessie stepped ashore in her "rough sailor's garb", she was cheered by the crew. The ship Rothesay had been given up for lost and grateful insurers planned a large public banquet in Bessie's honour. However, this plan was scuttled as the ship's owners, making up for delays, had rushed the ship without clearing quarantine regulations and did not want to publicize the smallpox aboard. As result, Bessie's accomplishment and skills remained only the talk of working mariners. Later life Bessie continued to sail with her father for another year, making her final voyage to the Falkland Islands when she was 21. Despite her interest in seafaring and navigation, no women were allowed to apply for mates or captains papers in the 19th century. (It was not until 1938 that Molly Kool, from Alma, New Brunswick, broke through to become the first female captain in North America.) Bessie left the sea and married James Reed Hall, a second cousin on March 14, 1877. They settled in Granville Beach where she raised four children. From time to time, grizzled sailors from steamships calling at nearby Annapolis Royal would make their way to Granville