Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy), 1831-1904

Isabella Lucy Bird was born on 15 October 1831 in Boroughbridge Hall, Yorkshire, England. The Bird family had established the silk trade at Coventry in the late 1600s, and were themselves silk masters. Isabella's first publication at the age of 16 was a pamphlet addressing free trade versus protectionism, after which she continued writing articles for various periodicals.

In 1854, Bird's life of travelling began, She traveled to the United States, Australia, and Hawaii. In 1873 she covered over 800 miles in the Rocky Mountains. In 1878 she traveled with her soon to be spouse, John Bishop, to Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaya. When her sister Henrietta Amelia Bird died of typhoid in 1880, Bird accepted John Bishop's marriage proposal.

After the death of her husband she studied medicine and resolved to travel as a missionary arriving in the Indian subcontinent in 1889 traveling to India, Persia, Kurdistan, and Turkey.

Featured in journals and magazines for decades, Bird had become a household name. In 1890, she became the first woman to be awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Two years later, she became the first woman allowed to join the Royal Geographical Society. She was elected to membership of the Royal Photographic Society on 12 January 1897. Her final great journey took place in 1897, when she travelled up the Yangtze and Han rivers in China and Korea, respectively. Later still, she went to Morocco. A few months after returning from a trip to Morocco, Bird fell ill and died at her home in Edinburgh, Scotland on 7 October 1904.