Survivor and heroine of accident at sea

Records tagged with Keywords: Survivor and heroine of accident at sea

Betty Mouat

Other names: 
Elizabeth Mouat
Dates: 
Born 1825, died 6 February 1918

Born in Levenwick, Shetland, Betty Mouat was the daughter of Margaret Harper, and Thomas Mouat, shoemaker and fisherman. She became famous for her lone drift to Norway on a sailing boat, Columbine, in January 1886. The event happened when Betty set off on a boat to Lerwick to sell knitted shawls. A heavy swell swept the skipper and his crew overboard, leaving Betty to drift alone. With only a bottle of milk and two biscuits for sustenance, she survived for eight days and nine nights before the boat ran aground off the Norwegian coast and was hauled ashore by local fishermen.

Sources
The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women
Entry by Lynn Abrams
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