A Mission Statement

Sometimes we stumble on a path that leads us to retrace steps we took many years before to discover or rediscover some little known event from the dim and distant past.

I believe all things happen for a reason.

I should have known about the legendary Betsy Miller, should have been able to read of her achievements in the history books of my childhood…. But I didn’t, for there was no mention of this admirable woman born long before her time.

I would have loved to have read of her. Her name I would have carried through my childhood years and into adulthood.  What an inspiration she would have been for me as a child, this genteel woman who flew in the face of convention and found success in a male orientated world almost two hundred years ago.

The story of Betsy Miller still remains a mystery to many, the mention of her name still met with a bemused glance then …a spark of interest as flakes of her life are related to them. 

Through the wonderful music of Ed Walker, written in Betsy’s honour, I stumbled onto a path. One that took me back to my childhood years and time spent in Saltcoats, Betsys’ hometown.  This little coastal town is where Ed now lives and where the search for information about Betsy Miller began. 

Betsy was famed in her time, her name well known, not only in her homeland but also in Ireland and reaching far across the Atlantic Ocean to America. The search for information on Betsy continues and hopefully more will be discovered in time.

This is our quest, our mission if you like … to spread the word about Betsy Miller so that she may have the recognition she so richly deserves.

How wonderful to see a statue of Captain Betsy Miller commissioned and taking pride of place somewhere in Saltcoats, her hometown, so that future generations would delight in her story and relate it to their children.

A dream perhaps, but surely, a fitting tribute to this great lady of the sea and not beyond the realms of possibility.   

Linda Harnett ©2008

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, ED WALKER & LINDA HARNETT ©2008