Ethel Alec-Tweedie

Alec-Tweedie [née Harley], Ethel Brilliana [known as Mrs Alec-Tweedie] (1862–1940), travel writer

Ethel Alec-Tweedie (1860-1940) set off on her travels following the deaths of her father, her husband and both of her sons. Like many women travellers she challenged conventions and in her first book – A girl’s ride in Iceland (1889) – she sparked a "war, on what proved to be a very vexed subject," by championing the right of women to sit astride a horse rather than riding side-saddle. Her perceptions of local cultures and descriptions of the places she visited can be read afresh in A winter jaunt to Norway (1894); Through Finland in carts (1897); Mexico as I saw it (1901); and America as I saw it (1913). She also wrote Women the world over (1914), and her autobiography -Thirteen years of a busy woman’s life (1912).