Happy #LunarNewYear ! Although celebrations may look different this year (thanks Covid), we’re taking the opportunity to share the story of Louisa Maria Hooper. PEI’s FIRST and ONLY female immigrant of Chinese origin in the 19th century!

#PEI #PEIMuseums #AThread

Louisa Maria Esperanza was born in China in 1823 and was likely from the Portuguese colony of Macao on China’s south coast. While in Bermuda in 1847 she married an Englishman by the name of William J. P. Hooper. Together the couple immigrated to PEI on July 30, 1850.

Louisa raised 9(!) children on PEI all while helping her husband as an innkeeper on their farm in Marie Bridge, PEI (pictured here). While her life and experiences as a woman and immigrant are very under-documented, she no doubt faced elements of discrimination as an “outsider”.

With the support of her family, as well as her husband’s high social status, Louisa may have been accepted by the local Island community. She died suddenly in 1888 and was buried in the St. Lawrence Cemetery in Green Meadows.