When Royal Roads University professor Theresa Mackay was gathering research for her prize-winning historical essay, she had no idea it would eventually lead to a link to her family.
Mackay, an assistant professor and program head at RRU’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, was recently named as the winner of the 2016 Women’s History Scotland Essay Prize.
She spent 18 months researching her paper, titled Women at Work: Innkeeping in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, 1790-1840. The essay identified 60 female innkeepers who helped establish the impact women had in the development of tourism and hospitality infrastructure in the country.
“There was very little (research) out there, and all of it was from an urban perspective,” Mackay said, regarding her difficulty finding source material. “The essay looks specifically at women innkeepers in rural areas, which was significant because no one had found that before.”
Mackay, who holds a master of letters with distinction in history from the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland, said, “These women worked to establish hospitality and tourism before the tourism explosion in the 1840s.
“They provided a place to stay, food, the rental of horses and boats and sold souvenirs, all the things you see today. We would call the people they served tourists, but they were more travellers then.”
She was “absolutely shocked” to win the prize for her essay, which she submitted after encouragement from faculty members at her university of study.
“Working on the essay forces you to be really clear in what you’re writing,” said Mackay, an RRU faculty associate for four years before signing on full-time in August. “To have the adjudicators acknowledge the topic and the significant contribution (these women made), I’m still pinching myself.”
She was in awe as well during a visit to Scotland in September when her cousin asked about the topic of Mackay’s essay. “I found out that I have a family member born in 1890, Flora Mackay, who was an innkeeper in Scotland,” explained the Saanich resident. “From a personal standpoint, that was so exciting.”
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