Editing Isabella Bird (section)

==Early life==
Bird was born on 15 October 1831 in [[Boroughbridge]] Hall, Yorkshire, the home of her maternal grandmother and her father's first curacy after taking orders in 1821. Her parents were Rev Edward Bird (1793-1858; younger brother of the civil servant [[Robert Merttins Bird]]) and his second wife, Dora Lawson (1803–1866).<ref name="ODNB"/> Her paternal grandparents were cousins: [[Bird, Savage & Bird#Robert Bird|Robert Bird]], of [[Taplow]], [[Buckinghamshire]], married Lucy Wilberforce Bird, daughter of silk merchant John Bird, of Coventry; Lucy's brother, the politician [[William Wilberforce Bird (merchant)|William Wilberforce Bird]], married Robert Bird's sister, Elizabeth. Lucy's mother was the aunt of the philanthropist and slavery abolitionist [[William Wilberforce]]. The Bird family had established the silk trade at Coventry in the late 1600s, and were themselves silk masters.<ref>The History of Parliament- The House of Commons, 1790-1820, I- Introductory Survey, R. G. Thorne, History of Parliament Trust, Secker & Warburg, 1986, p. 208</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/bird-william-wilberforce-1758-1836 | title=BIRD, William Wilberforce (1758-1836), of Little Park Street, Coventry and the Spring, Kenilworth, Warws. &#124; History of Parliament Online }}</ref><ref>A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, John Burke, vol. IV, 1838, p. 722</ref>

Bird lived in several places during her childhood. In 1832, Reverend Bird was appointed curate in [[Maidenhead]]. Because of her father's ill health, Bird's family moved again in 1834 to [[Tattenhall]]<ref>{{Cite DNB12 |wstitle= Bishop, Isabella Lucy |volume= 1 |pages= 166-168 |last= Lucas |first= Charles Prestwood |author-link= Charles Prestwood Lucas |year=1912|short= 1}}</ref> in [[Cheshire]], a living presented to him by his cousin Dr [[John Bird Sumner]], Bishop of Chester, where in the same year Bird's sister, Henrietta, was born.
 
Bird was outspoken from an early age. When six years old, she confronted the local [[Member of parliament|MP]] for [[South Cheshire (UK Parliament constituency)|South Cheshire]], [[Sir Philip Grey Egerton, 10th Baronet|Sir Malpas de Grey Tatton Egerton]], while he was campaigning, asking him "did you tell my father my sister was so pretty because you wanted his vote?"<ref name="Stoddart"/>

Edward Bird's controversial views against Sunday labour caused his congregation to dwindle, and in 1842 he requested a transfer to [[St Thomas' Church, Birmingham|St. Thomas's in Birmingham]]. Here again, objections were raised, which culminated in the minister being pelted "with stones, mud, and insults".

In 1848, the family moved again and, after spending some time in [[Eastbourne]], took up residence in [[Wyton, Cambridgeshire|Wyton]] in Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire.)<ref name="Stoddart">Stoddart, Anna M, (1906) ''The Life of Isabella Bird, Mrs Bishop'' : London, J. Murray OCLC 4138739</ref>

From early childhood, Bird was frail, suffering from a spinal complaint, nervous headaches, and insomnia. The doctor recommended an open-air life,<ref name="ODNB"/> and consequently, Bird learned to ride in infancy, and later to row. Her only education came from her parents: her father was a keen botanist who instructed Bird in flora, and her mother taught her daughters an eclectic mix of subjects. Bird became an avid reader.<ref name="Stoddart"/> However, her "bright intelligence, [and] an extreme curiosity as to the world outside, made it impossible for her brain and her nature generally to be narrowed and stiffened by the strictly evangelical atmosphere of her childhood".<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Life of Isabella Bird|journal=The Spectator|date=26 January 1907|pages=6|location=London}}</ref>

Isabella's first publication at the age of 16 was a pamphlet addressing [[free trade]] versus [[protectionism]], after which she continued writing articles for various periodicals.<ref name="Times Obit"/>

In 1850, a "fibrous tumour was removed from the neighbourhood of the spine". Bird continued to suffer from unspecified ailments resulting in [[lassitude]] and insomnia. The family spent six summers in Scotland in an effort to improve her health.

Doctors urged a sea voyage and in 1854, Bird's life of travelling began when the opportunity arose for her to sail to the United States, accompanying her second cousins to their family home. Her father "gave her [£]100 and leave to stay away as long as it lasted".<ref name="Stoddart"/> Bird's "bright descriptive letters"<ref name="Times Obit"/> written home to her relations formed the basis for her first book, ''An Englishwoman in America'' (1856),<ref>{{cite book|title=The Englishwoman in America|url=https://archive.org/details/englishwomanina00birdgoog|year=1856|publisher=John Murray OCLC 169934144|author=Bird, Isabella L. }}</ref> published by [[John Murray (publishing house)|Murray]]. [[John Murray III|John Murray]], "as well as being Isabella's lifelong publisher, ... [became] one of her closest friends".<ref>{{cite web |title=Travels with Isabella Bird (transcript) |url=http://www.nls.uk/about-us/films-made-by-nls/isabella-bird-transcript |publisher=National Library of Scotland |access-date=17 March 2014 |author=David McClay |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317211905/http://www.nls.uk/about-us/films-made-by-nls/isabella-bird-transcript |archive-date=17 March 2014 }}</ref>