Earlier C19th UK canoes.

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Rob Roy Macgregor's first book was published in 1866, so I looked in old Punch magazines from then to 1894.

I don't quite understand the first cartoon (1867), what or who was Di Vernon? Striped dress material was very much in fashion.

The second (1870) seems definitely a Canadian but with considerable tumblehome. The third is political. The fourth (1885) is like Boulter's Lock but it's definitely a Canadian. The seventh is the heading for volume 94, Mr Punch with Father Thames. The tenth (1891) is some scandal in Canadian politics.

Charlie.

 

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Well, coincidentally, after posting those images I had another look at John Macgregor and saw that he had written a book I hadn't looked for. I found it on line, 'The voyage alone in the yawl 'Rob Roy'

' and, when it arrived I flicked through and in chapter 20 was Di Vernon.

Macgregor had returned to Dover harbour and found some canoeists, one of whom and on her first trip, was a woman, Di Vernon.

 

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I'm not sure this is quite the place but... I was reading a book about Chaucer and came across a reference to 'Die Vernon' and a bit of googling brought up Walter Scott's book 'Rob Roy', one of the Waverley novels, published 1817 and very successful.

The book deals with the attempted restoration of the Stuart monarchy to Scotland (and Scottish independence). Rob Roy was a Scottish outlaw and John Macgregor obviously identified with him. Diana Vernon was a major character in the book, noted for her 'manners, maturity and firmness of character, boldness and wit', which sounds just the sort of woman, unusual for that time, of whom Macgregor approved and of whom an educated English audience would have been aware.