Margaret Penny née Irvine (12 December 1812 - 11 June 1891) was an explorer and pioneer who was the first Scottish woman[1] to go on an expedition to Baffin Island[2] in Nunavut, Canada.

There had been for some time a significant British whaling industry, but very few women ever experienced it directly, and those who did mostly sailed to the South Seas.

I was on shore in several of their edloos [igloos] ... can now crawl out & in as well as any Esquimaux & eat mactac [muktuk, the skin and blubber of a whale, rich in vitamin C] with pleasure.

"[3]At the end of the voyage Penny's contribution to the expedition was recognised by the Aberdeen Arctic Company's shareholders, on her return from the Cumberland Inlet in the Lady Franklin.

[3] The tea service is now held by the City of Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum.