Mary Seacole

About me:

18th June 2009 Martin Jennings chosen as artist to design Mary Seacole Memorial

22nd June 2009 Unveiling of newly discovered photograph of Mary Seacole

Just click here find out more via the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal.

27th April to 8th May 2009 Exhibit of proposed Mary Seacole Memorial designs by 8 short-listed artists: Come and view the designs in a window display at Coutts Bank, 440 The Strand, London WC2 0QS. The chosen artist will be announced on 13th May 2009 by Baroness Valerie Amos, Chair of the Mary Seacole Memorial Artist Selection Panel.

Click here for the images of the 8 designs.

Now about me! I was born in Jamaica in 1805, although nobody has discovered my exact date of birth and I am certainly not letting on! My darling mother was a Jamaican Creole doctress and my wonderful father a Scottish army officer. I decided to follow in the footsteps of my mother and soon became as well known as her for my nursing care, running a boarding house as well as my superb cooking. Our beloved British soldiers and sailors found at our hotel a convalescent haven to recover from cholera and yellow fever.

In 1836 I married Edward Horatio Hamilton Seacole, a godson of the famous naval hero Admiral Nelson. It was a wonderful partnership but the poor man was always frail and our business ventures came to a halt with his untimely death in 1844. Soon after I lost my dear mother. Around 1851 I decided to travel to visit my brother Edward in the rough and ready gold-prospecting town of Cruces in Panama, central America. Here I ended up not only running my British Hotel but single-handedly managing a cholera epidemic. I soon became known as 'The yellow woman from Jamaica with the cholera medicine.'

1853 saw me back in Jamaica where I cared for patients struck down by the dreadful yellow fever epidemic. I was also a business woman and had in 1854 decided to visit London to chase up some outstinding issues to do with my goldmining shares. It therefore won't surprise you that when I heard about the need for nurses in the Crimean War I immediately decided to travel to London to offer my services. By the time I arrived in late 1854, Florence Nightingale had already left with nearly 40 nurses. I applied to go with the next group, but believe it or not and despite my wonderful references from senior medical officers who knew of my nursing care of infectious diseases, I was rejected FIVE times...

This is when I became depressed but something deep within me vowed not to give up. This determination is shown in the image of me, top left. Many thanks to the sculptor Fowokan [George Kelly] for the use of this photo.

I raised sufficient funds to pay my own passage to the war zone where I set up the British Hotel. Here I became well known by the British public for my nursing care and provision of nourishing food. This is what Sir William Howard Russell, the famous war correspondent of the The Times newspaper wrote: "I have seen [Mrs Seacole] go down, under fire with her little store of creature comforts for our wounded men; and a more tender or skilful hand about a wound or a broken limb could not be found amongst our best surgeons. I saw her at the assualts on the Redan, at the Battle of Tchernaya, at the fall of Sebastopol, laden with wine, bandages and food for the wounded or the prisoners. Her hands, too, performed the last offices for some of the noblest of our slain." .. As a result, I became as famous amongst the British public as Florence Nightingale.

I became bankrupt with the sudden end of the war and this shocked the many soldiers and generals who I had cared for in the Crimea. They [and members of the royal family, including Queen Victoria] contributed to funds to ensure that I lived my final days in comfort. In addition over 80,000 people attended a four day military gala held in my honour at the Royal Surrey Gardens on the banks of the River Thames. I decided to write my autobiography,'Wonderful adventures of Mrs Seacole in many lands' which, when published in 1857, went into a second print! Whilst I made my home in London, I travelled back and forth to Jamaica and also became a masseuse to the Princess of Wales.

Mary Seacole died in London on the 14th May 1881 and is buried in St Mary's Catholic cemetery in Kensal Green, north-west London. There were obituaries in The Times and the Jamaican Gleaner. The latter noted that 'Mrs Seacole received English,French, Russian and Turkish decorations'.

Now if you are keen to learn even more about Mary Seacole click here as this is the most popular site about Mary Seacole [www.maryseacole.com] - you will find links to books that you can buy online, including Mary's 1857 autobiography 'Wonderful adventures of Mrs Seacole in many lands'; the brilliant biography by Jane Robinson [2005] and loads of books for children.

Now Click here to see the dub barrister David Neita recite his ode to Mary Seacole

"I trust that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succour them, and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead." Sir William Howard Russell, 1857.
Today, those who admire the achievements of Mary Seacole just cannot believe that there is no memorial to her unlike the many for Florence Nightingale. Is it because she was Black? Click here if you would like to make an online donation to the registered charity, the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal - Thanks!!