Mary Seacole (1805-1881)
Mary Seacole
‘I have seen her go down, under fire, with her little store of creature comforts for our wounded men; and a more skilful hand about a wound or broken limb could not be found among our best surgeons.’ - William Howard Russell, The Times
Despite considerable experience nursing British soldiers in the West Indies, when Mary Seacole travelled all the way from Jamaica to volunteer her services in the Crimea, she was turned down. The temptation to give up must have been strong. In fact Mary paid her own passage to the Crimea and set up for herself. Her British Hotel was a store, dispensary and hospital all in one. She also frequently rode out to dispense medicine and food to those in need, sometimes under fire.
Balaklava Harbour, location of the British Hotel, 1855. NAM 1964-08-327
Soldiers who could afford to pay her did so. Those who couldn’t she paid for. The abrupt ending of the war in April 1856 left ‘Mother’ Seacole bankrupt and she returned to London penniless.
Thousands of her soldier ‘sons’ rallied around her and raised a fund for her relief. In 2004 Mary Seacole was voted history’s most famous black Briton, an inspirational heroine for people of all backgrounds.
