Mary Seacole - 1805-1881
Jamaican-British Nurse
Added to the album by a wonderful man called Owain
The truly amazing Mary Seacole... who deserved as much recognition as (Florence) Nightingale [Wonderful Woman No. 46 - http://iamawonderfulwoman.blogspot.com/2012/02/florence-nightingale-wonderful-woman-no.html], if not a whole lot more, but because she was Black, she was mostly wiped from cultural memory and the history books.
Owain
What has been most wonderful about creating this album is suggestions of women I knew nothing of before it's existence. Mary Seacole is one of those women and one I feel really pleased to have been able to learn about since Owain introduced her.
Mary was trained in basic nursing, herbal remedies and tropical medicines by her mother in her native Jamaica, where she presided over a guest house for disabled and infirm service men.
Like Florence Nightingale, on reading about the poor medical provisions for those wounded in the Crimean War, Mary felt that her skills and experience would be of benefit to the British forces. Mary travelled to London and applied to be part of the group of nurses who travelled with Florence to the war zone. Mary's application was unsuccessful, most likely because of racial prejudice, which was common place at the time.
Unperturbed, Mary travelled to the Crimea on her own funds. Once there, she approached Florence to offer her help for a second time but once again was refused. Determined that she could make a difference to the ailing soldiers, Mary stayed in the area, nursed the wounded independently and is believed to have gone into the battlefield itself in order to save the men she referred to as 'my sons'. She built a make-shift hotel on one of the main passageways for British troops. Within the hotel, Mary set up shop selling anything the average soldier might want to purchase and offered credit due to the circumstances of the patrons. Mary's
establishment also offered hot, home-cooked meals and she treated any medical complaints of her guests. The war ended abruptly and left Mary in financial ruin, with no fare to leave the area. She had many supporters in Britain, who organised fund raising events to come to her aid. These supporters included soldiers she had come into contact with, members of the Royal Family and, surprisingly given previous rejection and documented criticism of Mary's practises, Florence Nightingale anonymously donated a substantial some of money to assist in Mary's return from the Crimea.
I have witnessed her devotion and her courage ... and I trust that England will never forget one who has 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.
William Howard Russell, War Correspondent with The Times newspaper
In Salman Rushdie's seminal novel The Satanic Verses, Mary is mentioned as being part of the hidden figures in the history of black people. It is now widely acknowledged that, but for the colour of her skin, Mary would have been as well-known as Florence Nightingale. In recent times, her services to the British troops have been recognised, a number of institutes, schools and other organisations use her name in honourable memory.
A great addition to the album - Mary Seacole, a very wonderful woman.
The grateful words and smile which rewarded me for binding up a wound or giving a cooling drink was a pleasure worth risking life for at any time.
Mary Seacole
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