The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands (Penguin Classics)

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Cholera was to return again: Ulysses S. Grant passed through Cruces in July 1852, on military duty; a hundred and twenty men, a third of his party, died of the disease there or shortly afterwards en route to Panama City. [41] Elizabeth Anwionwu, "Scotching Three Myths About Mary Seacole", British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, Vol. 7, Issue 10 (October 2013), pp. 508–511. Via Mixed Race Studies Her legacy is continued by the Mary Seacole Trust (MST) which, as well as maintaining the statue, aims to educate and inform the public about her life, work and achievements, ensuring that she is never again lost to history. Role model

It was very natural that I should inherit her tastes; and so, I had from early youth a yearning for medical knowledge and practice which never deserted me…. And I was very young when I began to make use of the little knowledge I had acquired from watching my mother, upon great sufferer – my doll… and whatever disease was most prevalent in Kingston, be sure my poor doll soon contracted it.” Travel begins Was she a celebrity of sorts, then? I’m very conscious of the fact that when I was at school in the 1970s and 80s, I never heard about Mary Seacole. We did hear about Florence Nightingale. But my children, growing up over the past 20 years, heard a lot about Mary Seacole, and less about Florence Nightingale. Did every Victorian know who she was? Elizabeth N. Anionwu: A Short History of Mary Seacole. A resource for nurses and students, Royal College of Nursing, 2005 ( ISBN 1-904114-16-4). Mary’s mother ran a lodging house, called Blundell Hall, which was much respected by local people in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital city. But she was also a healer and taught Mary many of her skills using traditional Jamaican medicines. Salih, Sara (2005). Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands. Penguin Books. p. 256. ISBN 0-19-506672-3.In 1853, Mary returned to Kingston, caring for victims of a yellow fever epidemic. She was invited by the medical authorities to supervise nursing services at Up-Park in Kingston, the British Army’s headquarters, and she re-organised New Blundell Hall, her mother’s former lodging house rebuilt after a fire, to function as a hospital. Mary had no children of her own, but the strong maternal attachments she formed with these soldiers, and her feelings for them, would later drive Mary to the Crimea. Crimea In 1857, Seacole published her autobiography The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands in which she documented her life, travels and work. She also expressed hope that she wouldn’t be forgotten by those she had helped. Mary Seacole statue unveiled". Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. 30 June 2016 . Retrieved 16 July 2016.

After the Crimean War ended in, Mary returned to London with very little money and in poor health. But her hard work didn’t go unrecognised – many of the soldiers wrote to the newspapers about all she had done for them, and 80,000 people attended a charity gala in 1857 to raise money for her.

To be clear, this wasn’t the kind of ‘hotel’ you’d expect to stay in on your holidays, gang – it was basically a hut made of metal sheets, where soldiers could rest and buy hot food, drinks and equipment. Mary Seacole is now known for her medical work in the Crimean war, and as a brilliant woman who combated the racial prejudice she experienced in her lifetime. But for a long time her story was lost. Holiday in the Camp – A New Enemy, Time – Amusements in the Crimea – My share in them – Dinner at Spring Hill – At the Races – Christmas Day in the British Hotel – New Year's Day in the Hospital But in 1850, she nursed victims of the Kingston cholera epidemic. travelling to Panama in 1851 only to find that her skills were needed once again because the town of Cruces was suffering its own outbreak of the disease. Then nurses from the Caribbean who had moved to the UK started visiting Mary's grave in London. People rediscovered Mary's story. After much campaigning in 2016 a statue of Mary was unveiled at a hospital in London.

It is not my intention to dwell at any length upon the recollections of my childhood. My mother kept a boardinghouse in Kingston, and was, like very many of the Creole women, an admirable doctress; in high repute with the officers of both services, and their wives, who were from time to time stationed at Kingston. It was very natural that I should inherit her tastes; and so I had from early youth a yearning for medical knowledge and practice which has never deserted me. When I was a very young child I was taken by an old lady, who brought me up in her household among her own grandchildren, and who could scarcely have shown me more kindness had I been one of them; indeed, I was so spoiled by my kind patroness that, but for being frequently with my mother, I might very likely have grown up idle and useless. But I saw so much of her, and of her patients, that the ambition to become a doctress early took firm root in my mind; and I was very young when I began to make use of the little knowledge I had acquired from watching my mother, upon a great sufferer – my doll. I have noticed always what actors children are. If you leave one alone in a room, how soon it clears a little stage; and, making an audience out of a few chairs and stools, proceeds to set its childish griefs and blandishments upon its doll. So I also made good use of my dumb companion and confidante; and whatever disease was most prevalent in Kingston, be sure my poor doll soon contracted it. I have had many medical triumphs in later days, and saved some valuable lives; but I really think that few have given me more real gratification than the rewarding glow of health which my fancy used to picture stealing over my patient's waxen face after long and precarious illness.Mary Seacole Leadership and Development Awards". Royal College of Nursing. 2007. Archived from the original on 2 May 2008 . Retrieved 3 May 2008. The above picture depicts Mary seated in front of a wide valley, beside a tent, next to a camp stool and table full of medicine bottles. Mary is wearing a military looking outfit (thought to have been self-designed). This is the last picture of Mary, taken around 1873. The reason for its commission is unknown. Mrs Seacole missed the first three major battles of the war, as she was busy in London attending to her gold investments—she had arrived from Panama where she had provided services for prospectors going overland to the California Gold Rush. She gave assistance at the battlefield on three later battles, going out to attend to the fallen after serving wine and sandwiches to spectators.