Who was Mary Seacole and what did she do?
A nurse, businesswoman, and war hero, Mary Seacole was born in 1805 in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Scottish father and Jamaican mother. Her exact birthdate is unknown, but her life would be celebrated around the world thanks to her efforts to treat wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War.
How did Seacole’s culture influence her nursing?
The cultural heritage of her parents also influenced Seacole’s nursing; it prompted her to merge the African folk medicine expertise she learned from her mother with the Western medicine of her father’s native Europe. Extensive traveling helped Seacole to acquire this knowledge. When she was just a teenager, she boarded a merchant ship to London.
Did Mary Seacole work with Florence Nightingale?
Did Mary Seacole work with Florence Nightingale? Seacole and Nightingale were both tending to soldiers in the Crimea, but they didn’t work together. Nightingale’s hospital was based in Scutari, while Seacole’s establishment, the British Hotel, was closer to the frontlines.
What happened to Mrs Seacole after the war?
At the war’s end she returned to England destitute and was declared bankrupt. In 1857 her autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, was published and became a best seller. A festival was held in her honour to raise funds and acknowledge her contributions, and she received decorations from France, England, and Turkey.
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How did Mary Seacole get into nursing?
In early 1854, Seacole returned to Panama to take care of business affairs, and it was there that she became aware of the escalating Crimean War. She heard of the unsanitary conditions and the cholera outbreaks and decided to volunteer as a nurse.
How did Mary Seacole develop her medical skills?
Learning to use traditional medicines But she was also a healer and taught Mary many of her skills using traditional Jamaican medicines. A keen student from early childhood, Mary practised medicine on her doll, dogs and cats, and on herself.
What year did Mary Seacole become a nurse?
In 1823, Seacole travelled first to London and later, in 1825, to the Bahamas, Haiti and Cuba, before returning to Jamaica in 1826. She became one of the first to recognise and practise modern nursing skills, despite her lack of formal education, including the use of hygiene, ventilation, hydration and rest.
What did Mary Seacole use in her medicines?
Mary Seacole, used herbal medicines and other remedies including lead acetate and mercury chloride. She also dealt with a yellow fever outbreak in Jamaica. Her fame as a medical practitioner grew and she was soon carrying out operations on people suffering from knife and gunshot wounds.
Who is a famous nurse?
Florence Nightingale certainly holds the honor of being the most famous nurse on our list. She became a nurse in 1851 and traveled to Turkey to aid British soldiers during the Crimean War.
What nurse was an expert on cholera?
Florence Nightingale's greatest contribution came during the Crimean War. After hearing disheartening reports of the mistreatment of the wounded soldiers and the outbreaks of cholera and malaria, Nightingale and 38 nurses traveled across the Black Sea to the Ottoman Empire.
In which roles do nurses serve?
Nurses are in every community – large and small – providing expert care from birth to the end of life. Nurses' roles range from direct patient care and case management to establishing nursing practice standards, developing quality assurance procedures, and directing complex nursing care systems.
Did Mary Seacole call herself a nurse?
Seacole then worked alongside her mother, occasionally being called to provide nursing assistance at the British Army hospital at Up-Park Camp.
Did Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole ever meet?
According to Mary she also met Florence Nightingale: “A slight figure, in the nurses' dress; with a pale, gentle and withal firm face, resting lightly in the palm of one white hand, while the other supports the elbow – a position which gives to her countenance a keen inquiring expression, which is rather marked.”
What did Mary Seacole use aloe vera for?
heal cuts and woundsMary's Herbal Remedies Some of the ingredients she used included: • Aloe Vera – mixed to help heal cuts and wounds. Lemongrass – boiled to help a fever. Ginger – ground to help diarrhoea. Lemons – mixed to help coughs.
How was Mary Seacole difference to Florence Nightingale?
While Nightingale is often acknowledged as the pioneer of modern nursing, Seacole had been practicing herbal remedies and hygiene decades before the European woman. And although both women did incredible work during the war, Nightingale's name lives on, while Seacole's does not.
Who reformed nursing care infection control nursing education and hospital epidemiology?
Founder of modern nursing: She effectively argued the case for reform of the entire British Army medical system. Nightingale's influence today extends beyond her undeniable impact on the field of modern nursing to the areas of infection control, hospital epidemiology, and hospice care.
How did Mary Seacole treat cholera?
Seacole treated many cholera patients in Panama. The remedies she used—including mustard emetics (which induced vomiting), warm poultices, mustard plasters on the stomach and the back, and mercury chloride—were common among doctors of the time, but are now known to have been harmful.
In which practice area was the first clinical nurse specialist developed?
In which practice area was the first clinical nurse specialist (CNS) role developed? Psychiatric nursing. The first CNS role was developed in psychiatric nursing in the 1960s.
Who reformed nursing care infection control nursing education and hospital epidemiology?
Founder of modern nursing: She effectively argued the case for reform of the entire British Army medical system. Nightingale's influence today extends beyond her undeniable impact on the field of modern nursing to the areas of infection control, hospital epidemiology, and hospice care.
Did you know facts about Mary Seacole?
Mary Seacole was born Mary Jane Grant on 23 November 1805 in Kingston, Jamaica. Her mother was Jamaican and a doctress, and her father was Scottish and an officer in the British Army. 2. Jamaica was seized by the British in 1655, so by the time Mary was born, most Jamaicans worked as slaves for their British masters.
Where did Mary Seacole live?
After returning to Jamaica, Seacole cared for her "old indulgent patroness" through an illness, finally returning to the family home at Blundell Hall after the death of her patroness (a woman who gave financial support to her) a few years later. Seacole then worked alongside her mother, occasionally being called to provide nursing assistance at the British Army hospital at Up-Park Camp. She also travelled the Caribbean, visiting the British colony of New Providence in The Bahamas, the Spanish colony of Cuba, and the new Republic of Haiti. Seacole records these travels, but omits mention of significant current events, such as the Christmas Rebellion in Jamaica of 1831, the abolition of slavery in 1833, and the abolition of "apprenticeship" in 1838.
How did Mary Seacole become famous?
She became popular among service personnel, who raised money for her when she faced destitution after the war. In 1858 a four-day Fundraising Gala took place on the banks of the river Thames, to honour Mary Seacole. Crowds of about 80,000 attended, including veterans, their families and Royalty.
What did Seacole do at Blundell Hall?
At Blundell Hall, Seacole acquired her nursing skills, which included the use of hygiene, ventilation, warmth, hydration, rest, empathy, good nutrition and care for the dying. Blundell Hall also served as a convalescent home for military and naval staff recuperating from illnesses such as cholera and yellow fever.
Why did Mary Seacole go to Crimea?
She then attempted to join the second contingent of nurses to the Crimea . She applied to the War Office and other government offices, but arrangements for departure were already underway. In her memoir, she wrote that she brought "ample testimony" of her experience in nursing, but the only example officially cited was that of a former medical officer of the West Granada Gold-Mining Company. However, Seacole wrote that this was just one of the testimonials she had in her possession. Seacole wrote in her autobiography, "Now, I am not for a single instant going to blame the authorities who would not listen to the offer of a motherly yellow woman to go to the Crimea and nurse her ‘sons’ there, suffering from cholera, diarrhœa, and a host of lesser ills. In my country, where people know our use, it would have been different; but here it was natural enough – although I had references, and other voices spoke for me – that they should laugh, good-naturedly enough, at my offer."
What did Seacole do during the Crimean War?
Coming from a tradition of Jamaican and West African "doctresses", Seacole displayed "compassion, skills and bravery while nursing soldiers during the Crimean War", through the use of herbal remedies. She was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 1991. In 2004, she was voted the greatest black Briton.
Why did Mary Seacole become so popular?
She became popular among service personnel, who raised money for her when she faced destitution after the war.
When did Seacole visit London?
In about 1821 , Seacole visited London, staying for a year, and visited her relatives in the merchant Henriques family. Although London had a number of black people, she records that a companion, a West Indian with skin darker than her own "dusky" shades, was taunted by children.
What happened to Mary Seacole?
When the Crimean War ended, Mary Seacole headed back to England with little money and in fragile health. Fortunately, the news media wrote about her predicament, and Seacole’s supporters organized a benefit for the nurse who had so bravely served Britain. Thousands of people attended the festival fundraiser that took place in her honor in July 1857.
What are some interesting facts about Mary Seacole?
Fast Facts: Mary Seacole 1 Also Known As: Mary Jane Grant (maiden name) 2 Born: 1805 in Kingston, Jamaica 3 Died: May 14, 1881 in London, England 4 Parents: James Grant, mother’s name unknown 5 Spouse: Edwin Horatio Hamilton Seacole 6 Key Accomplishments: Opened a boarding house for convalescent soldiers during the Crimean War; wrote a memoir about her efforts. 7 Famous Quote: “My first experience of battle was pleasant enough (...) I felt that strange excitement which I do not remember on future occasions, coupled with an earnest longing to see more of warfare, and to share in its hazards.”
Why did Mary Seacole open a hotel in Crimea?
The decision surprised Seacole who had both a background in nursing and extensive travel experience. Determined to give Britain’s injured warriors the medical attention they needed , she managed to find a business partner willing to finance her trip to Crimea to open a hotel for the wounded. Once there, she opened the British Hotel in the region between Balaclava and Sebastopol.
When was Mary Seacole first ranked in the 100 Great Black Britons poll?
She ranked first in the 100 Great Black Britons poll that debuted in 2004, and the National Portrait Gallery displayed an undiscovered painting of her in 2005. That year, the biography “ Mary Seacole: The Charismatic Black Nurse Who Became a Heroine of the Crimea” was released.
Where was Mary Seacole born?
Her reporting focuses education, race, and public policy. A nurse, businesswoman, and war hero, Mary Seacole was born in 1805 in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Scottish father and Jamaican mother.
Why did Seacole's mother not marry?
Due to their different racial backgrounds, her parents could not marry, but Seacole’s mother was more than the “Creole mistress” some historians have labeled her. Described as a "doctress," a reference to her knowledge of herbal medicine, Seacole’s mother excelled as both a healer and a business owner.
Who took Mary Seacole's photograph?
Only known photograph of Mary Seacole (1805-1881), taken c.1873 by Maull & Company in London by an unknown photographer. Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Why is Mary Seacole remembered?
Remembering Mary Seacole. Because Jamaica was part of the British Empire during her lifetime, Seacole always considered herself a British citizen. Nevertheless, it is the people of Jamaica who have kept Seacole’s memory alive.
Who was Mary Seacole?
Vocabulary. Mary Seacole was a daring adventurer of the 19th century. A Jamaican woman of mixed race, she was awarded the Order of Merit posthumously by the government of Jamaica and celebrated as a “Black Briton” in the United Kingdom.
What was Mother Seacole's book based on?
Seacole authored a book based on her travels in Panama —where she ran a store for men going overland to the California Gold Rush —and her experiences in the Crimean War, where she ran a store and catering service for officers. There, her compassion and dedication earned her the nickname “Mother Seacole.”.
What did Seacole's mother call her?
Seacole’s father was a Scottish soldier stationed in Jamaica. (Jamaica was a British colony at the time.) Seacole called her Creole mother an “admirable doctress,” meaning a user of traditional herbal remedies. Seacole and her mother ran a boarding house for officers in Kingston, and looked after lodgers who were ill.
Where did Seacole set up her hotel?
Seacole set up her British Hotel between Sevastopol and Balaklava in the Crimea , naming the spot Spring Hill. (Spring Hill is now part of Ukraine.) The British Hotel was not a “hotel” in the modern meaning of the word. While Seacole’s original intention had been to open “a mess table and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers,” in fact she established a hut which served as an all-in-one store-restaurant for officers, with a “canteen” for ordinary soldiers.
Where did Seacole stay in Sevastopol?
While waiting for her “tumble-down hut” to be ready, Seacole stayed on board a ship in Sevastopol's harbor, and gave hot tea, cake, and lemonade to soldiers on the wharf waiting transport to the general hospitals. The weather was cold and the kindness much appreciated.
Where is Mary Seacole's painting?
In the United Kingdom, too, organizations have recognized the value in Mary Seacole’s adventurous life story. In 1981, 100 years after her death, a service was held (and has been held every year since) at her gravesite in London. In 2003, a painting of Seacole was rescued from a rummage sale and now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
Who was Mary Seacole?
Mary Jane Grant was born in 1805. She was always coy about her unmarried parents – and records are scarce – but her father is thought to have been James Grant, a Scottish infantry officer who may have died in 1815. Her Jamaican mother (whose name we don’t know) kept an hotel in Kingston which doubled as a convalescent home for British military personnel garrisoned nearby.
What is Mary Seacole’s legacy?
When Mary Seacole died in 1881, her celebrity died with her. But now she’s back, with a statue standing proudly outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London, and she’s regained the charisma of her Crimean heyday. Naturally, she’s a role model for nurses who recognise the holistic power of skill, compassion and good humour. She’s a deserving heroine of the British BAME community.
What happened to Mary Seacole in 1854?
On a visit home to Jamaica in 1854, Seacole heard the news that was to change her life. War had broken out on the distant Crimean peninsula. Many of the British officers and men involved were known to her from Kingston days; fond of them for her father’s sake, and confident of her value as a nurse, Seacole was determined to help.
What did Florence Nightingale recruit?
Seacole arrived in London within weeks. She had heard that Florence Nightingale was recruiting ‘ladies’ to nurse the British forces, and applied to join them. However, after a perfunctory interview with one of Nightingale’s assistants, she was told she was too late.
What did Seacole's mother do?
Her mother worked as a ‘doctress,’ fusing the holistic traditions of her African heritage with an understanding of the healing properties of Caribbean plants. She and Grant encouraged their daughter’s independence. From them Seacole learned about holistic medicine, hotel management, and the demands of army life.
What was Mother Seacole's business?
Cheerful ‘Mother Seacole’ and her business – at turns a hotel, clinic, restaurant and takeaway – became famous. And she was always ready to dash to the battlefield, day or night, lugging a hold-all crammed with medicines, dressings, food and drink, and a bottle of sherry to use as antiseptic.
Was Seacole a lady?
But to the organisers Seacole was no ‘lady’; she was a large black woman wearing parrot-coloured clothes, with a loud laugh and a defiant air. Certainly, she was used to being her own boss, and was unlikely to submit to orders without question.
When did Mary Seacole die?
Seacole died on May 14, 1881, in London. One hundred years later, many members of the London black community, a few members of the Nurses Association of Jamaica and the Friends of Mary Seacole marched to her grave, honoring her as one of the greatest women of all times.
Where was Mary Grant Seacole born?
Mary Grant Seacole was born in 1805, in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Jamaican doctress (medicine woman) and a Scottish naval officer. Later Seacole became a doctress, nursing British soldiers during epidemics of cholera, dysentery, and yellow fever in Jamaica, Cuba, and Panama.
Who was the nurse that helped the wounded soldiers?
At night, Seacole worked side by side with Nightingale at Scutari as a volunteer nurse. Seacole's fame grew proportionately after she was seen helping wounded soldiers on the battlefields even while the battles were still raging. Seacole died on May 14, 1881, in London.
Who was the first nurse practitioner?
Mary Grant Seacole : the first nurse practitioner. Mary Grant Seacole was born in 1805, in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Jamaican doctress (medicine woman) and a Scottish naval officer. Later Seacole became a doctress, nursing British soldiers during epidemics of cholera, dysentery, and yellow fever in Jamaica, Cuba, and Panama.
What did Mary Seacole learn from her mother?
Mary learnt much from her mother. Blundell Hall was used as a convalescent home for military and naval personnel which further broadened her medical experience. Seacole wrote in her own autobiography that she was fascinated by medicine from a young age and began to help her mother treat soldiers and patients when she was young, as well as observing military doctors on their ward rounds.
Who was Mary Seacole?
Mary Seacole was one of the pioneers of nursing during the Crimean War . Bringing years of medical experience and combatting racial prejudices, Mary set up her own institution closer to the battlefields of Balaclava and nursed soldiers in the fray, winning their ardent praise and respect as she did so.
Why did Mary Seacole go to Balaclava?
Undaunted and determined to help, Mary decided to head to Balaclava alone to set up a hospital to nurse soldiers, opening the British Hotel in 1855. As well as nursing, the British Hotel also provided provisions and operated a kitchen. She was widely known to British troops as ‘Mother Seacole’ for her caring ways.
What happened to Edwin and Mary's mother?
In 1843, much of Blundell Hall was burnt down in a fire, and the following year, both Edwin and Mary’s mother died in rapid succession. Despite, or perhaps because of, this set of tragedies, Mary threw herself into work, taking over the management and running of Blundell Hall.
Where was Mary Grant born?
Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1805, Mary Grant was the daughter of a doctress (healing woman) and a Scottish lieutenant in the British Army. Her mixed-race heritage, and in particular her white father, meant Mary was born free, unlike many of her contemporaries on the island.
When did Mary go bankrupt?
Mary’s financial situation did not improve, and she was declared bankrupt in November 1856.
When did Mary return to Kingston?
In 1853 , Mary returned to Kingston, where her nursing skills were required after an outbreak of yellow fever. She was asked by the British Army to supervise medical services in the headquarters at Up-Park in Kingston.
Did Florence Nightingale oppose the statue of Mary Seacole?
Those of us who think Florence Nightingale’s work, in promoting public health, founding nursing and reforming hospitals, was and remains important do not oppose a statue for Mary Seacole (White History Month is here already, 21 October).
Was Mary Seacole a pioneer nurse?
Mary Seacole was kind and generous, but was no ‘pioneer nurse’
Overview
Early career and background
Mary Jane Seacole was born Mary Jane Grant on November 23, 1805 in Kingston, in the Colony of Jamaica as a member of the community of free black people in Jamaica. She was the daughter of James Grant, a Scottish Lieutenant in the British Army. Her mother, Mrs Grant, nicknamed "The Doctress", was a healer who used traditional Caribbean and African herbal medicines. Mrs Grant also ran Blundell Hall, a boarding house at 7, East Street.
In the Caribbean, 1826–51
After returning to Jamaica, Seacole cared for her "old indulgent patroness" through an illness, finally returning to the family home at Blundell Hall after the death of her patroness (a woman who gave financial support to her) a few years later. Seacole then worked alongside her mother, occasionally being called to provide nursing assistance at the British Army hospital at Up-Park Camp. She also travelled the Caribbean, visiting the British colony of New Providence in The Bah…
In Central America, 1851–54
In 1850, Seacole's half-brother Edward moved to Cruces, Panama, which was then part of the Republic of New Granada. There, approximately 45 miles (72 km) up the Chagres River from the coast, he followed the family trade by establishing the Independent Hotel to accommodate the many travellers between the eastern and western coasts of the United States (the number of tr…
Crimean War, 1853–56
The Crimean War lasted from October 1853 until 1 April 1856 and was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the United Kingdom, France, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire. The majority of the conflict took place on the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea and Turkey.
Many thousands of troops from all the countries involved were drafted to the ar…
Back in London, 1856–60
After the end of the war, Seacole returned to England destitute and in poor health. In the conclusion to her autobiography, she records that she "took the opportunity" to visit "yet other lands" on her return journey, although Robinson attributes this to her impecunious state requiring a roundabout trip. She arrived in August 1856 and opened a canteen with Day at Aldershot, but the venture fa…
Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands
A 200-page autobiographical account of her travels was published in July 1857 by James Blackwood as Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, the first autobiography written by a black woman in Britain. Priced at one shilling and six pence (1/6) a copy, the cover bears a striking portrait of Seacole in red, yellow and black ink. Robinson speculates that she dictated the work to an editor, identified in the book only as W.J.S., who improved her grammar …
Later life, 1860–81
Seacole joined the Roman Catholic Church circa 1860, and returned to a Jamaica changed in her absence as it faced economic downturn. She became a prominent figure in the country. However, by 1867 she was again running short of money, and the Seacole fund was resurrected in London, with new patrons including the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Cambridge, a…
Early Years
The Crimean War
- The year 1853 marked the start of the Crimean War, a military conflict over the status of Christians in the Ottoman Empire, which included the Holy Land. During the war, which lasted until 1856, Turkey, Britain, France, and Sardinia formed an alliance to defeat the Russian Empire’s efforts to expand into this territory. In 1854, Seacole visited England, where she asked the War Office to f…
Return Home
- When the Crimean War ended, Mary Seacole headed back to England with little money and in fragile health. Fortunately, the news media wrote about her predicament, and Seacole’s supporters organized a benefit for the nurse who had so bravely served Britain. Thousands of people attended the festival fundraiser that took place in her honor in July 1857. Given vital finan…
Death and Legacy
- Seacole died May 14, 1881, at the age of about 76. She was mourned from Jamaica to England, including by members of the British Royal Family. In the years after her death, however, the public largely forgot about her. That has begun to change as campaigns to recognize the contributions of Black Britons to the United Kingdom have thrust her back into the spotlight. She ranked first in th…
Sources
- “Crimean War.” National Army Museum.
- “Mary Seacole (1805 - 1881).” BBC - History.
- Jane Robinson. “Ahead of her time.” The Independent, January 20, 2005.