“Unless I am allowed to tell the story of my life in my own way, I cannot tell it at all.”
Mary Seacole, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands
Mary Jane Seacole was born on the 23rd November 1805 in Kingston, Jamaica. When she died (on the 14th May 1881) her story was forgotten. But today, Mary Seacole is very well known because of Black History Month which started in 1995.
Mary Seacole was a 18th century nurse who looked after injured soldiers in the Crimean war (October 1853-February 1856).
Her dad was a Scottish soldier and her mum was Jamaican, so Mary was mixed race. It was her mum who taught Mary how to treat wounded soldiers using plants to help care for them.
“I am a Creole, and have good Scotch blood coursing through my veins. Many people have traced to my Scottish blood that energy and activity which are not always found in the Creole race, and which have carried me to so many various scenes: and perhaps they are right.”
Mary Seacole, quoted at Biography Online
While she was in her home country Jamaica a terrible disease called cholera spread across the country. Mary helped all who were struggling.
When Britain sent soldiers to war in Crimea, disease was more dangerous than the enemy. Thousands of soldiers died from it. Because Mary knew how to treat cholera she wanted to go to Crimea as a nurse, but she wasn’t chosen. Mary went anyway using her own money to pay for the transport.
She decided to go to Crimea because Mary knew how to treat cholera and wanted to help those in need.
“….and 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, quoted at Biography Online
It must have taken a lot of courage to do the things Mary Seacole did.
“Mary Seacole was buried, according to her own instructions, in St Mary’s Roman Catholic Cemetery in Kensal Green…
Goodness knows what parties there would have been had Mary died in Kingston. The wake would have lasted till the rum-soaked dawn; everyone would have worn their brightest colours and sung their loudest hymns, in extravagant celebration of a life well lived.”
Jane Robinson, Mary Seacole: The Charismatic Black Nurse Who Became a Heroine of the Crimea
More about Mary Seacole
If you like to find out more about Mary, check out these videos and links below.
