Tweet
Mary Seacole (1805 - 1881)
Mary Seacole was born Mary Joan Grant in Kingston, Jamaica in 1805 to a Creole mother and a Scottish father. It was from her mother that she undoubtedly inherited her love of nursing. Her mother, nicknamed "the Doctress", kept a lodging house at East Street, Kingston where she nursed army officers and their families from Up Park Camp. At age twelve, after much observation, Mary was allowed to help her mother with the patients.
It was not mentioned at what age she married Edwin Horatio Seacole, an invalid, who was a godson of British naval hero Admiral Horatio Nelson. Still newly weds, they moved to Black River where they established a store. Unfortunately he died soon after leaving her a heartbroken widow. Her mother died later and she took over the running of the nursing home in Kingston.
Although she was one of the victims of the Cholera epidemic in 1850 in Jamaica, Mary traveled to Panama to set up a hotel with her brother. While there, she was able to diagnose what might have been the first case of cholera to occur in that region. Also, in 1853 when yellow fever raged all over Jamaica, Mrs. Seacole's skills were again brought to the fore. From Panama she went to Cuba. Her arrival coincided with the cholera epidemic in that country. Here she proved herself capable in dealing with the situation and became known as the "yellow woman from Jamaica with the cholera medicine".
Later in 1853, when England, France and Turkey declared war on Russia and bitter fighting took place in the Crimean Peninsula, Mary felt driven to offer her services as a nurse. She realised that many soldiers were dying not from war wounds but from illnesses such as cholera and dysentery. She therefore felt that her experience with these diseases would be of value in the Crimea.
Mary set sail for England soon after, but despite a letter of introduction to Florence Nightingale, she was not recruited to join the group of nurses going to the Crimea. She spent months in London, trekking from one war office to another, failing to find acceptance. Eventually, she decided to go on her own and cashed in the assets she had and set out to build her own "hotel for invalids" in the Crimea.
Mrs. Seacole built a hotel called "Spring Hill" two miles from Balaclava and a mile from the British headquarters. Before long, the "the British Hotel", for so she named it, had become a refuge of warmth and comfort where good, well-cooked food could always be had for soldiers of all ranks. She dispensed medicine, meals and even occasional entertainment. She made "home visits" to the campsites. She procured supplies that were otherwise unavailable.
Mrs. Seacole would set out carrying bags of lint, bandages, needles, thread and medicine accompanied by mules loaded with sandwiches and other food, wine and spirits, arriving on the battle-field at dawn. She was sometimes under fire attending the wounded and taking food to the famished with an ever-ready hand. She risked her life in faithful devotion to the soldiers she loved so loyally.
She returned to London deeply in debt. However, the British Commander in Chief of the Crimea forces and the duke of Wellington and New Castle organised a four-day festival of music and gave her the proceeds.
Mrs. Seacole died in England in 1881.
Honours
The memory of Mary Seacole was first honoured by the nurses of Jamaica, when in 1954 they named their projected headquarters "Mary Seacole House".
Nine years later the Association acquired a life-sized bust of Mary Seacole, which stands in the foyer in the headquarters. The bust is a reproduction done by Mr. Curtis Johnston, a Jamaican sculptor, from the original one, which is in the Institute of Jamaica.
After her return to England, Mary Seacole was presented with the Crimean medal, which she always wore afterwards on her dress.
The Jamaica Government in 1990 awarded her posthumously with the country's third highest honour, the Order of Merit.
The female hall of residence at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies also bears her name in recognition of her distinguished contribution to medicine, healing and nursing.
The British Government had announced a Bursary valued at $25,000 in her name in 1993.
Comment