Mary Seacole was born in 1805 in Jamaica. Her mother was Jamaican and a doctress who practiced traditional herbal medicine, running a boarding house called Blundell Hall, for the ill and handicapped, and her father was a Scottish soldier stationed in Kingston (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019). Growing up in this atmosphere, constantly surrounded by her mother and other doctors, Mary learned a lot about medicine and gained inspiration for her future.
In 1836, at the age of 21, Mary got married to a man named Edwin Horatio Seacole, with whom she took many trips to Haiti, the Bahamas, and Cuba, during which she solidified and added to her knowledge of herbal medicine and traditional local practices. Throughout their marriage, Edwin was very sick, and eventually after 8 years of marriage he passed away, followed by Seacole’s mother, in 1844. In 1850, there was a huge cholera epidemic across Kingston, so Mary followed in her mother’s footsteps, starting her career as a nurse. Then in 1851, Mary traveled to Cruces, Panama to run her own store across the street from her brother’s hotel, but only a year after in 1852, Cruces suffered from its own massive outbreak of Cholera (National Geographic Society).
Mary stayed in Cruces for a while, nursing cholera patients using a variety of traditional medicinal and hygiene practices which were successful in helping to treat and even save many patients, such as using mustard emetics to make the patients vomit (Mary Seacole Trust, 2020). Another year later, Seacole returned to Kingston, continuing her nursing work and helping her mother’s boarding house, Blundell Hall, into a functioning hospital. The Crimean war, which began in 1853, was being fought at the time between the Russian forces, and Britain and France, and was being talked about heavily in the media. After hearing about how horrible the conditions and medical facilities were for the soldiers, Mary decided to go back to England and apply to become a nurse in the war. Mary’s request to become an english army nurse was rejected, potentially based on her race or even on her being past the considered “prime” nursing age, but this did not stop her determination to help. Mary paid her way to Crimea, establishing the British Hotel, a safe place for soldiers to rest and recuperate from illness or injury, where she also served food and refreshments. The “hotel” was situated very close to the frontlines, so Mary would go to the battlefield to nurse the wounded or provide comfort to those who were passing, earning her the name ‘Mother Seacole.’
When the war was over, Mary returned to England with practically nothing and attempted to set up a shop at an army base which failed quickly. During this time of financial floundering, soldiers wrote letters to newspapers speaking her praise, and her name became somewhat well known in certain areas for her brave feats and endless compassion. Friends, soldiers, and even some royalty, banded together to fundraise to help Seacole pay her debts and cost of living, hosting a gala in 1857 of which over 80,000 people attended. Despite this, Mary was still struggling financially, so she wrote her autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands. The book was a huge success and Mary lived comfortably for the rest of her life until she passed away from a stroke at the age of 76. Following her death, multiple hospitals and hospital wards were named in Mary’s honor, as well as scholarship funds, paintings, statues, and commemorative stamps.
Sources
“Mary Seacole | National Geographic Society.” Education.nationalgeographic.org, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/mary-seacole/.
Mary Seacole Trust. “Read Mary’s Story – Mary Seacole Trust, Life, Work & Achievements of Mary Seacole.” Mary Seacole Trust, Life, Work & Achievements of Mary Seacole, 18 May 2020, www.maryseacoletrust.org.uk/learn-about-mary/.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Crimean War | Map, Summary, Combatants, Causes, & Facts.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019, www.britannica.com/event/Crimean-War.
Written by Kiara Gil
