Great Thinkers
By Dilys Robinson (August 2006 Issue)
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BACKGROUND
Mary Seacole was born in Kingston, Jamaica, of mixed parentage. She described her mother as a Creole, while her father was a Scottish soldier. At the time of her birth, slavery still existed, and those of mixed race, although rarely slaves, were not given full legal or social rights. They were forbidden from voting, holding public office or entering the professions. Seacole is famous for her travels and even more renowned for her medical and nursing skills and her bravery in treating soldiers during the Crimean War. In 1857, after returning from the Crimea, she wrote Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, an account of her journeys and the many patients she cared for along the way.
In the book, she describes her repeated unsuccessful attempts to be accepted as a Crimean nurse and her eventual decision to ‘go it alone’ and travel to the Crimea under her own steam. For over a year, she combined business and medicine. From her base, she sold food and provisions to the troops as well as treating many patients suffering from dysentery, malaria and cholera. She also travelled into battle on horseback to treat the wounded. When left bankrupt after her return to England at the end of the Crimean War in 1856, many officers came to the aid of ‘Mother Seacole’, setting up and contributing to the Seacole Fund.
INFLUENCE
Seacole’s mother was a powerful influence in her life. She was known as a ‘doctress’ who understood herbal and traditional remedies, and was often consulted by British officers stationed in Kingston and their wives. Apart from an early interest in medicine, another big influence was her passion for travel: ‘I have never wanted inclination to rove, nor will powerful enough to find a way to carry out my wishes.’
The British Empire was very important to Mary. She considered herself to be British and thought it her patriotic duty to further the British imperialist cause – even when the War Office turned down her persistent offers of assistance. She was also a great admirer of Florence Nightingale, and unsuccessfully tried to join her band of nurses. Sadly, this admiration was not reciprocated; Florence Nightingale seems to have thought her someone of dubious moral character and made strenuous efforts to keep her nurses away from Seacole’s influence. When Seacole was extended hospitality at the Scutari Hospital for just one night on her way to Balaclava, she was given a bed with the washerwoman rather than with other nurses.
IMPACT
The biggest impact Mary made was undoubtedly on those she treated, regardless of wealth or nationality. She charged for her services only if her patient had the means: ‘It must be understood that many of those who could afford to pay for my services did so handsomely, but the great majority of my patients had nothing to give their doctress than thanks’. Seacole’s bravery made a big impact on those who observed her at the heart of the fighting.
Lacking early benefactors, personal wealth or official backing, she ingeniously financed her travels and her treatment of the sick and wounded by trading. She described her base in the Crimea as ‘mess table and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescing officers’, but it was also a surgery where poor infantrymen could receive free treatment.
LEGACY
Seacole is widely considered a role model for nurses and black women alike. In 2004 she was voted number one in the 100 greatest black Britons, while in Jamaica she is a treasured national heroine. Seacole herself paid little attention to her ethnicity, emphasising instead her femininity and maternal qualities. She expected racism in America, but was surprised to encounter it in Britain: ‘Was it possible that American prejudices against colour had some root here?’
Above all, we should remember her indomitable spirit and refusal to accept defeat or rejection. When one door closed to her, she simply opened another and achieved her objective regardless. Despite her respect for authority, she never allowed officialdom or minor details like lack of funds to get in her way: ‘All my life I have followed the impulse which led me to be up and doing’.
Reference
All the quotations in this piece are from Mary Seacole’s book, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, Penguin Classics 2005.
Mary Seacole was born in Kingston, Jamaica, of mixed parentage. She described her mother as a Creole, while her father was a Scottish soldier. At the time of her birth, slavery still existed, and those of mixed race, although rarely slaves, were not given full legal or social rights. They were forbidden from voting, holding public office or entering the professions. Seacole is famous for her travels and even more renowned for her medical and nursing skills and her bravery in treating soldiers during the Crimean War. In 1857, after returning from the Crimea, she wrote Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, an account of her journeys and the many patients she cared for along the way.
In the book, she describes her repeated unsuccessful attempts to be accepted as a Crimean nurse and her eventual decision to ‘go it alone’ and travel to the Crimea under her own steam. For over a year, she combined business and medicine. From her base, she sold food and provisions to the troops as well as treating many patients suffering from dysentery, malaria and cholera. She also travelled into battle on horseback to treat the wounded. When left bankrupt after her return to England at the end of the Crimean War in 1856, many officers came to the aid of ‘Mother Seacole’, setting up and contributing to the Seacole Fund.
INFLUENCE
Seacole’s mother was a powerful influence in her life. She was known as a ‘doctress’ who understood herbal and traditional remedies, and was often consulted by British officers stationed in Kingston and their wives. Apart from an early interest in medicine, another big influence was her passion for travel: ‘I have never wanted inclination to rove, nor will powerful enough to find a way to carry out my wishes.’
The British Empire was very important to Mary. She considered herself to be British and thought it her patriotic duty to further the British imperialist cause – even when the War Office turned down her persistent offers of assistance. She was also a great admirer of Florence Nightingale, and unsuccessfully tried to join her band of nurses. Sadly, this admiration was not reciprocated; Florence Nightingale seems to have thought her someone of dubious moral character and made strenuous efforts to keep her nurses away from Seacole’s influence. When Seacole was extended hospitality at the Scutari Hospital for just one night on her way to Balaclava, she was given a bed with the washerwoman rather than with other nurses.
IMPACT
The biggest impact Mary made was undoubtedly on those she treated, regardless of wealth or nationality. She charged for her services only if her patient had the means: ‘It must be understood that many of those who could afford to pay for my services did so handsomely, but the great majority of my patients had nothing to give their doctress than thanks’. Seacole’s bravery made a big impact on those who observed her at the heart of the fighting.
Lacking early benefactors, personal wealth or official backing, she ingeniously financed her travels and her treatment of the sick and wounded by trading. She described her base in the Crimea as ‘mess table and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescing officers’, but it was also a surgery where poor infantrymen could receive free treatment.
LEGACY
Seacole is widely considered a role model for nurses and black women alike. In 2004 she was voted number one in the 100 greatest black Britons, while in Jamaica she is a treasured national heroine. Seacole herself paid little attention to her ethnicity, emphasising instead her femininity and maternal qualities. She expected racism in America, but was surprised to encounter it in Britain: ‘Was it possible that American prejudices against colour had some root here?’
Above all, we should remember her indomitable spirit and refusal to accept defeat or rejection. When one door closed to her, she simply opened another and achieved her objective regardless. Despite her respect for authority, she never allowed officialdom or minor details like lack of funds to get in her way: ‘All my life I have followed the impulse which led me to be up and doing’.
Reference
All the quotations in this piece are from Mary Seacole’s book, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, Penguin Classics 2005.
Dilys Robinson is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Employmnet Studies. She can be contacted at dilys.robinson@employment-studies.co.uk
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