Mary Seacole

Mary Seacole (1805–1881) was a Jamaican-born British business woman who showed great kindness and bravery tending to sick and wounded soldiers during the Crimean War. As a dual heritage woman living in the Victorian Age, Mary was also a pioneer of her time. She ran her own businesses, loved to travel, and often risked her life for others. In 2004, she was voted the greatest black Briton in an online poll. Find out more about this extraordinary lady and use our collection of printable resources to test your newfound knowledge.

Fun fact: In her will, Mary Seacole declared that her husband Edwin was the godson of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Others thought that Edwin was the illegitimate son of Nelson and Lady Hamilton, who was adopted into the Seacole family. Neither fact has ever been confirmed, but it may explain the meaning behind Edwin’s full name – Edwin Horatio Hamilton Seacole.

Another fun fact: Mary has often been compared to a famous nurse of the time, Florence Nightingale. While Florence was called ‘the lady with the lamp’, Mary was affectionately known as ‘the Creole with the tea mug’.

“… 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

A Short Biography of Mary Seacole

Mary was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1805 to a Jamaican nurse and a Scottish soldier. At the time, Jamaica was part of the British Empire. Mary was Creole (which means that she was dual heritage, with one European parent and one black Caribbean parent) and proud of her British and Jamaican roots.

Mary’s mother ran a boarding house for recovering soldiers. When Mary was 12, she began helping to nurse the sick. Mary learnt about herbal medicines from her mother and about medicines used by visiting doctors. She was very popular with the soldiers and made many friends.

In 1836, Mary married Edwin Seacole, an English naval officer. They ran a shop together but sadly Edwin was in poor health. He died in 1844, just eight years after their marriage. Mary’s mother also died that year.

Mary loved to travel. She visited other Caribbean islands and spent time living in Britain as a teenager. Her brother Edward had a hotel in Panama, and she opened a hotel there, too. Many miners were passing through Panama on their way to the California Gold Rush. They needed food and lodgings. When Panama was hit by a cholera epidemic, Mary risked her life to help the sick and dying.

When British soldiers left Jamaica to fight in the Crimean War (1853–1856), Mary wanted to help with the war effort, too. She travelled to Britain to sign up as a volunteer nurse, but was refused (perhaps because of her race, age or lack of hospital experience). But Mary was determined to go. She raised her own funds for the 4,000-mile journey and sailed to the Crimea in January 1855.

Together with her friend Thomas Day, she set up the British Hotel. Mary rented rooms to injured soldiers and ran a shop and restaurant offering good food, clean clothes, and warm blankets and boots. The money she raised was used to care for the sick and wounded. Mary also rode to the battlefields, taking mules laden with food and medicines. For her kindness, the soldiers called her ‘Mother Seacole’.

After the war, Mary closed the British Hotel and returned to Britain. She had used all her money to set up the business but couldn’t sell the supplies. Fortunately, many soldiers remembered her kindness. They wrote letters to newspapers praising Mary’s work. In 1857, a concert was held to raise money for her, attended by 80,000 people. Mary also wrote a book about her life called ‘Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands’. It was one of the first travel books written by a black woman and became a bestseller.

Mary died in 1881. For about a century, she was almost forgotten. But then people began to read about this remarkable lady. In 1990, she was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit, and in 2016, a memorial statue was unveiled in the garden of St Thomas’ Hospital, London. Despite the difficulties she faced, Mary’s courage and compassion touched many lives, and will now be remembered forever by future generations.

Explore our Mary Seacole Resources