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*Migration Histories > Caribbean > Journeys
* Heroine of the Crimean War 
 
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Seacole, as illustrated in punch
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Seacole, as illustrated in Punch 30 May 1857.
During her trip, Seacole noted the cosmopolitan nature of London life and spotted an opportunity. Soon after her first visit, she returned to London with a large stock of West Indian preserves and pickles for sale. This time she stayed for two years, but even after she left she continued to develop her entrepreneurial streak, and went on selling West Indian produce during her travels. She settled in Jamaica for a while when she married Edwin Seacole, a Jamaican merchant, but he died shortly afterwards.

In 1854, the news reached Mary Seacole that the British had declared war on Russia. She does not specify in her autobiography whether her motivations were patriotic, compassionate or entrepreneurial, but she arrived in London in the autumn of 1854 to offer her services to the stretched medical staff. Initially, she made an application to the War Office for the post of hospital nurse, but was not accepted. She then approached the Quartermaster-General's department, but her application was declined. The Medical Department also turned her down. She then visited the Secretary of War at his home, but was not seen, and eventually told that no more nurses were required. It was at this point that it occurred to her that racism might be behind her sequence of rejections.

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Mary Seacole's St George's Street residence.
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Mary Seacole's St George's Street residence. The plaque, erected in commemoration of Mary Seacole reads 'Mary Seacole, (1805-1881): Jamaican Nurse, Heroine of the Crimean War lived here'.
* Moving Here catalogue reference (LMA) SC/PHL/02/1250/85/1493
Was it possible that American prejudices against colour had some root here? Did these ladies shrink from accepting my aid because my blood flowed beneath a somewhat darker skin than theirs?
Seacole then decided to travel to Balaclava to provide 'comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers' at the British Hotel . She claimed that the soldiers preferred not to go into hospital and instead looked forward to seeing her riding up with medicines for which she 'did not hesitate to charge' them. Still, they were thankful, and she received a number of letters from grateful patients.

The sudden end to the war meant that Seacole had to leave behind hundreds of pounds worth of stock when she returned to London, and she suffered financial ruin. Furthermore, she did not receive the public recognition that some thought she deserved. Mr Da Merritis, in a letter to The Times , 24 November 1856, expressed this opinion very clearly:

Sir, ... while the benevolent deeds of Florence Nightingale are being handed down to prosperity with blessings and imperishable renown, are the humbler actions of Mrs Seacole to be entirely forgotten?
Seacole was very aware of this campaign of support. She expressed her gratitude in a letter she wrote to Lord Rokeby, which he forwarded to The Times .

... I beg to offer you my sincere thanks for your letter which I have just read in The Times of to-day, and would publicly acknowledge your present as well as past kindness to me.
In December 1856, Punch published 'A Stir for Seacole' which included the verses:

The sick and sorry can tell the story
Of her nursing and dosing deeds.
Regimental M.D. never worked as hard as she
In helping sick men's needs.


And now the good soul is 'in the hole',
What red-coat in the land,
But to see her upon her legs again
Will not lend a willing hand?
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A portrait of a mature Mary Jane Seacole (ne้ Grant) painted by artist Albert Charles Challen (1847-1881).
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A portrait of a mature Mary Jane Seacole (ne้ Grant) painted by artist Albert Charles Challen (1847-1881).
* Moving Here catalogue reference (NPG) NPGL235
In July 1857, *The Seacole Fund Grand Military Festival, organised by Punch ran for four days at the Royal Surrey Gardens, South London. Over 40,000 people went, indicating that the music hall filled to capacity every night. One evening, the general public was admitted at a reduced price, and according to The Times 30 July 1857, the gardens had never been 'thronged by a greater multitude'.

That same year the Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole was published. It was hoped that 'England would not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succor them, and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead'. But after the publication of her autobiography, Seacole seems to have disappeared from public view, and little is known of how she lived up until the times of her death in May 1881. In keeping with her wishes, she was buried in the Catholic section of the cemetery at Kensal Green, now St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery.

*Report on blue plaque

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Creators: T. Caroline A. Bressey

 
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