As a result, Mary Seacole’s record of saving lives was much higher than other hospital facilities. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. Coming from a tradition of Jamaican and West African … Others honoured include comedian Sir Lenny Henry.

Walter Tull, who became the first black player for Rangers Football Club, appears on a post box in Glasgow’s Byres Road. Mary Seacole, who nursed wounded British soldiers back to health during the 1853-56 Crimean War and built a dedicated place for them to recuperate known as the British Hotel, appears on the Cardiff post box in the city’s King Edward VII Avenue. Special edition post boxes to mark Black History Month honour contributions of black Britons. For example, Susan FG Forde wrote to me as follows: “Mary Seacole, (1805-1881) – Scotland’s “Black Florence” – is someone worthy of much greater recognition.”. “Now is a good time to honour Mary Seacole: first by making her story known; then naming a hospital ward after her, presenting a medal/memorial record or similar for those who have lost their lives in tackling Covid-19 in any medical way.”. She described this as "a mess-table and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers", and provided succour for wounded servicemen on the battlefield. For nursing students, writing in a patient's notes can feel daunting. At her own expense she went to the Crimea, opened a British hotel in Balaklava which had a good, clean canteen for the troops, and as an independent nurse was able to go to the front every day with pack mules carrying medical supplies, food and wine. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? Because she was so close to the battles with ‘field hospital’ equipment, probably tents, she was not only more immediate in her assistance but had none of the infection problems which attended Florence Nightingale’s hospital with its drainage and sewage. Susan continues: “After considerable nursing experience when, in 1854, she ‘tried to join Florence Nightingale’s vanguard of nursing sisters, she met a rebuff’ despite having been a nursing superintendent at a military camp. As usual I will stick to the facts and let the Sunday National’s discerning readership draw their own conclusions. Portrait of Mary Jane Seacole (1805-1881), Jamaican-born woman of Scottish and Creole descent who set up a 'British Hotel' behind the lines during the Crimean War.

She was born Mary Jane Grant in Kingston, Jamaica, on November 23, 1805. This post box features the image Queuing at the RA by Yinka Shonibare, an artist commissioned by Royal Mail to produce original artworks for a set of special stamps. Her father was a Scottish soldier, and her mother was a practitioner of traditional Jamaican medicine and had a boarding house where she cared for invalid soldiers and their wives.


Third-year nursing... Online sources list rigorous steps to take– but what do the experts say? Following her mother as a "doctress" practising traditional herbal medicine, and as a hotel keeper, Seacole established a mess, the "British Hotel", at Balaklava during the Crimean War.

Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. Even before then she had practised “medicine” on her pets and dolls. “She attended numerous casualties, healed and sustained the injured, and comforted the dying. In September 1854, Mary heard about the Crimean campaign and she was struck with the thought of looking after the troops she had known in Jamaica. The other black people honoured include comedian Sir Lenny Henry, co-founder of the charity Comic Relief, who appears on a post box in Bedford Street, Belfast. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community. HAVING written about Louisa Jordan of the eponymous hospital fame earlier this month, I received several suggestions that I look into the story of Mary Seacole, the Scots-Jamaican woman who cared for British soldiers in the … Four of the UK’s landmark red post boxes have been … HAVING written about Louisa Jordan of the eponymous hospital fame earlier this month, I received several suggestions that I look into the story of Mary Seacole, the Scots-Jamaican woman who cared for British soldiers in the Crimean War. NHS pension scheme remedy: weighing the options for nurses, COVID-19: the steps to take when your shift ends to stay safe at home, Nursing Standard podcast: nurses’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19: how to avoid skin damage while wearing PPE, RCNi Portfolio and interactive CPD quizzes, RCNi Learning with 200+ evidence-based modules, 10 articles a month from any other RCNi journal. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Mary Seacole, who nursed wounded British soldiers back to health during the 1853-56 Crimean War and built a dedicated place for them to recuperate known as the British Hotel, Special edition post boxes to mark Black History Month honour contributions of black Britons. Find out what happened to her next week. Celebrating the contributions black people have made over generations. A large detachment of British troops was stationed on the island, there having been several slave revolts. She travelled to … Mary learned about medicine from her mother, soon gaining her own reputation as a 'skilful nurse and doctress'.
Mary Seacole, who nursed wounded British soldiers back to health during the 1853-56 Crimean War and built a dedicated place for them to recuperate known as the British Hotel, Special edition post boxes to mark Black History Month honour contributions of black Britons. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. Four of the UKs landmark red post boxes have been painted black to honour black Britons past and present, including nursing pioneer Mary Seacole. ©Copyright 2001-2020. Not everything I write will please the many people who are huge supporters of Seacole, but I will also certainly annoy those who, for their own reasons, denigrate her achievements, which I consider to be quite remarkable. This site works best with JavaScript enabled. London’s black post box is in Acre Lane, Brixton, which is near the Black Cultural Archives, a museum dedicated to the histories of African and Caribbean people in Britain. Still others try to denigrate her by saying she was not actually a nurse – she never claimed to be – and that Florence Nightingale was far greater in her overall achievements, of which there is no doubt. She wrote: “It was very natural that I should inherit her tastes; and so, I had from early youth a yearning for medical knowledge and practice which never deserted me … And I was very young when I began to make use of the little knowledge I had acquired from watching my mother, upon great sufferer – my doll … and whatever disease was most prevalent in Kingston, be sure my poor doll soon contracted it.”. This article is not available as part of an institutional subscription. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. She was a ‘doctress’ who practised Creole or Afro-Caribbean medicine and learnt nursing and herbalism from her mother. How a nurse network aims to help staff thrive and make workplaces more ‘autism-friendly’, Role of nurses part of review looking at referrals and prescribing for gender dysphoria, Darker skin tones are often not included in clinical resources – including for COVID-19, Find out about the public sector pensions consultation, and what it means for you.

Published from its offices at 200 Renfield Street Glasgow and printed in Scotland by Newsquest (Herald & Times) a division of Newsquest Media Group Ltd, registered in England & Wales with number 01676637 at Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe HP10 9TY – a Gannett company. Many people have also traced to my Scotch blood that energy and activity which are not always found in the Creole race, and which have carried me to so many varied scenes: and perhaps they are right.”, Aged 12 she began working to assist her mother while also learning from her the arts of a doctress. Travelling to the Crimea independently after her attempts to join the official nursing contingent led by Florence … 1 comment. Mary Seacole set up what she called the 'British Hotel' during the Crimean War, from where she provided support for servicemen wounded on the battlefield. The four post boxes – in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow and London – sport the new colour with a gold trim as part of Black History Month in October. In her entertaining autobiography Adventures Of Mrs Seacole In Many Lands, Mary emphasises her Scottish roots: “I am a Creole, and have good Scotch blood coursing in my veins. Her mother’s boarding house was host to many British soldiers, including sick and infirm officers, and their wives. ‘We are also using it as an opportunity to celebrate the vital work that our black employees do throughout the nation.’. Mary Jane Grant’s father James was one of these soldiers, a lieutenant who fell in love with Mary’s mother – sadly we do not know her name but we do know that she was a free woman who ran a boarding house in Kingston and also practised as a “doctress” – a traditional healer. A Gannett Company. Mary Seacole was born in 1805 in Jamaica. Four of the UK’s landmark red post boxes have been painted black to honour black Britons past and present, including nursing pioneer Mary Seacole. Undaunted, Mary went home but returned to London to sell West Indian spices and pickles which enabled her to stay and augment her Jamaican healing skills with medicinal studies. The post box in Cardiff honouring Mary Seacole Picture: PA Wire. Susan is absolutely right, which is why I am going to write about Mary Seacole over the next two editions of the Sunday National. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here. Her mother was of African heritage and her father was a Scottish army officer. A QR code on the black post boxes can be scanned to bring up a list of black Britons who have appeared on special stamps over the years, linking to a gallery of them on the Royal Mail website. Realising her intelligence and commitment, a local woman became Mary’s patroness as she called her, who ensured a good education for the girl.