With Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Worthington, Sylvia Hoeks, Guy Burnet. "Sculptor defends his Mary Seacole statue: 'If she was white, would there be this resistance? … This was during the period when many black people in the Caribbean were forced to work as slaves. [22], The commissioning of the statue generated controversy. In 2004 Seacole was voted first in a poll of 100 "Great Black Britons", and the president of the Royal College of Nursing called for the erection of a statue to honour her memory. "Statue of UK's first named black woman unveiled today to honour Crimean war nurse Mary Seacole", "The scary reason why Florence Nightingale fans are so furious", "The Collected Works of Florence Nightingale", "Mary Seacole v Florence Nightingale: who should have the taller statue? Mary entend parler des mauvaises conditions médicales dont souffrent les soldats blessés pendant la guerre de Crimée. This photograph of Mary Seacole was discovered in the library at one of Britain’s oldest public schools, Winchester College. The reverse describes the meaning and purpose of the disc, and carries words by William Howard Russell, the newspaper correspondent who covered the Crimean War, and Seacole's contribution; "I trust that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succour them, and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead". A keen student from early childhood, Mary practised medicine on her doll, dogs and cats, and on herself. [2] Returning to England in 1856, she published an autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, the following year. Over 80,000 people attended. British artist Albert Charles Challen (8 October 1847 – 1 September 1881) is best known as the painter of this portrait of Mary Seacole when she was around 65 years old. Seacole stands in front of a disc, again cast in bronze although with a lighter patina to accentuate contrasts and shadows, which shows the land surface where Seacole established her "British Hotel" in the Crimea. A STATUE FOR MARY: The Seacole Legacy Mary’s exact birthdate remains unknown and writing in her autobiography she stated that she ‘may be… [4] The centenary of her death saw the beginnings of a revival of interest; the Mary Seacole Memorial Association was founded in 1980, and an English Heritage blue plaque commemorated her residence in George Street, Westminster. [a][b][13][14][15][16][17], The idea for a statue to commemorate Seacole was raised in 2004, when she topped an online poll to identify 100 Great Black Britons. [7] In 2017 the sculpture was shortlisted for the Marsh Awards,[8] established by the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association to raise awareness of Britain's monument heritage. It was fought by a coalition including Britain, against the Russian Empire. During the Crimean War, Seacole established a British Hotel located behind the lines. She had a sister, Louisa, and a brother, Edward. ... Mary Seacole was a married person but there is no information about her husband as well as children in social sites. 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.”. The statue was unveiled on 30 June 2016 by Floella Benjamin. [24][16][25][26] The society's main objection was to what it perceived as the embellishment of Seacole's work and reputation, to the detriment of that of Florence Nightingale. She had a sister, Louisa, and a brother, Edward. It honours Mary Seacole, a British-Jamaican nurse who established a "British Hotel" during the Crimean War and who was posthumously voted first in a poll of "100 Great Black Britons". But she was also a healer and taught Mary many of her skills using traditional Jamaican medicines. The Times War Correspondent, Sir William H Russell, wrote of Mary in 1857: “I trust that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succour them, and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead”. Mary had no children of her own, but the strong maternal attachments she formed with these soldiers, and her feelings for them, would later drive Mary to the Crimea. It was an opportunity to acquire knowledge about modern European medicine which supplemented her training in traditional Caribbean techniques. Seacole set up the hotel as a recreational and convalescence facility for officers and men and was referred to as "Mother Seacole" by the soldiery. Mary travelled to England and approached the British War Office, asking to be sent as an army nurse to the Crimea where she had heard there were poor medical facilities for wounded soldiers. Unfortunately, she was then lost to history for around 100 years until nurses from the Caribbean visited her grave in North West London, where the local MP, now Lord Clive Soley, promised to raise money for a statue for Mary. Jamaican doctresses mastered folk medicine, had a vast knowledge of tropical diseases, a… [30][31][32] The statue's sculptor, Martin Jennings, noted the substantial length of time it took to raise the necessary funds, contrasting it with the more usual period of around two years, and asked, in an interview in The Guardian newspaper in 2016, "would there really be such energy behind the[..] resistance if the person the statue honours was white-skinned"? Mary Jane Seacole was born Mary Jane Grant in Kingston, in the Colony of Jamaica, the daughter of James Grant, a Scottish Lieutenant in the British Army, and a free Jamaican woman. Mary Seacole was born in Jamaica more than 200 years ago. At the time, Mary was as well-known in Britain as Florence Nightingale. Mary Seacole (née Grant, 1805–1881) was born in Jamaica to a Scottish father and a Jamaican mother. Her mother was creole, or a person of mixed race, and Seacole's father was white and a native of Scotland. Mary’s mother ran a lodging house, called Blundell Hall, which was much respected by local people in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital city. Mary, Jane Seacole was born on month day 1805, at birth place, to James Grant and UFN Grant. It’s Five Facts Friday.. Today we’ll share 5 facts about Mary Seacole. She was invited by the medical authorities to supervise nursing services at Up-Park in Kingston, the British Army’s headquarters, and she re-organised New Blundell Hall, her mother’s former lodging house rebuilt after a fire, to function as a hospital. Opposition was led by the Nightingale Society,[23] and its co-founder Lynn McDonald, the editor of the 16-volume Collected Works of Florence Nightingale. However, Mary’s companion was hot-tempered, and because there were no police officers around it was quite eventful! 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. All those who admired her came to her aid, whether soldiers, generals or members of the Royal family. Over £500,000 was raised in private donations, and this was supplemented by the granting of £240,000 by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, who diverted fines levied following the Libor banking scandal for the purpose of landscaping and preparing the statue's site.