Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands

In the aftermath of the Crimean War, the Jamaican ‘sutler’ Mary Seacole (1805–1881) published her autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands. She had written about her ‘adventures’ largely to raise funds following bankruptcy. Seacole had learned some nursing practices from her mother in Kingston, whom she called a ‘doctress’. Having heard that Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) was taking a contingent of nurses to Scutari to look after wounded British soldiers, Seacole hoped to volunteer. Nightingale had, however, already left with the first team of nurses. When she made inquiries about joining the second time, Seacole was – she suspected because of her skin colour – rebuffed. She drew on…