Mary Seacole Mary Jane Seacole ( 1805 – 14 May 1881 ) , " née " Grant , was a Jamaican - born woman of Scottish and Creole descent who set up a ' British Hotel ' behind the lines during the Crimean War , which she described as " a mess - table and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers , " and provided succour for wounded servicemen on the battlefield . She was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 1991 . In 2004 she was voted the greatest black Briton . She acquired knowledge of herbal medicine in the Caribbean . When the Crimean War broke out , she applied to the War Office to assist but was refused . She travelled independently and set up her hotel and assisted battlefield wounded . She became extremely popular among service personnel who raised money for her when she faced destitution after the war . After her death , she was forgotten for almost a century , but today is celebrated as a woman who successfully combatted racial prejudice . Her autobiography , " Wonderful Adventures of Mrs . Seacole in Many Lands " ( 1857 ) , is one of the earliest autobiographies of a mixed - race woman , although some aspects of its accuracy have been questioned . It has been claimed that Seacole ' s achievements have been exaggerated for political reasons and a plan to erect a statue of her at St Thomas ' Hospital , London , describing her as a " pioneer nurse " , has generated controversy . Further controversy broke out late in 2012 over reports of a proposal to remove her from the National Curriculum . Early life , 1805 – 1825 . Mary Seacole was born Mary Jane Grant in Kingston , Jamaica , the daughter of a Scottish soldier in the British Army and a free Jamaican Creole woman . Seacole ' s mother was a " doctress " , a healer who used traditional Caribbean and African herbal remedies . She ran Blundell Hall , a boarding house at 7 East Street , considered one of the best hotels in all Kingston . Here Seacole acquired her nursing skills . Her autobiography says her early experiments in medicine were based on what she learned from her mother while ministering to a doll , then progressing to pets , before helping her mother treat humans . Seacole was proud of her Scottish ancestry and called herself a Creole , a term that was commonly used in a racially neutral sense or to refer to the children of white settlers . In her autobiography , " The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs . Seacole " , she records her bloodline thus : " I am a Creole , and have good Scots blood coursing through my veins . My father was a soldier of an old Scottish family . " Legally , she was classified as a mulatto , a multiracial person with limited political rights ; Robinson speculates that she may technically have been a quadroon . Seacole emphasises her personal vigour in her autobiography , distancing herself from the contemporary stereotype of the " lazy Creole " , She was proud of her black ancestry , writing , " I have a few shades of deeper brown upon my skin which shows me related — and I am proud of the relationship — to those poor mortals whom you once held enslaved , and whose bodies America still owns . " The West Indies were an outpost of the British Empire in the late 18th century , and in the 1790s one - third of Britain ' s foreign trade was with the British West Indies . Britain ' s economic interests were protected by a massive military presence , with 69 line infantry regiments serving there between 1793 to 1801 , and another 24 between 1803 to 1815 . Seacole spent some years in the household of an elderly woman , whom she called her " kind patroness " , before returning to her mother . She was treated as a member of her patroness ' s family and received a good education . As the educated daughter of a Scottish officer and a free black woman with a respectable business , Seacole would have held a high position in Jamaican society . In about 1821 , Seacole visited London , stayed for a year , and visited relatives , the merchant Henriques family . Although London had a number of black people , she records that a companion , a West Indian with skin darker than her own " dusky " shades , was taunted by children . Seacole herself was " only a little brown " , nearly white according to Ramdin . She returned to London approximately a year later , bringing a " large stock of West Indian pickles and preserves for sale " . Her later travels would be as an " unprotected " woman , without a chaperone or sponsor — an unusual practice . Seacole returned to Jamaica in 1825 . In the Caribbean , 1826 – 51 . After returning to Jamaica , Seacole nursed her " old indulgent patroness " through an illness , finally returning to the family home at Blundell Hall after the death of her patroness a few years later . Seacole then worked alongside her mother , occasionally being called to assist at the British Army hospital at Up - Park Camp . Dure Caribbean , visiting the British colony of New Providence in The Bahamas , the Spanish colony of Cuba , and the new republic of Haiti . Seacole records these travels , but omits mention of significant current events , such as the Christmas Rebellion in Jamaica of 1831 , the partial abolition of slavery in 1834 , and the full abolition of slavery in 1838 . She married Edwin Horatio Hamilton Seacole in Kingston on 10 November 1836 . Her marriage , from betrothal to widowhood , is described in just nine lines at the conclusion of the first chapter of her autobiography . His middle names are intriguing : Robinson reports the legend in the Seacole family that Edwin was an illegitimate son of Horatio Nelson , 1st Viscount Nelson and his mistress Emma , Lady Hamilton , who was adopted by Thomas , a local " surgeon , apothecary and man midwife " ( Seacole ' s will indicates that Horatio Seacole was Nelson ' s godson : she left a diamond ring to her friend , Lord Rokeby , " given to my late husband by his godfather Viscount Nelson " , but there was no mention of this godson in Nelson ' s own will or its codicils . ) Edwin was a merchant and seems to have had a poor constitution . The newly married couple moved to Black River and opened a provisions store which failed to prosper . They returned to Blundell Hall in the early 1840s . During 1843 and 1844 , Seacole suffered a series of personal disasters . She and her family lost much of the boarding house in a fire in Kingston on 29 August 1843 . Blundell Hall burned down , and was replaced by New Blundell Hall , which was described as " better than before " . Then her husband died in October 1844 , followed by her mother . After a period of grief , in which Seacole says she did not stir for days , she composed herself , " turned a bold front to fortune " , and assumed the management of her mother ' s hotel . She put her rapid recovery down to her hot Creole blood , blunting the " sharp edge of [ her ] grief " sooner than Europeans who she thought " nurse their woe secretly in their hearts " . She absorbed herself into work , declining many offers of marriage . She later became widely known and respected , particularly among the European military visitors to Jamaica who often stayed at Blundell Hall . She treated patients in the cholera epidemic of 1850 , which killed some 32 , 000 Jamaicans . Seacole attributed the outbreak to infection brought on a steamer from New Orleans , Louisiana , demonstrating knowledge of contagion theory . This first - hand experience would benefit her during the next five years . In Central America , 1851 – 54 . In 1850 , Seacole ' s half - brother Edward moved to Cruces , Panama , which was then part of New Granada . There , approximately up the Chagres River from the coast , he followed the family trade by establishing the Independent Hotel to accommodate the many travellers between the eastern and western coasts of the United States ( the number of travellers had increased enormously , as part of the 1849 California Gold Rush ) . Cruces was the limit of navigability of the Chagres River during the rainy season , which lasts from June to December . Travellers would ride on donkeys approximately along the Las Cruces trail from Panama City on the Pacific Ocean coast to Cruces , and then down - river to the Atlantic Ocean at Chagres ( or vice versa ) . In the dry season , the river subsided , and travellers would switch from land to the river a few miles farther downstream , at Gorgona . Most of these settlements have now been submerged by Gatun Lake , formed as part of the Panama Canal . In 1851 , Seacole travelled to Cruces to visit her brother . Shortly after her arrival , the town was struck by cholera , a disease which had reached Panama in 1849 . Seacole was on hand to treat the first victim , who survived , which established Seacole ' s reputation and brought her a succession of patients as the infection spread . The rich paid , but she treated the poor for free . Many , both rich and poor , succumbed . She eschewed opium , preferring mustard rubs and poultice s , the laxative calomel ( mercuric chloride ) , sugars of lead ( lead ( II ) acetate ) , and rehydration with water boiled with cinnamon . While her preparations had moderate success , she faced little competition , the only other treatments coming from a " timid little dentist " , who was an inexperienced doctor sent by the Panamanian government , and the Roman Catholic Church . The epidemic raged through the population . Seacole later expressed exasperation at their feeble resistance , claiming they " bowed down before the plague in slavish despair " . She performed an autopsy on an orphan child for whom she had cared , which gave her " decidedly useful " new knowledge . Towards the end of the epidemic , Seacole herself sickened but survived . Cholera was to return again : Ulysses S . Grant passed through Cruces in July , 1852 , on military duty ; a hundred and twenty men , a third of his party , died of the disease there or shortly afterwards en route to Panama City . Despite the problems of disease and climate , Panama remained the favoured route between the coasts of the United States . Seeing a business opportunity , Seacole opened the British Hotel , which was a restaurant rather than an hotel . She described it as a " tumble down hut , " with two rooms , the smaller one to be her bedroom , the larger one to serve up to 50 diners . She soon added the services of a barber . As the wet season ended in early 1852 , Seacole joined other traders in Cruces in packing up to move to Gorgona . She records a white American giving a speech at a leaving dinner in which he wished that " God bless the best yaller woman he ever made " and asked the listeners to join with him in rejoicing that " she ' s so many shades removed from being entirely black " . He went on to say that " if we could bleach her by any means we would [ . . . ] and thus make her acceptable in any company [ , ] as she deserves to be " . Seacole replied firmly that she did not " appreciate your friend ' s kind wishes with respect to my complexion . If it had been as dark as any nigger ' s , I should have been just as happy and just as useful , and as much respected by those whose respect I value . " She declined the offer of " bleaching " and drank " to you and the general reformation of American manners " . Salih notes the use of American pidgin , against Seacole ' s clear English , as representational of a supposed white moral and intellectual superiority . Seacole also comments on the positions of responsibility taken on by escaped American slaves in Panama , as well as in the priesthood , the army , and public offices , commenting that " it is wonderful to see how freedom and equality elevate men " . She also records an antipathy between Panamanians and Americans , which she attributes in part to the fact that so many of the former had once been slaves of the latter . In Gorgona , Seacole briefly ran a woman - only hotel . In late 1852 , she travelled home to Jamaica . The journey was delayed and difficult when she encountered racial discrimination while trying to book passage on an American ship . She was forced to wait for a later British boat . In 1853 , soon after arriving home , Seacole was asked by the Jamaican medical authorities to minister to victims of a severe outbreak of yellow fever . She found that she could do little , because the epidemic was so severe . Her memoirs state that her own boarding house was full of sufferers and she saw many of them die . Although she wrote , " I was sent for by the medical authorities to provide nurses for the sick at Up - Park Camp , " she did not claim to bring nurses with her when she went . She left her sister with some nurses at her house , went to the camp ( about a mile , or 1 . 6 km , from Kingston ) , " and did my best , but it was little we could do to mitigate the severity of the epidemic . " Seacole returned to Panama in early 1854 to finalise her business affairs , and three months later moved to the New Granada Mining Gold Company establishment at Fort Bowen Mine some away near Escribanos . The superintendent , Thomas Day , was related to her late husband . Seacole had read newspaper reports of the outbreak of war against Russia before she left Jamaica , and news of the escalating Crimean War reached her in Panama . She determined to travel to England to volunteer as a nurse , to experience the " pomp , pride and circumstance of glorious war " as she described it in Chapter I of her autobiography . Crimean War , 1854 – 56 . The Crimean War lasted from October 1853 until 1 April 1856 and was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the United Kingdom , France , the Kingdom of Sardinia , and the Ottoman Empire . The majority of the conflict took place on the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea and Turkey . Many thousands of troops from all the countries involved were drafted to the area , and disease broke out almost immediately . Hundreds perished , mostly from cholera . Hundreds more would die waiting to be shipped out , or on the voyage . Their prospects were little better when they arrived at the poorly staffed , unsanitary and overcrowded hospitals which were the only medical provision for the wounded . In Britain , a trenchant letter in " The Times " on 14 October triggered Sidney Herbert , Secretary of State for War , to approach Florence Nightingale to form a detachment of nurses to be sent to the hospital to save lives . Interviews were quickly held , suitable candidates selected , and Nightingale left for Turkey on 21 October . Seacole travelled from Navy Bay in Panama to England , initially to deal with her investments in gold - mining businesses . She then attempted to join the second contingent of nurses to the Crimea . She applied to the War Office and other government offices , but arrangements for departure were already underway . In her memoir , she wrote that she brought " ample testimony " of her experience in nursing , but the only example officially cited was that of a former medical officer of the West Granada Gold - Mining Company . She also applied to the Crimean Fund , a fund raised by public subscription to support the wounded in Crimea , for sponsorship to travel there , but she again met with refusal . Seacole finally resolved to travel to Crimea using her own resources and to open the British Hotel . Business card s were printed and sent ahead to announce her intention to open an establishment , to be called the " British Hotel " , near Balaclava , which would be " a mess - table and comfortable quarters for sick and convalescent officers " . Shortly afterwards , her Caribbean acquaintance , Thomas Day , arrived unexpectedly in London , and the two formed a partnership . They assembled a stock of supplies , and Seacole embarked on the Dutch screw - steamer " Hollander " on 27 January 1855 on its maiden voyage , to Constantinople . The ship called at Malta , where Seacole encountered a doctor who had recently left Scutari . He wrote her a letter of introduction to Nightingale . Seacole visited Nightingale at the Barrack Hospital in Scutari , where she asked for a bed for the night , because she intended to travel to Balaclava the next day to join her business partner . In her memoirs , she reported that her meeting with Nightingale was friendly , with Nightingale asking " What do you want , Mrs . Seacole ? Anything we can do for you ? If it lies in my power , I shall be very happy . " Seacole told her of her " dread of the night journey by caique " and the improbability of being able to find the " Hollander " in the dark . A bed was then found for her and breakfast sent her in the morning , with a " kind message " from Mrs . Bracebridge , Nightingale ' s helper . A footnote in the memoir states that Seacole subsequently " saw much of Miss Nightingale at Balaclava , " but no further meetings are recorded in the text . After transferring most of her stores to the transport ship " Albatross " , with the remainder following on the " Nonpareil " , she set out on the four - day voyage to the British bridgehead into Crimea at Balaclava . Lacking proper building materials , Seacole gathered abandoned metal and wood in her spare moments , with a view to using the debris to build her hotel . She found a site for the hotel at a place she christened Spring Hill , near Kadikoi , some along the main British supply road from Balaclava to the British camp near Sevastopol , and within a mile of the British headquarters . The hotel was built from the salvaged driftwood , packing cases , iron sheets , and salvaged architectural items such as glass - doors and window - frames , from the village of Kamara , using hired local labour . The new British Hotel opened in March 1855 . An early visitor was Alexis Soyer , a noted French chef who had travelled to Crimea to help improve the diet of British soldiers . He records meeting Seacole in his 1857 work " A Culinary Campaign " and describes Seacole as " an old dame of a jovial appearance , but a few shades darker than the white lily " . Seacole requested Soyer ' s advice on how to manage her business , and was advised to concentrate on food and beverage service , and not to have beds for visitors because the few either slept on board ships in the harbour or in tents in the camp . The hotel was completed in July at a total cost of £800 . It included a building made of iron , containing a main room with counters and shelves and storage above , an attached kitchen , two wooden sleeping huts , outhouses , and an enclosed stable - yard . The building was stocked with provisions shipped from London and Constantinople , as well as local purchases from the British camp near Kadikoi and the French camp at nearby Kamiesch . Seacole sold anything - - " from a needle to an anchor " — to army officers and visiting sightseers . Meals were served at the Hotel , cooked by two black cooks , and the kitchen also provided outside catering . Despite constant thefts , particularly of livestock , Seacole ' s establishment prospered . Chapter XIV of " Wonderful Adventures " describes the meals and supplies provided to officers . They were closed at 8 pm daily and on Sundays . Seacole did some of the cooking herself : " Whenever I had a few leisure moments , I used to wash my hands , roll up my sleeves , and roll out pastry . " When called to " dispense medications , " she did so . Soyer was a frequent visitor , and praised Seacole ' s offerings , noting that she offered him champagne on his first visit . The Special Correspondent of " The Times " newspaper wrote approvingly of her work : " . . . Mrs . Seacole . . . doctors and cures all manner of men with extraordinary success . She is always in attendance near the battle - field to aid the wounded , and has earned many a poor fellow ’ s blessings . " Florence Nightingale had mixed views of Seacole . She was concerned about her sale of liquor to the soldiers , who were already given a large amount in their rations . She did not , however , express her disapproval openly . To Soyer , near the time of departure , she acknowledged favourable views of Seacole , consistent with their one known meeting in Scutari . Soyer ' s remarks — he knew both women — show pleasantness on both sides . Seacole told him of her encounter with Nightingale at the Barrack Hospital : " You must know , M Soyer , that Miss Nightingale is very fond of me . When I passed through Scutari , she very kindly gave me board and lodging . " When he related Seacole ' s inquiries to Nightingale , she replied " with a smile : ' I should like to see her before she leaves , as I hear she has done a deal of good for the poor soldiers . ' " Nightingale , however , did not want her nurses associating with Seacole , as she wrote to her brother - in - law . Seacole often went out to the troops as a sutler , selling her provisions near the British camp at Kadikoi , and attending to casualties brought out from the trenches around Sevastopol or from the Tchernaya valley . She was widely known to the British Army as " Mother Seacole " . Apart from serving officers at the British Hotel , Seacole also provided catering for spectators at the battles , and spent time on Cathcart ' s Hill , some north of the British Hotel , as an observer . On one occasion , attending wounded troops under fire , she dislocated her right thumb , an injury which never healed entirely . In a dispatch written on 14 September 1855 , William Howard Russell , special correspondent of " The Times " , wrote that she was a " warm and successful physician , who doctors and cures all manner of men with extraordinary success . She is always in attendance near the battle - field to aid the wounded and has earned many a poor fellow ' s blessing . " Russell also wrote that she " redeemed the name of sutler " , and another that she was " both a Miss Nightingale and a [ chef ] " . Seacole made a point of wearing brightly coloured , and highly conspicuous , clothing — often bright blue , or yellow , with ribbons in contrasting colours . While Lady Alicia Blackwood later recalled that Seacole had " . . . personally spared no pains and no exertion to visit the field of woe , and minister with her own hands such things as could comfort or alleviate the suffering of those around her ; freely giving to such as could not pay . . . " . In late August , Seacole was on the route to Cathcart ' s Hill for the final assault on Sevastopol on 7 September 1855 . French troops led the storming , but the British were beaten back . By dawn on Sunday 9 September , the city was burning out of control , and it was clear that it had fallen : the Russians retreated to fortifications to the north of the harbour . Later in the day , Seacole fulfilled a bet , and became the first British woman to enter Sevastopol after it fell . Having obtained a pass , she toured the broken town , bearing refreshments and visiting the crowded hospital by the docks , containing thousands of dead and dying Russians . Her foreign appearance led to her being stopped by French looters , but she was rescued by a passing officer . She " liberated " some items from the city , including a church bell , an altar candle , and a three - metre ( 10 ft ) long painting of the Madonna . After the fall of Sevastopol , hostilities continued in a desultory fashion . The business of Seacole and Day prospered in the interim period , with the officers taking the opportunity to enjoy themselves in the quieter days . There were theatrical performances and horse - racing events for which Seacole provided catering . Seacole was joined by a 14 - year - old girl , Sarah , also known as Sally . Soyer described her as " the Egyptian beauty , Mrs Seacole ' s daughter Sarah " , with blue eyes and dark hair . Nightingale alleged that Sarah was the illegitimate offspring of Seacole and Colonel Henry Bunbury . However , there is no evidence that Bunbury met Seacole , or even visited Jamaica , at a time when she would have been nursing her ailing husband . Ramdin speculates that Thomas Day could have been Sarah ' s father , pointing to the unlikely coincidences of their meeting in Panama and then in England , and their unusual business partnership in Crimea . Peace talks began in Paris in early 1856 , and friendly relations opened between the Allies and the Russians , with a lively trade across the River Tchernaya . The Treaty of Paris was signed on 30 March 1856 , after which the soldiers left Crimea . Seacole was in a difficult financial position , her business was full of unsalable provisions , new goods were arriving daily , and creditors were demanding payment . She attempted to sell as much as possible before the soldiers left , but she was forced to auction many expensive goods for lower - than - expected prices to the Russians who were returning to their homes . The evacuation of the Allied armies was formally completed at Balaclava on 9 July 1856 , with Seacole " . . . conspicuous in the foreground . . . dressed in a plaid riding - habit . . . " . Seacole was one of the last to leave Crimea , returning to England " poorer than [ she ] left it " . Back in London , 1856 – 60 . After the end of the war , Seacole returned to England destitute and in poor health . In the conclusion to her autobiography , she records that she " took the opportunity " to visit " yet other lands " on her return journey , although Robinson attributes this to her impecunious state requiring a roundabout trip . She arrived in August 1856 , and considered setting up shop with Day in Aldershot , Hampshire , but nothing materialised . She attended a celebratory dinner for 2 , 000 soldiers at Royal Surrey Gardens in Kennington on 25 August 1856 , at which Nightingale was chief guest of honour . Reports in " The Times " on 26 August and " News of the World " on 31 August indicate that Seacole was also fêted by the huge crowds , with two " burly " sergeants protecting her from the pressure of the crowd . However , creditors who had supplied her firm in Crimea were in pursuit . She was forced to move to 1 , Tavistock Street , Covent Garden in increasingly dire financial straits . The Bankruptcy Court in Basinghall Street declared her bankrupt on 7 November 1856 . Robinson speculates that Seacole ' s business problems may have been caused in part by her partner , Day , who dabbled in horse trading and may have set up as an unofficial bank , cashing debts . At about this time , Seacole began to wear military medals . These are mentioned in an account of her appearance in the bankruptcy court in November 1856 . A bust by George Kelly , based on an original by Count Gleichen from around 1871 , depicts her wearing four medals , three of which have been identified as the British Crimea Medal , the French Légion d ' honneur and the Turkish Order of the Medjidie medal . Robinson says that one is " apparently " a Sardinian award ( Sardinia having joined Britain and France in supporting Turkey against Russia in the war ) . The Jamaican " Daily Gleaner " stated in her obituary on 9 June 1881 that she had also received a Russian medal , but it has not been identified . However , no formal notice of her award exists in the " London Gazette " , and it seems unlikely that Seacole was formally rewarded for her actions in Crimea ; rather , she may have bought miniature or " dress " medals to display her support and affection for her " sons " in the Army . Seacole ' s plight was highlighted in the British press . As a consequence a fund was set up , to which many prominent people donated money , and on 30 January 1857 , she and Day were granted certificates discharging them from bankruptcy . Day left for the Antipodes to seek new opportunities , but Seacole ' s funds remained low . She moved from Tavistock Street to cheaper lodgings at 14 Soho Square in early 1857 , triggering a plea for subscriptions from " Punch " on 2 May . Further fund - raising kept Seacole in the public eye . In May 1857 she wanted to travel to India , to minister to the wounded of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , but she was dissuaded by both the new Secretary of War , Lord Panmure , and her financial troubles . Fund - raising activities included the " Seacole Fund Grand Military Festival " , which was held at the Royal Surrey Gardens , from Monday 27 July to Thursday 30 July 1857 . This successful event was supported by many military men , including Major General Lord Rokeby ( who had commanded the 1st Division in Crimea ) and Lord George Paget ; over 1 , 000 artists performed , including 11 military bands and an orchestra conducted by Louis Antoine Jullien , which was attended by a crowd of circa 40 , 000 . The one - shilling entrance charge was quintupled for the first night , and halved for the Tuesday performance . However , production costs had been high and the Royal Surrey Gardens Company was itself having financial problems . It became insolvent immediately after the festival , and as a result Seacole only received £57 , one quarter of the profits from the event . When eventually the financial affairs of the ruined Company were resolved , in March 1858 , the Indian Mutiny was over . A 200 - page autobiographical account of her travels was published in July 1857 by James Blackwood as " Wonderful Adventures of Mrs . Seacole in Many Lands " , the first autobiography written by a black woman in Britain . Priced at one shilling and six pence ( 1 / ) a copy , the cover bears a striking portrait of Seacole in red , yellow and black ink . Robinson speculates that she dictated the work to an editor , identified in the book only as W . J . S . , who improved her grammar and orthography . In the work Seacole deals with the first 39 years of her life in one short chapter . She then expands six chapters on her few years in Panama , before using the following 12 chapters to detail her exploits in Crimea . She avoids mention of the names of her parents and precise date of birth . A short final " Conclusion " deals with her return to England , and lists supporters of her fund - raising effort , including Rokeby , Prince Edward of Saxe - Weimar , the Duke of Wellington , the Duke of Newcastle , William Russell , and other prominent men in the military . The book was dedicated to Major - General Lord Rokeby , commander of the First Division ; and William Howard Russell wrote as a preface , " I have witnessed her devotion and her courage . . . and I trust that England will never forget one who has 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 . " Later life , 1860 – 81 . Seacole had joined the Roman Catholic Church circa 1860 , and returned to a Jamaica changed in her absence as Jamaica faced economic downturn . She became a prominent figure in the country . However , by 1867 she was again running short of money , and the Seacole fund was resurrected in London , with illustrious new patrons , including the Prince of Wales , the Duke of Edinburgh , the Duke of Cambridge , and many other senior military officers . The fund burgeoned , and Seacole was able to buy land on Duke Street in Kingston , near New Blundell Hall , where she built a bungalow as her new home , plus a larger property to rent out . By 1870 , Seacole was back in London , and Robinson speculates that she was drawn back by the prospect of rendering medical assistance in the Franco - Prussian War . It seems likely that she approached Sir Harry Verney ( the husband of Florence Nightingale ' s sister Parthenope ) Member of Parliament for Buckingham who was closely involved in the British National Society for the Relief of the Sick and Wounded . It was at this time Nightingale wrote her letter to Verney insinuating that Seacole had kept a " bad house " in Crimea , and was responsible for " much drunkenness and improper conduct " . In London , Seacole joined the periphery of the royal circle . Prince Victor of Hohenlohe - Langenburg ( a nephew of Queen Victoria ; as a young Lieutenant he had been one of Seacole ' s customers in Crimea ) carved a marble bust of her in 1871 that was exhibited at the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1872 . Seacole also became personal masseuse to the Princess of Wales who suffered with white leg and rheumatism . Seacole died in 1881 at her home in Paddington , London , the cause of death was noted as " apoplexy " . She left an estate valued at over £2 , 500 . After some specific legacies , many of exactly 19 guineas , the main beneficiary of her will was her sister , Louisa . Lord Rokeby , Colonel Hussey Fane Keane , and Count Gleichen ( three trustees of her Fund ) were each left £50 ; Count Gleichen also received a diamond ring , said to have been given to Seacole ’ s late husband by Lord Nelson . A short obituary was published in " The Times " on 21 May 1881 . She was buried in St . Mary ' s Roman Catholic Cemetery , Harrow Road , Kensal Green , London . Recognition . While well - known at the end of her life , Seacole rapidly faded from public memory . Her work in Crimea was overshadowed by Florence Nightingale ' s for many years . However , in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in her and efforts to properly acknowledge her achievements . Seacole has become a symbol of racial attitudes and social injustices in Britain during that period . She was quoted as an example of " hidden " black history in Salman Rushdie ' s " The Satanic Verses " , like Olaudah Equiano : " See , here is Mary Seacole , who did as much in the Crimea as another magic - lamping lady , but , being dark , could scarce be seen for the flame of Florence ' s candle . " She has been better remembered in the Caribbean , where she was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 1991 . The headquarters of the Jamaican General Trained Nurses ' Association was christened " Mary Seacole House " in 1954 , followed quickly by the naming of a hall of residence of the University of the West Indies in Mona , Jamaica . A ward at Kingston Public Hospital was also named in her memory . Her grave was rediscovered in 1973 ; a service of reconsecration was held on 20 November 1973 , and her impressive gravestone was also restored by the British Commonwealth Nurses ' War Memorial Fund and the Lignum Vitae Club . The centenary of her death was celebrated with a memorial service on 14 May 1981 . An English Heritage blue plaque was erected by the Greater London Council at her residence in 157 George Street , Westminster , on 9 March 1985 , but it was removed in 1998 before the site was redeveloped . A " green plaque " was unveiled at 147 George Street , in Westminster , on 11 October 2005 . However , another blue plaque has since been positioned at another residence , in 14 Soho Square , where she lived in 1857 . By the 21st century , Seacole was much more prominent . Several buildings and entities , mainly connected with health care , were named after her . In 2005 , Boris Johnson ( now Mayor of London , then editor of " The Spectator " ) wrote of learning about Seacole from his daughter ' s school pageant and speculated : " I find myself facing the grim possibility that it was my own education that was blinkered . " In 2007 Seacole was introduced into the National Curriculum , and her life story is taught at many primary schools in the UK alongside that of Florence Nightingale . She was voted into first place in an online poll of 100 Great Black Britons in 2004 . The portrait identified as Seacole in 2005 was used for one of ten first - class stamps showing important Britons , to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the National Portrait Gallery . British buildings and organisations now commemorate her by name . One of the first was the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice at Thames Valley University , which created the NHS Specialist Library for Ethnicity and Health , a web - based collection of research - based evidence and good practice information relating to the health needs of minority ethnic groups , and other resources relevant to multi - cultural health care . There is another Mary Seacole Research Centre , this one at De Montfort University in Leicester , and a problem - based learning room at St George ' s , University of London is named after her . Brunel University in West London houses its School of Health Sciences and Social Care in the Mary Seacole Building . New buildings at the University of Salford and Birmingham City University bear her name , as does part of the new headquarters of the Home Office at 2 Marsham Street . There is a Mary Seacole ward in the Douglas Bader Centre in Roehampton . An annual prize to recognise and develop leadership in nurses , midwives and health visitors in the National Health Service was named Seacole , to " acknowledge her achievements " . An exhibition to celebrate the bicentenary of her birth opened at the Florence Nightingale Museum in London in March 2005 . Originally scheduled to last for a few months , the exhibition was so popular that it was extended to March 2007 . A campaign to erect a statue of Seacole in London was launched on 24 November 2003 , chaired by Clive Soley , Baron Soley . The design of the sculpture , which is planned to be erected in the grounds of St . Thomas ' Hospital , was announced on 18 June 2009 . There is significant opposition to the siting of the statue . There is a feature film being made of her life by Seacole Pictures . A short animation about Mary Seacole was adapted from a book entitled " Mother Seacole " , published in 2005 as part of the bicentenary celebrations . Seacole is featured in BBC / CBBC ' s " Horrible Histories " , where she is portrayed by Dominique Moore . Controversies . Seacole ' s recognition has provoked a reaction . It has been argued that she has been promoted at the expense of Florence Nightingale , and in an attempt to promote multiculturalism . Professor Lynn McDonald has written that " . . . support for Seacole has been used to attack Nightingale ' s reputation as a pioneer in public health and nursing . " There is opposition to the proposed siting of a statue of Mary Seacole at St Thomas ' Hospital on the grounds that she had no connection with this institution , whereas Florence Nightingale did . Dr Sean Lang has stated that she " she does not qualify as a mainstream figure in the history of nursing " . Seacole ' s name appears in an appendix to the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum , as an example of a significant Victorian historical figure . There is no requirement that teachers include Seacole in their lessons . At the end of 2012 it was reported that Mary Seacole was to be removed from the National Curriculum . Opposing this Greg Jenner , historical consultant to " Horrible Histories " , has stated that while her medical achievements have been exaggerated , removing Seacole from the curriculum would be a mistake . While Peter Hitchens has argued that Seacole ' s accomplishments have been exaggerated because anybody who put a contrary view was afraid to be accused of racism , both Jenner and Hugh Muir have asserted that this is not the case . Susan Sheridan has argued that the leaked proposal to remove Seacole from the National Curriculum is part of " a concentration solely on large - scale political and military history and a fundamental shift away from social history . " In " The Daily Telegraph " , Cathy Newman argues that Michael Gove ' s plans for the new history curriculum " could mean the only women children learn anything about will be queens " . In January 2013 Operation Black Vote launched a petition to request Education Secretary Michael Gove to drop neither her nor Oloudah Equiano from the National Curriculum Rev . Jesse Jackson and others wrote a letter to " The Times " protesting against the mooted removal of Mary Seacole from the National Curriculum . This was declared successful on the 8th February , 2013 , after approximately 35 , 000 signatures forced Michael Gove to concede .