Caring Facts About Mary Seacole, Florence Nightingale’s Arch-Rival
Mary Seacole spent her life playing second fiddle to Florence Nightingale, and this lifelong rivalry continued beyond the grave.
1. She Was Three In One
The life of Mary Seacole provides three stories in one. Seacole was an intrepid adventurer who was one of the first women to dare to travel solo. She was also a healing practitioner who bravely entered battlefields at her own peril.
And then there’s her feisty entrepreneurial spirit. Only Seacole could take a pile of scrap material and build a makeshift hotel in a heartbeat. What a life!
2. Her Mother Was A Mystery
Mary Seacole was born on November 23, 1805 in Kingston, British Jamaica. Seacole’s Mom, known as “the Doctress,” ran a boarding house called Blundell Hall where she used African and Caribbean herbal medicine to relieve the suffering of British servicemen. It was a busy place to be, and there was a risk that mom would lose little Mary in the shuffle.
In fact, it was the opposite that happened.
3. She Was Her Own Patient
While her mother attended to the ill and injured, little Mary Seacole attended to her own patients. This started with her dolls, expanded to her cats and then moved on to her own body.
Once her mom thought she was ready, Seacole joined her in the treatment of real people. It was the perfect training ground and—once she’d grown up—Seacole was ready to attack a very alarming reality.
October Films, Mary Seacole: The Real Angel of the Crimea (2005)
4. She Never Lost A Single One
When it came to childbirth, Jamaica had a high fatality rate. It was a chilling 25%. Seacole took what she’d learned from her mother and mixed it with what she’d seen the British military doctor doing. Seacole created a hybrid method to treat expecting mothers—and the results were extraordinary.
Seacole could proudly state that in her years of helping women give birth, she never lost a child or mother. However, she knew she still had much more to learn, and she knew exactly where to do it.
October Films, Mary Seacole: The Real Angel of the Crimea (2005)