The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands (Penguin Classics)

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From growing up in Kingston, Jamaica as the daughter of a doctress to helping soldiers in the war, discover the details of the amazing life that Mary Seacole led in this beautifully illustrated book with real-life stories, timelines and facts. But following her death, her name was almost completely forgotten for around 100 years. It wasn’t until the 1970s, in fact, that people started to read about the amazing Mary Seacole and wanted to know more about her. After the war, Seacole salvaged what she could from her business and set up a shop in Aldershot, an army base in England. It, too, failed. And here I may take the opportunity of explaining that it was from a confidence in my own powers, and not at all from necessity, that I remained an unprotected female. Indeed, I do not mind confessing to my reader, in a friendly confidential way, that one of the hardest struggles of my life in Kingston was to resist the pressing candidates for the late Mr. Seacole's shoes. Most of what we know about Mary Seacole comes from a book she published in 1857 about her life. She called it The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands– and it proved a popular read!

Mary so was caring, in fact, she became known amongst the soldiers as “ Mother Seacole”. What did Mary do after the war? In 1823, Mary went to London on her own, remaining there for 2 years. She experienced racist comments while in London. She describes herself as “only a little” brown, but her friend was very dark so London boys made fun of their complexions. However, Mary’s companion was hot-tempered, and because there were no police officers around it was quite eventful! In fact, when she was a teenager, she took two trips to England, where she spent three years in total. Her plans for nursing frustrated, Seacole decided to open a business instead. Her business partner was a relative of her husband’s, Thomas Day, whom she knew from Panama and encountered again in London. She arrived in Turkey in March 1855, some months after the major battles had been fought.It was a simple building where British soldiers could come for a meal and be looked after. And during her time in Crimea Mary also helped some of the soldiers injured on the battlefield. Mary became so popular with the British soldiers that they called her 'Mother Seacole'. a b "Mixed Historical Figures". MixedFolks. 2003. Archived from the original on 4 November 2001 . Retrieved 30 March 2008. Prescott, Amanda-Rae (8 November 2021). "Doctor Who: The Real-Life History of Mary Seacole". Den of Geek . Retrieved 10 November 2021. Four crowds generally passed through Cruces every month. In these were to be found passengers to and from Chili, Peru, and Lima, as well as California and America. The distance from Cruces to Panama was not great – only twenty miles, in fact; but the journey, from the want of roads and the roughness of the country, was a most fatiguing one. In some parts – as I found when I made the journey, in company with my brother – it was almost impassable; and for more than half the distance, three miles an hour was considered splendid progress. The great majority of the travellers were rough, rude men, of dirty, quarrelsome habits; the others were more civilized and more dangerous. And it was not long before I grew very tired of life in Cruces, although I made money rapidly, and pressed my brother to return to Kingston. Poor fellow! it would have been well for him had he done so; for he stayed only to find a grave on the Isthmus of Panama. All upcoming public events are going ahead as planned and you can find more information on our events blog

a b c d e Anionwu E.N. (2012) Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 6(5), pp. 244–248The Library's buildings remain fully open but some services are limited, including access to collection items. We're It was a long and difficult journey. When she got there, Mary set up what she called the British Hotel .

The Times newspaper ran an article encouraging people to remember the good things Seacole had done for British soldiers. Officers who had fought in Crimea organised a festival in aid of Seacole to help raise money for her. A newspaper article that covered the event described Seacole's heart as being ‘big enough for an empress’. The fund was supported by high profile figures from the military.National Geographic Society. "Mary Seacole." National Geographic Society, National Geographic, 15 October 2012. McCrum, Robert (10 April 2017). "The 100 best nonfiction books: No 62 – The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands (1857)". The Guardian . Retrieved 28 April 2018. One night I heard a great noise outside my window, and on rising found a poor boatman moaning piteously, and in a strange jumble of many languages begging me to help him. At first I was afraid to open the door, on account of the noisy mob which soon joined him, for villainy was very shrewd at Cruces; but at last I admitted him, and found that the poor wretch's ears had been cruelly split by some hasty citizen of the United States. I stitched them up as well as I could, and silenced his cries. And at any time, if you happened to be near the river when a crowd were arriving or departing, your ears would be regaled with a choice chorus of threats, of which ear-splitting, eye-gouging, cow-hiding, and the application of revolvers were the mildest. Against the negroes, of whom there were many in the Isthmus, and who almost invariably filled the municipal offices, and took the lead in every way, the Yankees had a strong prejudice; but it was wonderful to see how freedom and equality elevate men, and the same negro who perhaps in Tennessee would have cowered like a beaten child or dog beneath an American's uplifted hand, would face him boldly here, and by equal courage and superior physical strength cow his old oppressor.