Mary Seacole – Black History Month x Worcester City Women FC

Next up in our articles celebrating Black History Month, striker Olivia Mitcham looks back at the life of influential nurse Mary Seacole, who pioneered the medical sphere during the Crimean War in the 19th century. 

Having studied African American history at University, from slavery through to civil rights, I always found myself focusing on the ‘forgotten’ individuals who haven’t necessarily been recorded in the history books that most people encounter in schools. 
 
For that reason, I have chosen Mary Seacole as my important historical figure. 
 
Mary was a British-Jamaican nurse who founded her own British Hotel where she treated many soldiers behind enemy lines during the Crimean War. 
 
She was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 23 November 1805 to a Scottish army officer father and a Jamaican mother. Whilst many people in the Caribbean were, Mary and her mother were not enslaved. Mary used to travel to Britain to practice her nursing, where she became known for her services during the Crimean War. 
 
Despite spending a long time seemingly forgotten following her death in 1881, Mary was voted the greatest Black Briton in 2004, and you can find a statue of her in Paddington, London.