Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands
Edited by W. J. S.; With an Introductory Preface by W. H. Russell

The 1858 printing of the 1857 autobiography of the Jamaican-born nurse who looked after British soldiers during the Crimean War.

Mary Seacole (Author), William Howard Russell (Preface by)

9781108068383, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 November 2013

218 pages, 1 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 1.3 cm, 0.28 kg

The daughter of a Scottish soldier and a Jamaican herbalist, Mary Seacole (1805–81) gained recognition for her provision of care to British troops during the Crimean War. She had travelled widely in the Caribbean and Panama before venturing to England to volunteer as an army nurse in the Crimea. Although rebuffed by officials, an undeterred Seacole funded her own expedition, establishing the British Hotel near Balaclava to provide a refuge for wounded officers. Known affectionately as 'Mother Seacole' among the men, yet returning to England bankrupt at the end of hostilities, she had her plight highlighted in the press. First published in 1857, and reissued here in its 1858 printing, her autobiography was intended to share her story and restore to her some financial security. Probably dictated to her editor, who then polished the text for publication, this was the first autobiography by a black woman in Britain.

To the reader
1. My birth and parentage
2. Struggles for life
3. My reception at the Independent Hotel
4. An unwelcome visitor in Cruces
5. American sympathy
6. Migration to Gorgona
7. The yellow fever on Jamaica
8. I long to join the British army before Sebastopol
9. Voyage to Constantinople
10. I start for Balaclava
11. Alarms in the harbour
12. The British Hotel
13. My work in the Crimea
14. My customers at the British Hotel
15. My first glimpse of war
16. Under fire on the fatal 18th of June
17. Inside Sebastopol
18. Holiday in the camp
19. New Year in the Crimea
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]