Mary Seacole: Global Nurse Extraordinaire

DISCUSSION PAPER

Mary Seacole: global nurse extraordinaire

Corry Staring-Derks, Jeroen Staring & Elizabeth N. Anionwu

Accepted for publication 18 September 2014

Correspondence to E.N. Anionwu: STARING-DERKS C., STARING J. & ANIONWU E.N. (2014) Mary Seacole: glo- e-mail: [email protected] bal nurse extraordinaire. Journal of Advanced Nursing 00(0), 000–000. doi: 10.1111/jan.12559 Corry Staring-Derks MSc Infant Welfare Centre Medical Specialist and Lecturer in Medicine Abstract University of Applied Sciences Avans Aims. A discussion of recently discovered literature that reveals how after the Hogeschool Nursing Departments, Breda Crimean War ended in 1856, Jamaican nurse, doctress and entrepreneur Mary and Den Bosch, The Netherlands Seacole travelled more widely and gained further international recognition than had previously been appreciated. Jeroen Staring PhD Background. New findings demonstrate that Seacole’s international charitable PhD in Medical Sciences, PhD in Pedagogy, and business activities were reported more widely than realised. Recently Independent Researcher discovered literature uncovers her networking and strategic skills in various social Nijmegen, The Netherlands milieus. A former Scutari nurse and 39 other women, offered their service to Elizabeth N. Anionwu PhD RN Seacole to nurse British soldiers in India. Newspapers also reported the medal she Emeritus Professor of Nursing had been awarded from the Turkish government. University of West London, UK Design. Discussion paper. @EAnionwu Data sources. Digitized 19th-century newspaper reports, and 1857 Dutch and 1858 French translations of Seacole’s autobiography and a recently discovered handwritten letter dated 1 October 1857 from Seacole to Sir Henry Storks, at the time Secretary for Military Correspondence at the War Office, London. Implications for nursing. Awareness of the findings affords a more thorough understanding of the scope and diversity of nursing history. This can provide valuable role models for the 21st century generations of competent and self- confident healthcare professionals. The new evidence offers further testimony that Seacole can truly be considered as one such figurehead. Conclusions. British and international primary sources reveal Mary Seacole as an historical and charismatic global phenomenon, more than had been previously realised.

Keywords: historical research, Mary Seacole, military nursing, multicultural issues, research dissemination, transcultural nursing

Seacole in Many Lands. Essential title keywords portray the manner in which she characterized herself: ‘Wonderful Introduction Adventures’ refers to nurse, doctress and entrepreneur In 1857(a), Mary Jane Grant Seacole (1805–1881) Seacole, while ‘Many Lands’ expresses her penchant for published her autobiography Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. globetrotting.

words in her autobiography (1857a), published just about Why is this research or review needed? twenty years after slavery had been fully abolished in • To disseminate new findings concerning activities and Jamaica in 1838: ‘I was born’ (p. 1), as it was usual for media coverage of Mary Seacole following the end of the slave stories published at the time to open by these words. Crimean War in 1856. On the one hand, the statement that the story’s author was • To illustrate the need to research gaps in knowledge con- indeed born was valued as more important than to note cerning historical nursing figures. her/his exact date of birth; on the other hand, these three words express the slaves’ truth of their narratives (Haw- What are the key findings? thorne 2000, p. 315). Apart from her desire to convince • A recently discovered letter written by Mary Seacole in readers of the truth of her tale (Staring-Derks 2007), the 1857 to Sir Henry Storks, reveals her networking skills in opening words of Seacole’s life story testify to her respect the higher echelons of British society. for her African-Jamaican heritage. Furthermore, she wrote: • A newspaper letter from a nurse who worked at Scutari ‘I have a few shades of deeper brown upon my skin, which under Florence Nightingale, brings to light that 40 women shows me related – and I am proud of the relationship – to viewed Mary Seacole as a leader. those poor mortals whom you once held enslaved and • Evidence is provided that a medal was indeed awarded to whose bodies America still owns’ (Seacole 1857a, p. 14). Mary Seacole, by the Turkish Government, for services in Moreover, in writing her narrative – clearly intended for a the Crimean War. British public – Seacole had to deal with Victorian patriot- How should the findings be used to influence research ism, social hierarchy and philosophical ideologies. Her ambi- and education? tion to write a bestseller could clash with her personal opinions about race, culture, social status, societal obliga- • As an example of the value of recently developed digitised media resources to unearth hidden aspects of nursing his- tions, gender roles, nursing and doctoring. They ran the risk tory. of getting into conflict with, for instance, loyalty to the Brit- • To provide evidence of Mary Seacole as an exemplar of a ish Empire, or with Victorian propriety concerning how a global nursing role model. true lady should behave. Interestingly, she let her readers laugh and smile whilst simultaneously highlighting moral issues such as slavery and racial bigotry. This analysis is very Research by biographers Alexander and Dewjee (1982, much in line with McKay Harmer’s (2010) statement that 1984), Anionwu (2005), McKay Harmer (2010), Robinson ‘Seacole often used humour as a mechanism for delivering (2005), Salih (2005) and Staring-Derks (2007), and research social commentary’ (p. 48). Furthermore, McKay Harmer by Judd (1976), Fish (1996) and Paquet (2002) convey indi- points out that Seacole ‘was very clear in her disapproval of cations as to why Mary Seacole felt comfortable in interna- slavery and racial discrimination and through a variety of lit- tional settings. These publications in addition elucidate how erary devices, was able to coach her readers to consider the she conducted herself as a self-confident, independent evidence that racial discrimination may still exist in their Vic- woman in differing, sometimes hostile, social settings. torian world’ (p. 109). For instance, Seacole (1857a) wrote: While interest is still shown in Mary Seacole, e.g. ‘Was it possible that American prejudices against colour had Anionwu (2012) and in the pages of JAN (McDonald some root here?’ (p. 79). This dimension of her autobiogra- 2014), the almost global reach of news coverage of Sea- phy was perhaps better received on the European continent, cole’s life has only recently been unearthed. Our additional where it touched strong feelings of Christianity and where 2013–2014 discoveries, together with an analysis of a deeply religious Mademoiselle Victorine Rilliet de Constant – newly found hand written, signed letter by Seacole form the who had earlier published her French translation of Uncle basis of this paper. Tom’s Cabin – published her French translation of the autobiography (Seacole 1858) and where Reverend Jacob Jonge- neel in his introductory note to his Dutch translation of Background Wonderful Adventures....tenderly addressed Seacole’s quali- Mary Seacole not only acknowledged being the daughter of ties and her open and direct approach to life, its joys and its a Jamaican Creole mother and a Scottish father but also miseries, concluding that Seacole was a true ‘wereldburgeres’ wrote of her respect for them. She was proud of her par- [global citizen] (in Seacole 1857b, p. x). ents, recognizing influences of both a propos her chosen Fish (1996) also stresses that Seacole in her autobiogra- livelihood. An interesting clue lies in the three opening phy successfully used a mix of irony and playfulness when

2 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd JAN: DISCUSSION PAPER Global nursing role model addressing themes like heritage, skin colour, gender issues art’ used by such women had evolved on the plantations or autonomy vs. dependency. She was able to ‘show herself and was based on knowledge of herbal medicine and mid- responding with wit and pluck to the dangers, racism, sur- wifery brought from Africa’ (pp. 13–14). prises and challenges that befall her – without coming off Young Mary Seacole grew up in the company of British as a victim’ (p. 109). Fish finds that Seacole’s irony and soldiers, officers and their wives, and with medical doctors. playfulness also relate to the autobiography’s opening Her autobiography (1857a) attributes an interest in military words ‘I was born’, where she was able to ‘choose to play- affairs to her father who: ‘was a soldier, of an old Scotch fully omit her birthday’ (ibid.). family; and to him I often trace my affection for a camp-life It was with equal pride that Seacole (1857a) talked about and my sympathy with what I have heard my friends call her Scottish origins: ‘I am a Creole and have good Scotch ‘the pomp, pride and circumstances of glorious war’’ (p. 1). blood coursing in my veins’ (p. 1). Her autobiography She reminisced that from a very young age she became very recalls her early yearning for globetrotting: ‘As I grew into eager to know more about symptoms and medical diagno- womanhood, I began to indulge that longing to travel sis. Surprisingly and of interest in this context, is the fact which will never leave me while I have health and vigour. that James Barry – the British female and well-known medi- I was never weary of tracing upon an old map the route to cal doctor disguised as man – was stationed in Jamaica England; and never followed with my gaze the stately ships between 1831–1836 (Staring-Derks 2007). She may have homeward bound without longing to be in them and see frequented ‘Blundell Hall’ at the time and even taught Mary the blue hills of Jamaica fade into the distance’ (p. 4). Sea- Seacole, the young woman who was so eager to know more cole’s autobiography is famous for its description of her about anatomy, physiology, symptoms of disease and journey to the Crimea and contains eyewitness accounts of pathology (Holmes 2002). the Crimean War. However, even prior to her 1855–1856 As an African-Jamaican student who was taught by her well-known stay in the Crimea (where she opened her mother, she grew up to nurse and doctor using practice- ‘British Hotel’ near ‘Spring Hill’ at Kadikoi), she was based evidence and knowledge of herbal medicine, respecting already a seasoned traveller having journeyed to England the importance of hygiene and convalescence (Staring-Derks twice and visited the Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba, New Granada 2007). Seacole described how European military doctor and Panama. friends taught her Western medical knowledge and diagnos- Circa 1855, war illustrator William Simpson made a tic skills, for example, recognizing early symptoms of chol- sketch of her whilst in the Crimea. Later Simpson (1903) era. She combined African-Jamaican nursing and doctoring recalled, ‘Mrs Seacole, an elderly mulatto woman from with 19th century Western medical knowledge. It became, in Jamaica, was a well-known character in the Crimea, all the McKay Harmer’s (2010) words, ‘the blended care that Mary soldiers and sailors knew her. She had a taste for nursing Seacole provided’ (p. 127). Seen from this perspective her and doctoring, but she added to this a business as a sutler. career as a nurse and doctress may well be considered as She told me that she had Scotch blood in her veins. I must African-Jamaican-European inspired, in some sense a global say that she did not look like it, but the old lady spoke model of treating the sick and wounded. proudly of this point in her genealogy’ (p. 57). All this, together with her parentage, cosmopolitan Seacole was clearly at ease with both her African-Jamai- Jamaican upbringing followed by constant international tra- can and Scottish origins. Another clue as to her being vel, must be considered crucial elements in Seacole becom- relaxed in so many different social settings is to be found in ing a ‘global’ nurse ‘extraordinaire’. her narrative of early life and her mother’s friendship with British soldiers, officers and medical doctors. As a young Data sources woman, she helped her mother while she was nursing and doctoring and preparing traditional Creole herbal medicines Primary sources are 1855–2014 newspapers, magazines and for the sick. Soldiers and their wives came to her mother’s journals (mainly digitized 19th-century newspapers at the Kingston boarding-house ‘Blundell Hall’ for help and treat- Australian trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper, the British www. ment from Up Park Camp – HQ of the British Army – and britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk, the American www.fulton from the military station at Newcastle, Jamaica. Alexander history.com and the New Zealand paperspast.natlib.govt. and Dewjee (1984) describe her mother as one ‘familiar nz/cgi-bin/paperspast sites). with the prognosis and treatment of tropical diseases, gen- Other primary sources are Seacole’s 1857 autobiography, eral ailments and wounds. Their expertise was recognised its 1857 Dutch and 1858 French translations, and a throughout the island...The techniques of ‘Creole medical recently discovered 1857 handwritten letter, sent by Seacole

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 3 C. Staring-Derks et al. to Sir Henry Storks – at the time Secretary for Military New finds made in New Zealand newspapers recount Correspondence at the War Office. that on the 19 July 1867, officers and men of the ‘H.M.S. Charybdis’ performed in a show entitled ‘Grand Amateur Dramatic Entertainment!’ for ‘The Fund of Crimean Hero- Discussion ine – Mrs. Seacole’ at the Osgood Bijou Theatre in Welling- ton, New Zealand (Evening Herald 1867, Evening Post Newly found 19th-century media coverage 1867a,b,c, Wellington Independent 1867a,b). This New The digitized 19th century British newspapers available at Zealand performance therefore forms the fourth benefit for the site of the British Library in London, greatly facilitated Seacole – this time a Seacole Fund under the patronage of the search and unearthing of a considerable amount of the New Zealand Governor – and testifies that her renown additional Victorian media coverage of Mary Seacole. It had permeated through the Colonial press to the very far revealed that many newspapers throughout England, Ire- corners of the British Empire. land, Scotland and Wales regularly reported on Seacole Contrary to present-day British opinion, Mary Seacole was both during and after the Crimean War. She had undeni- well-known too in a former British colony – the United States ably become one of the prominent figures newspapers usu- of America – both during and after the Crimean War. ally wrote about. For instance, in 1856, John Bull (1856a) At the end of February, or early March, 1855, Seacole and the Belfast News-Letter (1856) reported from the Cri- arrived at Balaklava, Crimea. As of March 8, 1855, British mea that one of the ladies involved in Florence Nightin- and Irish newspapers began reporting about her, e.g. Stan- gale’s cart accident near Balaklava, was hurt. ‘She was dard (1855a). Of great interest is that in June 1855, the removed to Spring-hill, where the ever-ready Samaritan New York Daily Tribune (1855) had already introduced Mrs. Seacole, immediately made her appearance to tender her to American readers in a report on the Crimean War assistance.’ Shortly after, the Caledonian Mercury (1856) from their own correspondent. Two months later the reported another mishap – an omnibus accident to Auburn Weekly Journal (1855) front page carried an article ‘Madame Seacole’ – in England. She ‘met with rather seri- about her, stating she had ‘acquired great experience in the ous injuries...her face was cut and her arm injured...and treatment of cases of cholera and diarrhoea,’ and that she others also suffered’. made ‘no charge for her powders’. Long after the Crimean At the end of that same year, the Manchester Weekly War, the 1943 Pittsburgh Courier included a short Seacole Examiner & Times (1856b) covered Seacole’s 1856 bank- biography (Rogers 1943). ruptcy court case that eventually led to two 1857 benefits. The first, the London Surrey Gardens Benefit Festival, was 19th-century media coverage re Seacole’s Turkish medal extensively reported in scores of newspapers and discussed at length in Seacole biographies listed in the Introduction, Research of digitized 19th century newspapers clearly helps above. Second, in six issues between November 1857–Janu- solving long-standing historical puzzles. For instance, on sev- ary 1858, the Bristol Mercury (1857a,b,c,d, 1858a,b) cov- eral occasions, Seacole had been sculptured and portrayed ered a similar event held later that year in Bristol, entitled wearing diverse (Crimean) medals. Two medals owned by the Seacole Fund Fancy Ball. Other newspapers also Seacole (matching descriptions and measurements of the reported the event.1 Turkish Order of the Mejidie and the French Legion of Hon- Ten years later, two benefits in aid of Mary Seacole – our) are kept at the Institute of Jamaica in Kingston, possibly once again in financial need – were reported, one Jamaica, but with no records of their provenance (Staring- in England, another in New Zealand. The Era (1867) and Derks 2007, Anionwu 2013). Until 2010, not a single report Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper’s (1867) announced a ‘perfor- existed indicating that she had received a (Crimean) medal mance by the Wandering Thespians, in aid of the Seacole from the British, the French, the Sardinian or the Turkish Fund at the Bijou Theatre, Haymarket’. Only this latter government (Staring-Derks & Staring 2010). Now we can show has been reported in Seacole biographies. provide 1856 newspaper reports that detail that she was at least awarded one medal. The Derby Mercury (1856) stated, 1 E.g. (chronologically listed): The Bath Chronicle, ‘The Turkish Government has given Mrs. Seacole, of Balak- November 19, 1857. Daily News, December 28, 1857. The lava, a medal for her services to the Turkish troops – and Standard, December 28, 1857. North Wales Chronicle, Jan- without doubt a Crimean medal with the Sebastopol clasp uary 2, 1858. Reynolds’s Newspaper, January 3, 1858. The would be well bestowed upon her.’ The Manchester Weekly Coventry Herald and Observer, January 8, 1858. Examiner & Times (1856a) reported, ‘The Sultan has sent

4 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd JAN: DISCUSSION PAPER Global nursing role model her a medal.’ At least a dozen other newspapers covered the In a single year, Seacole’s book had become known in same news of Seacole’s Turkish medal.2 England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and in Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania and on the European continent too. It was immediately translated into two European lan- 19th-century media coverage of Seacole’s autobiography guages and consequently immediately reviewed in The After the launch of Seacole’s (1857a) autobiography in July Netherlands and in Switzerland. 1857, the Reverend Jongeneel from The Netherlands translated the book into Dutch and published his translation in Additional discoveries concerning Seacole’s life between October (Seacole 1857b). The publisher placed advertise- 1857 and 1858 ments in several Dutch newspapers and the book was reprinted twice (Staring-Derks & Staring 2010). In January In 2013, a London rare books and manuscripts dealer 1858, Mademoiselle Rilliet de Constant published her advertised a signed handwritten letter by Mary Seacole that French translation in France and in Switzerland (Seacole was contained in an album of correspondence, bought by 1858) and it was advertised in French newspapers (Staring- him in 2011. The letters were all addressed to Lieutenant- Derks & Staring 2010). General Sir Henry Storks (1811–1874), an English commis- Staring-Derks and Staring (2010) collated reprints of one sioned military officer, in charge of British bases in Turkey 1857-Swiss, one 1858-Dutch and ten 1857-British reviews during the Crimean War. of the autobiography.3 Since then, fourteen additional Two of the authors purchased the letter and together reviews have been unearthed: in total three 1857-Austra- with the third author researched its background. lian, one 1857-New Zealand, one 1858-Tasmanian, one Until this time, there had been knowledge of only three 1859-Dutch and eight 1857-British reviews.4 letters written by Seacole. Two were published during her lifetime, the first in The Times in 1856 – reprinted in at 2 See Aberdeen Journal 1856, Bury & Norwich Post least four other newspapers5 – and then, in 1857, Punch 1856, Daily News 1856a,b, Falkirk Herald 1856, Glasgow magazine printed parts of a letter she had sent to them.6 In Herald 1856, Grantham Journal 1856, John Bull 1856a,b, 2008, there was a discovery of what was considered to be Sheffield Daily Telegraph 1856, Standard 1856, Stirling Seacole’s only surviving signed letter, dated 31 March Observer 1856, Sussex Advertiser 1856. 1869. It was addressed to a family member of Albert Chal- 3 The twelve book reviews appeared in (chronologically len, the painter of Seacole’s famous portrait, which is now listed): The Examiner, July 4, 1857. Reynolds’s Newspaper, permanently on display in the National Portrait Gallery, July 19, 1857. The Ipswich Journal and Suffolk, Norfolk, London. It was unearthed by one of Challen’s descendents Essex and Cambridgeshire Advertiser, July 25, 1857. The from a box of inherited relics and published as part of an Illustrated London News, July 25, 1857. The Athenæm, article in BBC History Magazine (Beaumont James 2010). July 25, 1857. The Bristol Mercury and Western Counties Beside Seacole being a capable and experienced doctress Advertiser, August 1, 1857. The Ladies Newspaper, August and nurse taking care of her beloved British soldiers, she 1, 1857. The Weekly Star and Bell’s News, August 1, was also an entrepreneur. In the words of an Australian of 1857. The Leader, August 22, 1857. John Bull and Britan- the time, ‘Mother Seacole was a sutler to the British nia, August 29, 1857. Gazette de Lausanne, December 22, army...While the genus, as a whole, has acquired for itself 1857. Vaderlandsche Letteroefeningen, 1858. so much discredit, many soldier (officer and private) had to 4 The newly found fourteen book reviews appeared in bless the day that led this old Creole’s steps across his own’ (chronologically listed): The Standard, July 2, 1857. The (Patterson 1857). An eloquent description of entrepreneur Kentish Gazette, July 7, 1857. The Newcastle Guardian, Seacole as ‘Mother of the Regiment’ (after the vivandiere July 11, 1857. The Cheshire Observer and General Adver- 5 tiser, July 25, 1857. Yorkshire Gazette, July 25, 1857. The The letter Seacole sent to Lord Rokeby – commenting on Wells Journal, August 8, 1857. The Lancaster Gazette, a letter to the Editor of The Times written by him – was August 1, 1857. Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, September reproduced in (chronologically listed): The Times, Novem- 3, 1857. Ovens and Murray Advertiser, October 30, 1857. ber 29, 1856. The Daily News, December 2, 1856. The Empire, November 4, 1857. The Argus, November 4, Wells Journal, December 6, 1856. The Herts Guardian, 1857. The Lyttelton Times, December 2, 1857. The Laun- December 6, 1856. The Era, December 7, 1856. 6 ceston Examiner, April 8, 1858. De Tijdspiegel, 1859, Eer- Parts of a letter from Seacole to Punch magazine were ste deel. reproduced in Punch, May 30, 1857.

‘Daughter of the Regiment’) is to be found in the Mel- In her autobiography, Seacole wrote that after the Cri- bourne (Australia) Argus (1857) and the Wollongong (Aus- mean War had ended, her first thoughts were to start a tralia) Illawarra Mercury (1857). These newspapers contain shop in the British Army camp at Aldershot. This plan, an eyewitness account (never previously cited) of Seacole’s however, did not materialise. Following the 1856–1857 initial nursing work in the Crimea at the Balaclava sick bankruptcy of her firm – a costly aftermath of the sudden wharf and her later combined entrepreneurial/nursing work: cessation of military activities in the Crimea – Seacole dras- tically changed her survival strategy. First, she embarked on Having provided herself, when leaving England, with a large supply writing her autobiography Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. of bandages, lint, styptics and other curative appliances, she for the Seacole in Many Lands. Second, she grasped the opportu- first six or eight weeks after her arrival in the Crimea devoted her- nity of publicity offered by the press reporting her bank- self to attendance of the sick wharf, at the head of Balaclava Har- ruptcy to proclaim that, if possible, she would sail to India bor, to which the sick and the wounded were every morning to help wounded British soldiers. She ‘was quite ready to brought down from the front, for embarkation in the transports, go out to India if she could be of any service to the army’ which conveyed them to the Scutari hospitals. She made it her busi- (Watchman & Wesleyan Advertiser 1857). The New Zea- ness, with the sanction and approval of the Admiral of the Port land Lyttelton Times (1857a) refined her reasons, adding and of the Military Commandant, to receive the disabled men, she ‘was quite ready to go out to India for the Persian war.’ wearied and bruised by their seven miles’ journey over the worst It would appear that her plan around February 1857 was roads and by the worst conveyances – to shift and renew the ban- to sail to India to help the British soldiers wounded in the dages, which were frequently displaced by the accidents of travel – Anglo-Persian War (November 1856–April 1857). Seacole to chafe and warm their half-frozen limbs – to administer warm did not, however, leave for India. tea or refreshing diluent drinks to the fasting and fainting and to The summer of 1857 turned out to be a busy time. Early cheer the desponding with kind and hopeful words. All this was in July, Seacole launched her British autobiography. A few performed under the supervision of the medical officers, who fully weeks later, still in late July, a 4-day ‘Seacole Fund Grand appreciated the value of so efficient a coadjutor; and Sir John Hall, Military Festival’ was held in her honour in the London Chief of the Medical Staff7, to whom she applied when her own Royal Surrey Gardens. Newspapers reported a huge success stores were getting low, gave a general order that Mrs. Seacole with over 80,000 people attending. However, poor manage- should be supplied with everything she might require from his ment of the festival’s finances resulted in meagre benefits. department; – an order that was acted on until the end of the war. Still, Seacole used the media to make known that she had The Argus and the Illawarra Mercury wrote that Seacole, had an interview with the Secretary-at-War Lord Panmure after sanitary conditions had improved, moved to Spring (1801–1874), expressing her wish to go to India. The Essex Hill and opened a restaurant near Lord Raglan’s HQ. Standard (1857), for instance, reported, ‘‘Give me,’ said the Again the eyewitness figured prominently: excellent old lady, ‘my needle and thread, my medicine chest, my bandages, my probe and scissors and I’m off.’’ [Seacole] did not...cease to exercise the kindly offices which first These legendary words were reprinted in more than two- brought her into such honourable notice; on the contrary, the wri- dozen newspapers appearing in UK cities far and wide ter, who was one of her nearest neighbours for upwards of a year, (Table 1).8 The words were also reprinted in the Colonial has frequently witnessed a levee of fifty or sixty around her of a press, e.g. the Lyttelton Times (1857b), New Zealand. Fol- morning – consisting of soldiers of the line, men of the naval bri- lowing Seacole’s launch of her autobiography a few weeks gade, land transport and army works corps and navvies, – who, earlier, at least twenty reviews of the book appeared with the sanction of their officers, medical as well as regimental, between 1857–1858 in Great Britain and Ireland (see preferred treatment at her hands, to seeking relief of their ailments above) – reinforcing media coverage regarding her cause. at their own hospitals. Newspaper reports of a July 29, 1857 interview between Mary Seacole and the Secretary-at-War Lord Panmure are 7 1855 newspapers reported that Seacole had received 8 numerous letters of thanks (e.g., Standard 1855b). A report E.g. (chronologically listed): The Caledonian Mercury, in the Daily News (1857) confirms the 1855 reports, claim- August 1, 1857. The Hampshire Advertiser, August 1, ing that Seacole ‘possesses testimonials from Sir John Hall 1857. The Leeds Mercury, August 1, 1857. The Stirling and many other heads of departments and a great number Observer, August 6, 1857. The Belfast News-Letter, August of letters attesting the gratitude of private soldiers.’ For 7, 1857. The Norfolk News, August 8, 1857. The Salisbury Hall’s testimonial, see Seacole (1857b, pp. 129–130). and Winchester Journal, August 8, 1857.

Table 1 ‘Give me my medicine chest...and I’m off’ 1857–1862 Timeline of Mary Seacole. • February 4, 1857: a ﬁrst report that Seacole announces plans to depart to India. • July 1, 1857: The New Zealand Lyttelton Times shows that she wished to offer her services in the 1856–1857 Anglo-Persian War. • Early in July 1857: Seacole launches her autobiography Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands. In 1857–1858, at least twenty-three book reviews appear in Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. • July 18, 1857: A nurse who had worked at Scutari under Florence Nightingale writes a letter to the East India Company, offering the services of 40 women to help Mary Seacole in India train the wives of soldiers to nurse the sick and wounded. The East India Company turns down the offer in a letter dated August 22, 1857. • July–September 1857: media coverage of London Royal Surrey Gardens Seacole Fund Grand Military Festival (=ﬁrst Seacole Fund). Seacole speaks to Secretary-at-War Lord Panmure and re-announces plans to go to India. • September 21, 1857: the London Daily News publishes both a letter to the Editor by ‘A Nurse in the Late War’ and a copy of the negative decision of the East India Company (compare July 18, 1857; listed above). • September–October 1857: other newspapers report the Daily News scoop: ‘A number of ladies, some of whom had been nurses in the late war, offered to accompany Mrs. Seacole to India’. • October 1, 1857: Seacole writes a letter to Sir Henry Storks discussing the contents of a letter to be sent to the Secretary of State for War, Lord Panmure. • October 1857: launch of Dutch translation of Seacole’s autobiography. A Dutch book review appeared in 1858. • November 1857–January 1858: media coverage of the Bristol (Clifton) Victorian Rooms Seacole Fund Festival (=second Seacole Fund). • January 1858: launch of French translation of Seacole’s autobiography – published in France and in Switzerland. A Swiss book review had already appeared in December 1857. • February–March 1858: newspapers report that Mary will sail to India ‘in 5 weeks from this time’. • May 1858: Seacole volunteers to assist with a ‘Fancy Bazaar’ at London’s Wellington Barracks in aid of families of soldiers and sailors and to also assist distress consequent of troops departing for the East. • June 1858: Belgian, British and Dutch newspapers report the arrival of Seacole at Antwerp, Belgium, from London, on board of the Belgian steamer Baron Osy. • February 1859: newspapers report Seacole’s visit to Sheerness. • August 1859: newspapers report Seacole’s visit to Ireland. • October 18, 1859: The Standard (1859) reports Seacole was on board the steamship Shannon on her way to the West Indies, accompanied by seven Soeurs de la Charite (Sisters of Charity). • November 1859: newspapers review Trollope’s The West Indies and the Spanish Main and report that it contains an utterance of Seacole’s sister: ‘Mrs. Seacole wanted to go to India during the rebellion there, but Queen Victoria would not let her – her life was too precious.’ • April 1862: newspapers report Seacole’s visit to Panama.

intriguing. On the one hand, the Anglo-Persian War had a letter to the Hon. East India Company on the 18th of July, ended in April 1857, while on the other hand the 1857– requesting to be permitted to proceed without delay to superintend 1858 Indian Mutiny/Rebellion had broken out in May of and direct the wives of soldiers in nursing the sick and wounded. that year.9 During a 5 months’ residence at Scutari, under Miss Nightingale, What then, in fact, was the actual subject of Seacole and I had frequent opportunities of knowing how useful that class of Lord Panmure’s correspondence? Did the Secretary-at-War women could be made and that many of them were employed to approve of her plans regarding India? Or did he perhaps attend cases of extreme danger. I beg to enclose a copy of the letter initially refer her to the East India Company? I received from the Court of Directors. I have also heard that 40 ‘Hospital Nurses In India’, a letter in the September 21, ladies (myself among the rest) have offered their services to Mrs. 1857, Daily News (A Nurse in the Late War 1857) by the Seacole. I shall feel greatly obliged by your permitting this (and the pen of one of Florence Nightingale’s Crimean nurses lifts enclosed, if you think proper) to appear in your valuable paper as part of the veil. The letter reads: early as possible. A NURSE IN THE LATE WAR.

We do not have any details about this ‘Nurse in the Late Sir, I have this morning been informed that a recent number of the War’ except that she was one of a group of 40 women who Daily News contains an article saying that women should go out wished, under Mary Seacole’s leadership, to treat the sick to India to nurse the sick and wounded. I beg, in reply, to state and wounded in India. Her July 18th letter to the East that many are willing and ready; that myself and others addressed India Company had asked for their ofﬁcial approval. Melv- ill’s (1857) reply from the East India Company, published 9 Florence Nightingale had contemplated leaving for India, underneath the nurse’s letter to the Editor, must have been something that did not happen in the end (Gourlay 2003). a disappointment:

East India House, August 22, 1857. Yours gratefully Mary Seacole’ (see Anionwu et al. 2013).

Regrettably, we do not know the contents of Seacole’s Madam, I have laid before the Court of Directors of the East letter to Secretary of State for War Lord Panmure, nor do India Company your letter of the 18th ultimo offering your ser- we know whether she was allowed to proceed with her vices to proceed to India under the present emergency, with a plans to sail to India. Panmure’s published correspondence view to direct the wives of soldiers in their attendance on the holds no letters addressed to Seacole (see Douglas and Dal- sick and wounded. In reply I am desired to convey to you the housie Ramsay (1908). Further research in the National expression of the Court’s appreciation of the benevolence which Archives is necessary. has induced you to make the offer. I am, however, directed to Later that year, a second, widely reported Seacole Fund inform you that in India every station has its regimental hospital Festival was organized, this time in Bristol (see above). The and every moveable force in the field it’s regimental and general balance handed over to Seacole amounted to more than hospital. Also, that no European women would be allowed to 100 UK pounds. Was this, perhaps, a good start to finance follow the camp. You will therefore perceive that the military her needles and thread, medicine chest, bandages, probe service in India affords no opening for especial measures to and scissors? secure to the sick and wounded attendance of the nature to While Lord Panmure was on the verge of leaving his post which your letter relates. I am, madam, your obedient humble at the War Office in February 1858, newspapers reported, servant, ‘good Mrs. Seacole, ‘Mother Seacole,’ the soldiers’ friend...is about to sail for India and to commence again (Signed) James C. Melvill. her work as mother, nurse and friend of the British soldier’ Immediately afterwards, other newspapers began to (Leicester Chronicle 1858) and that she would leave ‘in five report the Daily News scoop: ‘A number of ladies, some of weeks from this time’ (Morning Chronicle 1858). In total whom had been in the late war, offered to accompany Mrs. at least more than a dozen newspapers reported Seacole’s Seacole to India’ (e.g. Leeds Times 1857). Publication of upcoming departure for India. the nurse’s letter in the Daily News, including James C. Melvill’s reply, provokes probing questions. Why did the anonymous nurse wish that the East India Company’s reply Additional discoveries re Seacole’s life 1858–1862 be published in the newspaper? Did the ‘Nurse in the Late There are several missing pieces to this intriguing historical War’ and Seacole jointly plan the publication, perhaps to puzzle. Did Mary Seacole indeed leave for India? In May subtly influence the Secretary-at-War to overrule the East 1858, she was still in England, given that the Illustrated India Company in this matter? London News (1858) reported she had volunteered to assist Seen in this light, the letter from Seacole, addressed to at a ‘Fancy Bazaar’ at London’s Wellington Barracks in aid the Secretary for Military Correspondence at the War of families of soldiers and sailors and to also assist distress Office Sir Henry Storks, shows a level of strategic writing. consequent of troops departing for the East. A month later, It may have been part of a campaign by her, perhaps in in June 1858, more than twenty Belgian, Dutch and English coordination with ‘nurses in the late war’, to go to India to newspapers reported her arrival at Antwerp, Belgium, from train the wives of soldiers to nurse the sick and wounded. London, on board the Belgian steamer ‘Baron Osy’ (e.g. Seacole’s letter reveals her to be residing at a previously Belfast News-Letter 1858). Was she making a stopover to unknown abode, now establishing it as her fifth docu- India at Antwerp? Or was she perhaps visiting her Dutch mented address in London. It was written only less than a publisher? No further reports appear to have been pub- fortnight after publication of the above nurse’s letter and lished regarding her intended trip to India. reads: The following February, newspapers detail a Seacole visit ‘11 Rathbone Place, 1 October 1857. to Sheerness (e.g. Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post 1859). In August of 1859, reports appeared in the media that she had My kind Sir Henry, travelled to Ireland (e.g. Newcastle Courant 1859). Interest- ingly, in October of that year, the London Standard (1859) I beg to enclose you a letter, I have addressed to Lord Panmure, reported that she had boarded the steamship Shannon on her for your perusal. Would you Sir Henry kindly alter any part that way to the West Indies – accompanied by seven Soeurs de la might not meet your approval before returning it to me & you will Charite (Sisters of Charity). A month later, newspapers greatly oblige. reviewing Anthony Trollope’s The West Indies and the

Spanish Main, note that it contained an utterance of Sea- Author contributions cole’s sister Louisa Grant in Jamaica: ‘Mrs. Seacole wanted to go to India during the rebellion there, but Queen Victoria All authors have agreed on the ﬁnal version and meet at would not let her – her life was too precious’ (e.g. Reynolds’s least one of the following criteria [recommended by the Newspaper’s 1859). Without supporting sources it is difﬁcult ICMJE (http://www.icmje.org/ethical_1author.html)]: to decide on the factuality and historical value of this • substantial contributions to conception and design, remark. And lastly, three years later, newspapers stated that acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of Seacole was visiting Panama (e.g. Leeds Intelligencer 1862). data; • drafting the article or revising it critically for important Implications for nursing intellectual content.

‘There is nothing new except the history we do not know.’ Harry S. Truman. References ‘Nursing continues to be predominately a White female A Nurse in the Late War (1857) Hospital Nurses in India. To the dominated profession.’ (McKay Harmer 2010, p. 129). This Editor of the Daily News. Daily News 21 September, 4. certainly does not correspond with 21st century healthcare (The) Aberdeen Journal (1856) The ‘Good Samaritan’ in the needs: competent, confident nurses who are autonomous crimea. The Aberdeen Journal and General Advertiser for the critically thinking healthcare professionals, who understand North of Scotland 28 May, 10. Retrieved from www.britishnews implications of prejudices in respect of age, gender, race, paperarchive.co.uk on 25 May 2013. Alexander Z. & Dewjee A. (1982) Mary Seacole: Jamaican etc. and who recognize and undertake endeavours to over- National Heroine and ‘Doctress’ in the Crimean War. Brent come barriers which are still present in nursing today. Mary Library Service, London. Seacole, this historical charismatic phenomenon, may pro- Alexander Z. & Dewjee A. (1984) Editor’s introduction. In vide a valuable role model for younger generations of Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands (Seacole healthcare professionals who wish to acknowledge the M., ed.), Falling Wall Press Ltd., Bristol, pp. 9–45. Anionwu E.N. (2005) A Short History of Mary Seacole: a Resource adagio, ‘hands that heal know no racial, class or national for Nurses and Students. Royal College of Nursing, London. borders’ (Fish 1996, p. 136). Anionwu E.N. (2012) Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 6(5), 244–248. Conclusion Anionwu E.N. (2013) Scotching three myths about Mary Seacole. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 7(10), 508–511. Several years ago Seacole-biographer Salih (2005) Originally appeared in a shorter version online entitled: Mary Seacole: A very great Victorian. Retrieved from www.obv.org.uk/ remarked, ‘We do not know what Seacole was doing in the news-blogs/mary-seacole-very-great-victorian on 07 May 2014. 10 years following the publication of Wonderful Adven- Anionwu E.N., Staring-Derks C. & Staring J. (2013) New Light on tures...’ (pp. xxxviii-xxxix). Courtesy of digitization of Vic- Seacole. Nursing Standard 22 August, 22–23. torian British and non-British newspapers, our Timeline of (The) Argus (1857) Wednesday, 4th November, 1857, The Argus, Seacole’s activities during the first 5 years following the 4 November, p. 4. Retrieved from trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper on 9 May 2014. publication of her life-story reveals information about Auburn Weekly Journal (1855) A letter from the Crimea says. unheard of international travel and fame. It is clear that Auburn Weekly Journal 19 August, 1. Retrieved from Seacole’s desire for travel never deserted her, or for that www.fulton.com on 12 January 2013. matter, her commitment to nurse her beloved British sol- Beaumont James T. (2010) Mary Seacole’s lost letter. BBC History diers, no matter where they were in the world. Seacole was Magazine October, 53–55. a veritable global nurse extraordinaire. (The) Belfast News-Letter (1856) Special crimean correspondence. The Belfast News-Letter 14 April, 4. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. Funding (The) Belfast News-Letter (1858) ‘Lady Seacole’. The Belfast News-Letter June 16, 4. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaper No funding received. archive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. (The) Bristol Mercury (1857a) Mrs. Seacole. The Bristol Mercury, Western Counties, Monmouthshire and South Wales Advertiser 14 Conflict of interest November, 8. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. Drs Corry STARING-DERKS and Jeroen STARING are (The) Bristol Mercury (1857b) The Seacole fund. The Bristol owners of the recently discovered Mary Seacole letter. Mercury, Western Counties, Monmouthshire and South Wales

Advertiser 28 November, 4. Retrieved from www.britishnews Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 26 May paperarchive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. 2013. (The) Bristol Mercury (1857c) The Seacole fund. The Bristol Fish C.J. (1996) Going Mobile: The Body at Work in Black and Mercury, Western Counties, Monmouthshire and South Wales White Women’s Travel Narratives, 1841-1857. City University Advertiser 5 December, 4. Retrieved from www.britishnews of New York, New York. paperarchive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. (The) Glasgow Herald (1856) The British Army. The Glasgow (The) Bristol Mercury (1857d) The Seacole fund ball. The Bristol Herald 19 May, 4. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaper Mercury, Western Counties, Monmouthshire and South Wales archive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. Advertiser 19 December, 7. Retrieved from www.britishnews Gourlay J. (2003) Florence Nightingale and the Health of the Raj. paperarchive.co.uk on 25 May 2013. Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot. (The) Bristol Mercury (1858a) Bristol. Saturday, January 16, 1858. Grantham Journal (1856) Multum in Parvo. Grantham Journal The Bristol Mercury, Western Counties, Monmouthshire and and Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire Advertiser South Wales Advertiser 16 January, 8. Retrieved from 17 May, 3. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. on 26 May 2013. (The) Bristol Mercury (1858b) Seacole fund fancy ball. The Bristol Hawthorne E.J. (2000) Self-Writing, literary traditions and post- Mercury, Western Counties, Monmouthshire and South Wales emancipation identity: the case of Mary Seacole. Biography 23 Advertiser 23 January, 6. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaper (2), 309–331. archive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. Holmes R. (2002) Scanty Particulars: The Scandalous Life and (The) Bury and Norwich Post (1856) The Crimea. The Bury and Astonishing Secret of Queen Victoria’s Most Eminent Military Norwich Post and Suffolk Herald 21 May, 1. Retrieved from Doctor. Random House, New York. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. (The) Illawarra Mercury (1857) The Mother Seacole testimonial. Caledonian Mercury (1856) Accident to Madame Seacole. The Illawarra Mercury 16 November, 1. Retrieved from Caledonian Mercury 29 October, 6. Retrieved from trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper on 9 May 2014. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. (The) Illustrated London News (1858) Fancy Bazaar at Wellington Daily News (1856a) Movements of the army in the Crimea. Daily barracks. The Illustrated London News 5 June, 567–568. News 21 June, 6. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaper John Bull (1856a) Correspondence from the Crimea. John Bull 12 archive.co.uk on 28 May 2013. April, 227. Daily News (1856b) Naval and military. Movements of the army John Bull (1856b) The Crimea. Investiture of the order of the Bath. in the East. Daily News 26 June, 3. Retrieved from John Bull 28 June, 411. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 28 May 2013. Judd D. (1976) The Crimean War. Book Club Associates, London. Daily News (1857) The Seacole fund. Daily News 29 June, 2. (The) Leeds Intelligencer (1862) Mrs. Seacole. The Leeds Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 28 May Intelligencer 19 April, 5. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaper 2013. archive.co.uk on 27 May 2013. (The) Derby Mercury (1856) Varieties. The Derby Mercury 14 (The) Leeds Times (1857) Miscellaneous. The Leeds Times 26 May, 6. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on September, 7. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive. 26 May 2013. co.uk on 27 May 2013. Douglas G. & Dalhousie Ramsay G. (eds) (1908) The Panmure (The) Leicester Chronicle (1858) Remarks on passing events. The Papers, Vol. 2. Hodder and Stoughton, London. Leicester Chronicle, or, Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser (The) Era (1867) A performance by the Wandering Thespians. The 17 February, 2. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive. Era 14 July, 13. co.uk on 25 May 2013. (The) Essex Standard (1857) Mrs. Seacole. The Essex Standard and Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper (1867) Public amusements. A Eastern Counties Advertiser 31 July, 3. Retrieved from performance by the Wandering Thespians. Lloyd’s Weekly www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. Newspaper 14 July, 8. Retrieved from www.britishnews (The) Evening Herald (1867) Friday, July 26, 1867. The Evening paperarchive.co.uk on 28 May 2013. Herald 26 July, 2. Retrieved from paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi- (The) Lyttelton Times (1857a) Madame Seacole. The Lyttelton bin/paperspast on 17 May 2013. Times 1 July, 5. Retrieved from paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/ (The) Evening Post (1867a) Untitled. The Evening Post 19 July, 2. paperspast on 17 June 2013. Retrieved from paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast on 17 (The) Lyttelton Times (1857b) Miscellaneous. The Lyttelton Times May 2013. 2 December, 5. Retrieved from paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/ (The) Evening Post (1867b) Untitled. The Evening Post 20 July, 2. paperspast on 17 May 2013. Retrieved from paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast on 2 Manchester Weekly Examiner & Times (1856a) Foreign and May 2014. colonial miscellany. Manchester Weekly Examiner & Times 24 (The) Evening Post (1867c) Wednesday, July 17, 1867. The May, 12. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on Evening Post 17 July, 2. Retrieved from paperspast.natlib.govt. 29 May 2013. nz/cgi-bin/paperspast on 17 May 2013. Manchester Weekly Examiner & Times (1856b) Local and (The) Falkirk Herald (1856) The British Army. The Falkirk Herald, miscellaneous news. Manchester Weekly Examiner & Times 8 Weekly Journal for the Counties of Stirling, Linlithgow, November, 4. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive. Clackmannan and the Falkirk Districts of Burghs 22 May, 4. co.uk on 29 May 2013.

McDonald L. (2014) Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole on Local and General Advertiser 19 May, 4. Retrieved from nursing and health care. Journal of Advanced Nursing 70(6), www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 25 May 2013. 1436–1444. Simpson W. (1903) The Autobiography of William Simpson, R. I. McKay Harmer B. (2010) Silenced in History: A Historical Study (Crimean Simpson). T. Fisher Unwin, London. of Mary Seacole. ProQuest, Ann Arbor, MI. (The) Standard (1855a) Siege of Sebastopol. The Standard 8 Melvill J.C. (1857) Hospital Nurses in India. East India House, March, 3–4. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk August 22, 1857. Daily News 21 September, 4. on 29 May 2013. (The) Morning Chronicle (1858) Mrs. Seacole, The Soldiers’ friend. (The) Standard (1855b) The Crimea. The Standard 15 November, The Morning Chronicle 18 February, 4. Retrieved from 1. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 25 www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 29 May 2013. May 2013. New York Daily Tribune (1855) An excursion to Sevastopol. New (The) Standard (1856) Extract of a letter from Sebastopol, dated York Daily Tribune 12 June, 6. Retrieved from www.fulton.com May 3. The Standard 15 May, 2. Retrieved from www.british on 12 January 2013. newspaperarchive.co.uk on 29 May 2013. Newcastle Courant (1859) Multum in parvo. Newcastle Courant (The) Standard (1859) The Mails. The Standard 18 October, 3. 19 August, 3. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk on 25 May co.uk on 29 May 2013. 2013. Paquet S.A. (2002) Caribbean Autobiography: Cultural Identity Staring-Derks C. (2007) Inleiding. In Mary Seacole’s Avonturen in and Self-Representation. The University of Wisconsin Press, de West en in de Krim, of het belangwekkende leven eener Madison, Wisconsin/London. heldin der barmhartigheid, door haar zelve verhaald (Seacole M., Patterson J.A. (1857) Mother Seacole. The Argus 3 September, 7. ed.), Integraal, Nijmegen, pp. xv–ccxxxvi. Retrieved from trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper on 17 May 2013. Staring-Derks C. & Staring J. (2010) Wonderful Adventures of Reynolds’s Newspaper (1859) Review of Books. Reynolds’s Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands. Book Reviews. Integraal, Newspaper 13 November, 2. Retrieved from www.britishnews Nijmegen. paperarchive.co.uk on 29 May 2013. (The) Stirling Observer (1856) Mrs. Seacole. The Stirling Observer Robinson J. (2005) Mary Seacole: The Charismatic Black Nurse 22 May, 4. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk Who Became a Heroine of the Crimea. Constable & Robinson on 28 May 2013. Ltd., London. (The) Sussex Advertiser (1856) Extract of a letter from Sebastopol, Rogers J.A. (1943) Rogers says: Mother Seacole received much dated May 3. The Sussex Advertiser, Surrey Gazette, & West praise for her Humanitarian Deeds. The Pittsburgh Courier 1 Kent Courier 20 May, 7. Retrieved from www.britishnews May, 7. Retrieved from www.fulton.com on 12 January 2013. paperarchive.co.uk on 25 May 2013. Salih S. (2005) Introduction. In Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post (1859) General news. Trewman’s Seacole in Many Lands (Seacole M., ed.), Penguin Books, Exeter Flying Post; Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Gloucester London, pp. xv–l. Advertiser 3 February, 8. Retrieved from www.britishnewspaper Seacole M. (1857a) Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in archive.co.uk on 26 May 2013. Many Lands. James Blackwood, London. (The) Watchman and Wesleyan Advertiser (1857) The Crimean Seacole M. (1857b) Mary Seacole’s Avonturen in de West en in de heroine. The Watchman and Wesleyan Advertiser 4 February, 4. Krim, of het belangwekkende leven eener heldin der (The) Wellington Independent (1867a) Amusements – Osgood barmhartigheid, door haar zelve verhaald. P. C. Hoog, Rotterdam. empire concert hall. The Wellington Independent 18 July, 1. Seacole M. (1858) Aventures et Voyages d’une Creole, Mme Retrieved from paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast on 17 Seacole, a Panama et en Crimee. Librairie A. Delafontaine/ May 2013. Grassart, Lausanne/Paris. (The) Wellington Independent (1867b) Local and general news. (The) Shefﬁeld Daily Telegraph (1856) Extract of a letter from The Wellington Independent 25 July, 3. Retrieved from Sebastopol, dated May 3. The Shefﬁeld Daily Telegraph and paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast on 17 May 2013.

The Journal of Advanced Nursing (JAN) is an international, peer-reviewed, scientiﬁc journal. JAN contributes to the advancement of evidence-based nursing, midwifery and health care by disseminating high quality research and scholarship of contemporary relevance and with potential to advance knowledge for practice, education, management or policy. JAN publishes research reviews, original research reports and methodological and theoretical papers.

For further information, please visit JAN on the Wiley Online Library website: www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jan

Reasons to publish your work in JAN:

• High-impact forum: the world’s most cited nursing journal, with an Impact Factor of 1·527 – ranked 14/101 in the 2012 ISI Jour- nal Citation Reports © (Nursing (Social Science)). • Most read nursing journal in the world: over 3 million articles downloaded online per year and accessible in over 10,000 libraries worldwide (including over 3,500 in developing countries with free or low cost access). • Fast and easy online submission: online submission at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jan. • Positive publishing experience: rapid double-blind peer review with constructive feedback. • Rapid online publication in ﬁve weeks: average time from ﬁnal manuscript arriving in production to online publication. • Online Open: the option to pay to make your article freely and openly accessible to non-subscribers upon publication on Wiley Online Library, as well as the option to deposit the article in your own or your funding agency’s preferred archive (e.g. PubMed).