I ONCE had tea with Nadine Dorries in the Palace of Westminster. The flamboyant then Bedfordshire MP had invited me to discuss my writing on Mary Seacole, and how the ‘black British nurse’ had almost usurped Florence Nightingale as the founder of nursing. As a former nurse, Dorries shared my concern and wanted to raise the matter in Parliament. Surprisingly, she was unaware of the recently erected statue of Seacole, provocatively placed outside St Thomas’ Hospital entrance and facing the Houses of Parliament across the Thames. These representatives of the people don’t get out much, I thought.
In April 2019 I chaired a controversial talk at King’s College London. Lynn McDonald, a revered scholar of Florence Nightingale, contacted me after I cited her exposéof the mythology of Mary Seacole by postmodern revisionists. We arranged a guest lecture, but the faculty got cold feet. The fear was that challenging the Seacole story could be seen as elitist and undermining diversity policy, thereby risking reputational damage.
Eventually my academic leaders were persuaded that the intent was entirely scholarly and in the spirit of debate. I emphasised that if there is any reputational risk, it is posed by campaigners who are not only exaggerating the role of Seacole but also denigrating Nightingale as a cold, snobbish bigot. The nursing department at King’s College London dates back to the original nurse training school established by the ‘Lady with the Lamp’ in 1860 at St Thomas’ Hospital, and the first in the world. This heritage should be protected from ideological attack, but it also makes sense from a marketing perspective.
McDonald has been courageous in confronting the propagandised tale of Seacole and the smears spread about Nightingale. It was the latter than first drew the Canadian scholar’s attention, because negative statements about Nightingale’s character were at odds with her 20 years of thorough research on primary sources, culminating in her 16-volume Collected Works of Florence Nightingale. Nightingale is a deserved heroine, whose achievements in founding the modern nursing profession are indisputable. Inspired by her Christian faith, she would not rest until she ensured proper care for the poor, for whom provision progressed from filthy workhouse galleries to well-designed infirmaries, and from drudgery for the living dead to trained nursing.
Mary Seacole, by contrast, was not a nurse and she never worked in a hospital. She was, undoubtedly, a remarkable person. Born of mixed white and Creole parentage in Jamaica, she was a successful businesswoman who frequently travelled abroad with her paid assistants. It was on a trip to London to manage her gold stocks that she heard of the war in Crimea, and she was encouraged to contribute to the cause. As well as running a shop and café for officers, she tended the wounded, who were touched by her charm. On returning to London, Seacole was toasted by lords and ladies and other senior figures in Victorian society.
Today, children learn an embellished account of Seacole, who has precedence in the curriculum. For example, a page from a history book (exhibited by McDonald in her talk) shows redcoats in a battle, with the explanatory text: ‘Mary nursed injured soldiers – even if that meant going on to the battlefield while the fighting was going on. Florence Nightingale, the famous British nurse, did not do this.’ The pronouncement ‘It’s true!’ is false.
In her book Mary Seacole: The Making of a Myth, McDonald scrutinised several legends about Seacole, including her battlefield exploits and saving of thousands of soldiers’ lives (not true) her military medals (never awarded), racist discrimination by Nightingale (unfounded) and her work as a nurse (which she never called herself). Furthermore, Seacole is now known as black, but she identified herself as ‘yellow’. She described her black employees in derogatory terms, such as ‘good-for-nothing black cooks’ (and worse), while she remarked that a monkey’s ‘grilled head bore a strong resemblance to a negro baby’s’.
Mary Seacole is blameless for the current hubris. Her fascinating story is recounted in the autobiography The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, and she deserves to be remembered for her compassionate ministrations in Crimea. She should not be set up as a competitor to Nightingale, because her raison d’être and accomplishments were on a different plane.
Many in the audience at King’s College were surprised by McDonald’s revelations. Some were offended, regarding the talk as an unnecessary attack on a black role model. The facts were not contested, but the message was apparently insensitive. One person elaborated on a broader theme of racism, referring to the nastiness of white heroes such as Winston Churchill. But McDonald steered clear of ideological motives, sticking to her specific research and the evidence available.
The talk ended with McDonald’s call for recognition of a Nigerian woman, Kofoworola Abeni Pratt, the first black nurse to practise in the NHS. A trainee of the Nightingale school, Pratt worked wonders in developing the nursing profession in Nigeria, and McDonald invited audience members to add to the appeal to the Health Secretary to commemorate this talented clinician. Indeed, it would be better to celebrate real and contemporary black nurses than to perpetuate the mythology of Mary Seacole. To paraphrase C P Scott, beliefs are free, but facts are sacred.
This article appeared in Niall McCrae’s substack on November 3, 2025, and is republished by kind permission.
