Date: October 29, 2025
Legacy Makers: Stories of Black Inventors and Icons
Title and Show Info
Episode #39. The Indomitable Mary Seacole
Featuring: Toni Davis (Host & Storyteller).
Summary
🎙️ Discover the incredible story of Mary Seacole — the Jamaican-born nurse, healer, and humanitarian who broke barriers during the Crimean War. Long overshadowed by Florence Nightingale, Seacole's courage, compassion, and medical innovation made her a true pioneer of nursing and a hero of Black history. In this episode, we explore her Caribbean heritage, her fight against prejudice in Victorian Britain, and her lasting cultural legacy in British and Jamaican history.
Join us as we celebrate one of history's most inspirational women, whose story continues to shape medical history and inspire generations around the world.
#MarySeacole #BlackHistory #NursingPioneers #CrimeanWar #HerStory
Highlights:
00:56- INTRO.
01:00- EPILOGUE.
01:53- MARY JANE GRANT'S BIRTH AT BLUNDELL HALL.
02:09- HER MOTHER MRS. GRANT "THE DOCTRESS".
02:20- HER FATHER JAMES GRANT.
03:17- AT 16 YEARS OLD SHE TRAVELS TO LONDON.
04:21- RETURNS TO JAMAICA AND HELPS HER MOTHER RUN BLUNDELL HALL.
04:26- BRITISH ARMY HOSPITAL.
04:34- MARRIES EDWIN HORATIO HAMILTON SEACOLE. BECOMING MRS. MARY SEACOLE.
05:10- BLUNDELL HALL BURNS DOWN.
05:20- NEW BLUNDELL HALL.
05:27- HER HUSBAND EDWIN DIES AND HER MOTHER DIES.
05:46- OWNER OF NEW BLUNDELL HALL.
05:55- CHOLERA EPIDEMIC IN JAMAICA.
06:28- CHOLERA EPIDEMIC IN PANAMA.
07:11- OWNS A WOMEN-ONLY HOTEL IN PANAMA.
07:19- YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC IN JAMAICA.
07:53- CRIMEAN WAR.
08:35- SAILS FROM PANAMA TO ENGLAND.
09:11- BOARDS THE HOLLANDER.
09:46- BALACLAVA, THE BRITISH BASE IN CRIMEA.
09:56- THE BRITISH HOTEL.
11:46- "MOTHER SEACOLE".
11:56- SEVASTOPOL.
13:05- A SEACOLE FUND.
13:27- 200-PAGE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, TITLED, THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF MRS. SEACOLE IN MANY LANDS. THE FIRST AUTOBIOGRAPHY PUBLISHED BY A BLACK WOMAN IN BRITAIN.
14:09- RETURNS TO JAMAICA.
14:26- PURCHASES LAND IN JAMAICA.
14:41- RETURNS TO LONDON TO LIVE.
14:51- MARBLE BUST.
15:43- MARY SEACOLE PASSES AWAY.
15:40- BURIED AT THE ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CEMETERY, HARROW ROAD, KENSAL GREEN, LONDON, ENGLAND.
15:48- LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.
16:37- ACCOLADES.
19:23- CONCLUSION.
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Links To Additional Resources:
Read Mary's Story - Mary Seacole Trust, Life, Work & Achievements of Mary Seacole
Read Mary's Story - Mary Seacole Trust, Life, Work & Achievements of Mary Seacole
Mary Seacole Facts for Kids | National Geographic Kids (natgeokids.com)
BBC - History - Historic Figures: Mary Seacole (1805 - 1881)
Honoring the Life and Work of Mary Seacole | AORN
Mary Seacole | Biography, Facts, Family, & Nursing | Britannica
Statuegate - Mary Seacole: Crimean War hero or business opportunist? — The Bristorian
14 extraordinary facts about Mary Seacole (penguin.co.uk)
Mary Seacole: Doctress of the Crimean War | London Museum
Mary Seacole Trust, Life, Work & Achievements of Mary Seacole
Mary Seacole – Florence Nightingale Museum London (florence-nightingale.co.uk)
Mary Seacole: Life, Facts, Legacy, Contribution To Nursing | HistoryExtra
Famous Victorians: Mary Seacole - BBC Teach
Mary Seacole (1805-1881) | The National Library of Jamaica (nlj.gov.jm)
Celebrating Black History Month Honoree Mary Seacole - College of Nursing (pvamu.edu)
Mary Seacole: self taught nurse and heroine of the Crimean War - PubMed (nih.gov)
Mary Seacole programme – Leadership Academy
Mary Seacole | Nursed British soldiers during the Crimean War | New Scientist
Mary Seacole | Research Starters | EBSCO Research
Mary Seacole - Black History Month 2025
Mary Seacole – Pioneering Nurse and Adventurer (frontiersin.org)
Mary Seacole - Human Technopole
Mary Seacole (1805–1881), Crimean War Memoirist - Working Nurse
Mary Seacole: Myths in the Making of the Nursing Profession — The Nightingale Society
Mary Seacole Research Centre (dmu.ac.uk)
Black History Month - Mary Seacole | St Oswald's Hospice (stoswaldsuk.org)
Mary Seacole and the Crimean War | National Army Museum (nam.ac.uk)
Mary Seacole by Albert Charles Challen - National Portrait Gallery (npg.org.uk)
Mary Seacole - The National Archives
Mary Seacole | Nurse | Blue Plaques | English Heritage (english-heritage.org.uk)
Mary Seacole by Albert Charles Challen - National Portrait Gallery (npg.org.uk)
Mary Seacole and claims of evidence‐based practice and global influence - PMC (nih.gov)
The Story of Mary Seacole - Mary Seacole Memorial Association (MSMA)
Mary Seacole - Crimea War Nurse | Black Heroes Foundation
Who was Mary Seacole? | The Unforgotten | Young Vic website
Day 2: Mary Seacole - The British-Jamaican Nurse Who Defied… - Black History Buff (steady.page)
Meet Mary Seacole – Florence Nightingale Museum London (florence-nightingale.co.uk)
Mary Seacole — What'shername (whatshernamepodcast.com)
Mary Seacole, Nurse, and Abolitionist born - African American Registry (aaregistry.org)
Mary Seacole - More Than Our Childhoods
THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF MARY SEACOLE IN MANY LANDS — Immortal Perfumes
Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole and the Crimean War - History Heroes
Mary Seacole | Biography for kids | Strong Women | Lottie
Black History Month: Mary Seacole - History Off The Page
Mary Seacole - Person - National Portrait Gallery (npg.org.uk)
Mary Seacole (victorianweb.org)
Mary Seacole : London Remembers, Aiming to capture all memorials in London
A brief bio of Mary Seacole for teachers – Mary Seacole
Mary Seacole – National Geographic Education Blog
Black History Month: Mary Seacole | Forces Employment Charity
Mary Seacole (unsunghistorypodcast.com)
242 Mary Seacole Photos & High Res Pictures - Getty Images
Mary Seacole: Caring for the Wounded – Jamaica Information Service (jis.gov.jm)
Mary Seacole and Victorian attitudes to race – Students as Researchers (lboro.ac.uk)
Ten Things To Know About Mary Seacole - London Guided Walks
Her-Story, Then: Mary Seacole | WAMC
Mary Seacole (Life And Times) – Ron Ramdin
The adventurous life of Mary Seacole | News | Jamaica Gleaner (jamaica-gleaner.com)
Mary Seacole - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help
Mary Seacole's legacy recognised and celebrated at the NMC - The Nursing and Midwifery Council
Black British History: Mary Seacole | OUPblog
Mary Seacole - Recollections Blog
Storytime: Mary Seacole - Adeptales
Mary Seacole: The Other Florence Nightingale (allthatsinteresting.com)
Mary Seacole – a brief biography - Rupert Colley
The Wonderful (and Lifesaving) Adventures of Mary Seacole — Google Arts & Culture
Biography of Mary Seacole, Nurse and War Hero (thoughtco.com)
Mary Seacole, Jamaican born Nurse and Adventurer | OSJCT
Black History Month Mythbusters: Mary Seacole – Chester Students' Union (chestersu.com)
Black British Heroes: Mary Seacole - Exeposé Online (exepose.com)
Mary Seacole | Real Life Heroes Wiki | Fandom
International Women's Month: The Legacy of Mary Seacole (international-womens-month.co.uk)
Mary Seacole | Encyclopedia.com
A Brief History of Mary Seacole. Mary Jane Seacole was a West-Indian… | by AfriMobile Team | Medium
Mary Seacole - English History
Historical men and women: Mary Seacole: the forgotten "Florence Nightingale"
Mary Seacole — Google Arts & Culture
Mary Seacole Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline (thefamouspeople.com)
National Hero : Mary Seacole – Sadé Magazine (sademagazine.co)
Mary Seacole (britishempire.co.uk)
Mary Seacole House | Granby Community Mental Health Group
Mary Seacole - The Victorian Wars (weebly.com)
Mary Seacole – Illustrated Women in History
Mary Seacole and the Crimean War | Lovely Old Tree (wordpress.com)
Watch: London's Black history | UCL News - UCL – University College London
New details of the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II revealed | HELLO! (hellomagazine.com)
