In Search of Mary Seacole: a ‘wonderfully informative’ biography
Helen Rappaport sets out to bring ‘clarity to Seacole’s life’

The “extraordinary” Mary Seacole – who was renowned for giving succour to British troops during the Crimean War – has in recent years become something of a “political touchstone”, said Andrew Lycett in The Spectator. While many see her as a black pioneer who bravely made her way in “an inhospitable society”, others claim she was something of a “charlatan” – a woman who falsely presented herself as a nurse and “doctress” when in fact she mainly sold food and drink.
In this long-awaited biography, Helen Rappaport sets out to bring “clarity to Seacole’s life”, a task made particularly challenging owing to the patchiness of much of the evidence, and by the fact that Seacole herself was often evasive, especially when it came to her upbringing in Jamaica. Yet Rappaport triumphantly brings her to life, revealing her to be a “hardy, enterprising and intensely patriotic” woman who, while certainly no saint, was a significant force for good.
Seacole was born out of wedlock in 1805 to a 15-year-old mixed-race woman named Rebecca and a Scots army officer named John Grant, said Wendy Moore in Literary Review. In her early adulthood in Jamaica she became a “successful businesswoman”, running a lodging house and selling herbal remedies. She acquired her surname in 1836 by a pragmatic marriage to an English merchant named Edwin Seacole, who died eight years later.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Soon after the Crimean War broke out in 1853, she travelled to England and offered her services to the British Army as a nurse – only to be rejected. Instead, she financed her own trip to Crimea, setting up a canteen and “general store” near the front that doubled as a “walk-in clinic” for injured soldiers.
Seacole’s presence in the Crimea greatly irked Florence Nightingale, who regarded her as a Creole upstart and couldn’t stand her, said Ysenda Maxtone Graham in The Times. When Seacole visited her hospital in Scutari, Nightingale made her sleep in the “washerwomen’s flea-ridden quarters”. She also refused Seacole’s offer of care when she fell ill with fever in 1855, later writing that Seacole “wanted to quack me”.
This antipathy, Rappaport suggests, was driven largely by jealousy: “Old Mother Seacole” was loved not only for her medical care, but also for her meat pies and her willingness to serve alcohol. Seacole returned to England a celebrity, but had lapsed into obscurity by her death in 1881. Rappaport performs a valuable service in this “wonderfully informative book” by presenting Seacole in “all her roundness”.
Simon & Schuster 416pp £20; The Week Bookshop £15.99
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
-
5 cracking cartoons about the new Cracker Barrel logo
Cartoons Artists take on MAGA designs, real issues, and more
-
Should you downsize for retirement? Here's what to consider.
The Explainer Moving to a smaller place may seem easier, but there are also some real benefits to staying put
-
What to do if you want to move but don't want to give up your low mortgage rate
the explainer 30-year mortgage rates are currently averaging 7% — and homeowners who secured rates closer to 3% during the pandemic are reluctant to sell their homes
-
Woof! Britain's love affair with dogs
The Explainer The UK's canine population is booming. What does that mean for man's best friend?
-
Millet: Life on the Land – an 'absorbing' exhibition
The Week Recommends Free exhibition at the National Gallery showcases the French artist's moving paintings of rural life
-
Thomasina Miers picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The food writer shares works by Arundhati Roy, Claire Keegan and Charles Dickens
-
6 laid-back homes for surfers
Feature Featuring a home near a world-renowned surf spot in Hawaii and a house built to withstand the elements in South Carolina
-
Twelfth Night or What You Will: a 'riotous' late-summer jamboree
The Week Recommends Robin Belfield's 'carnivalesque' new staging at Shakespeare's Globe is 'joyfully tongue-in-cheek'
-
Hostage: Netflix's 'fun, fast and brash potboiler'
The Week Recommends Suranne Jones is 'relentlessly defiant' as prime minister Abigail Dalton
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly Tuttle
Feature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town