Mary Seacole: A Crimean War Hero

Mary Seacole’s dream was to go to London. When a family member invited her to join them she was delighted. When she travelled there, Mary developed a liking for trade and did business there for four years until she returned to take over Blundell Hall. During her time in Jamaica, the tensions were high. Slaves in Jamaica were fighting back and were suppressed. News of this reached London and people used this as grounds for the emancipation of slavery. Partial emancipation in 1834 and full emancipation in 1838. Although Mary was glad about this, she never considered herself a victim or a part of the struggle. After all, she was the daughter of a white man. She later married a white man named Edwin Seacole and they opened a small general store, but after six years of struggling, they gave up and returned to Blundell Hall. Sadly, in 1843 a fire broke out and Blundell Hall was destroyed. Shortly after, her mother and husband passed away. Though she felt grief, she got back on her feet and built New Blundell Hall just before the Cholera epidemic travelled to Jamaica. She fought the epidemic bravely and now had experience. After a while, she missed travelling and her brother gave her the perfect opportunity, in Panama. Unfortunately, Cholera was back. After making some money and treating many patients, she had enough money to open her own business, the British Hotel. The British Hotel had no rooms but served food instead. Sometime later, a railroad was being built and there would be no reason for her hotel to be there, but duty was called in a different place.