Introduction

Mary Seacole was born Mary Grant in 1805 on the Caribbean island of Jamaica, which at the time was a British colony. Her mum was known as a doctoress, meaning she practiced traditional African and Jamaican herbal medicine. She later wrote that her Jamaican friends got bullied in London for the colour of their skin. The journey from Jamaica to Britain took at least six weeks by boat. And growing up, Mary was also supported by a wealthy woman who taught her how to run a hotel business. When she was 31 she married a white English merchant called Edwin Horatio Hamilton Seacol. This was quite unusual at the time, as mixed-race marriages were not common in