The statue of Mary Seacole stands in the grounds of St Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth, London. Sculpted by Martin Jennings, the statue was executed in 2016. It honours Mary Seacole, a British-Jamaican who established a "British Hotel" during the Crimean War and who was posthumously voted first in a poll of "100 Great Black Britons".
Subject
Mary Seacole (née Grant, 1805–1881) was born in Jamaica to a Scottish father and a Jamaican mother. Following her mother as a "doctress" practising traditional herbal medicine, and as a hotel keeper, Seacole established a mess, the "British Hotel", at Balaklava during the Crimean War. Travelling to the Crimea independently after her attempts to join the official nursing contingent led by Florence Nightingale were unsuccessful, Seacole set up the hotel as a recreational and convalescence facility for officers and men and was referred to as "Mother Seacole" by the soldiery. Returning to England in 1856, she published an autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, the following year. Falling into poverty, Seacole benefited from fundraising efforts supported by a number of illustrious backers, including the war correspondent of The Times, William Howard Russell. After her death in 1881, Seacole largely disappeared from the public consciousness. The centenary of her death saw the beginnings of a revival of interest; the Mary Seacole Memorial Association was founded in 1980, and an English Heritage blue plaque commemorated her residence in George Street, Westminster. In 2004 Seacole was voted first in a poll of 100 "Great Black Britons", and the president of the Royal College of Nursing called for the erection of a statue to honour her memory. Over a decade later, and following considerable controversy, the statue in the gardens of St Thomas' Hospital was unveiled by Floella Benjamin on 30 June 2016.
Description The statue stands in the gardens of St Thomas' Hospital, facing the Palace of Westminster. The figure of Seacole is cast in bronze and the sculptor Martin Jennings depicted Seacole in motion to represent her "marching defiantly forward into an oncoming wind, as if confronting head-on some of the personal resistance she had constantly to battle". The sculpture stands on a plinth of Cumbrian slate with Portland stone dressings. Seacole stands in front of a disc, again cast in bronze although with a lighter patina to accentuate contrasts and shadows, which shows the land surface where Seacole established her "British Hotel" in the Crimea. Jennings intended the disc to have both literal significance, as a depiction of the place where her reputation was first established, and symbolic meaning, as a block to her ambitions. The plinth carries two inscriptions. To the front is carved Seacole's name, occupation and dates, together with words from her autobiography; "Wherever the need arises on whatever distant shore I ask no higher or greater privilege than to minister to it". The reverse describes the meaning and purpose of the disc, and carries words by William Howard Russell, the newspaper correspondent who covered the Crimean War, and Seacole's contribution; "I trust that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succour them, and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead". In 2017 the sculpture was shortlisted for the Marsh Awards, established by the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association to raise awareness of Britain's monument heritage. Seacole's statue is generally considered to be the first in Britain to recognise a named black woman.
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