Join Greg Jenner for a fun Homeschool History lesson on the life of Mary Seacole. Follow her adventures as she travels the world in her ambition to always care for others. From life as the daughter of a hotelier in Jamaica to owner of the famous British Hotel in Crimea, where she volunteered to set up a business caring for injured soldiers, earning her the name Mother Seacole. The Athletic production for BBC Radio 4
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Hello and welcome to Homeschool History.
I'm Greg Jenner, the historian behind tv's horrible histories and the host of the BBC Radio Four podcast, you're dead to me.
I'm here to deliver a snappy history lesson to entertain and educate the whole family who says that homeschooling can't be fun.
And today we are going back to the 19th century to meet an extraordinary woman who travelled the world, all whilst helping the sick and injured.
It's the marvelous Mary Seacole.
Mary was born Mary Grant in 1805 on the caribbean island of Jamaica, which at the time was a british colony.
It would have been jam packed with soldiers and sailors.
Marys dad was a scottish army officer called James Grant.
Sadly, we dont know Marys mums name, but we know that she was a mixed race jamaican woman who owned a hotel in Kingston called Blundell Hall.
Mary also had a sister, Louisa, and a half brother, Edward.
Blundell hall was considered one of the best hotels in Jamaica's capital, Kingston.
Mary was fascinated by healing.
Her mum was known as a doctress, meaning she practiced traditional african and jamaican herbal medicine.
And when she was a little girl, Mary practiced her healing skills on her dolls.
She said there was no disease in Kingston that her poor dollies didn't catch at some point.
All better now, but it wasnt all make believe.
Some of the british officers staying in Marys mums hotel caught nasty diseases such as yellow fever, so Mary would have seen some very poorly people.
And growing up, Mary was also supported by a wealthy woman who was a bit like her grandmother to her.
She gave Mary an education, while Marys mum showed her how to run a hotel business.