10 Unsung Heroes Of History

Fought over two-and-a-half years in the mid-1850s, the Crimean War was a devastating time during which families lost loved ones and global disputes caused foreign affairs to crumble. Almost half a million people lost their lives in the conflict, and though the Treaty of Paris put an end to the war, the damage was irreparable.

The war had taken its toll, yet one person who was working to repair the damage created by the conflict was Mary Seacole, a British-Jamaican woman who provided essential support for both nurses and wounded soldiers working on the front line by setting up the 'British Hotel'.

Seacole's heroics were immense, yet the Crimean War is more famous for another female nursing pioneer: Florence Nightingale. The 'Lady of the Lamp' went down in history for her impact on health during the battle, rendering Seacole forgotten for the better part of a century, with some believing the cause to be her skin colour.

Mary Seacole was undoubtedly a hero of modern medicine, and her place on the podium of pioneering wartime treatment is right beside Florence Nightingale, no longer destined to be forgotten.