Mary Seacole was a Jamaican nurse who specialised in homeopathic medicine during the 1800s. Growing up near the Kingston area of Jamaica, Seacole was heavily influenced by her mother who was a doctress.

Seacole’s mother plied her trade as a traditional healer, relying on local Caribbean and African herbal remedies, and passed this knowledge down to her daughter. Mary would put such skills to great use throughout her lifetime, most notably during the Crimean War.