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The Official Nonsense Thread
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26-07-2013, 11:19 PM
Post: #17719
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RE: The Official Nonsense Thread
It could have been worse, it could have been Mary Seacole. There was a big campaign to put her on largely around the myth that her role in nursing during the Crimean War was forgotten about because she was black & working class, unlike Florence Nightingale who was white & middle class.
In reality Seacole came from a very well to do background, only looked after officers in the Crimea (her so-called "British Hotel" of Balaclava) not the ranks, & the refusal by Whitehall to supply her with funds (much touted by The Voice & The Guardian) was down to her ample investments in the gold mining industry (& yes, before you guess, it was in South Africa!) & the fact she was clearly as much in it out there for the money as the munitions sellers. Nightingale covered up for her to a ludicrous extent, largely because the situation was so critical that anyone proffering any form of competent medical facilities (which Seacole did, to be fair) was a bonus (Nightingale was a pragmatist to the "nth"), even if she were what we'd call nowadays a "war profiteer". But she forbade any of her nurses from working with Seacole's operation as she was running to all intensive purposes a private medical business for profit: selling booze & camp kit to troops, even providing catering for toffs going along to watch battles from a safe distance. If they stick her on the notes, they may as well stick Dr John Dee on them next & be done with it! Knowing our luck, it'll be Victoria Beckham next. |
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