title: Mary Seacole
abstract: Mary Seacole (b. 1805–d. 1881) was born Mary Jane Grant in Kingston, Jamaica, daughter of a Scottish lieutenant in the British Army, James Grant, and a freed Jamaican woman (slavery was abolished in Jamaica in 1838), who is only referred to as Mrs. Grant. Mrs. Grant was the proprietor of Blundell Hall, a boarding house in Kingston, and a recognized healer—or “doctress”—who used her knowledge of traditional medicine to tend to the community and visitors such as sailors, soldiers, and travelers. M