Mary Seacole

EDM number 212 in 2002-03, proposed by Jenny Tonge on 27/11/2002.

That this House recognises that insufficient attention is paid to the contribution of ethnic minorities to Britain today and in the past, and especially to the role of black women; believes that a statue of Mary Seacole should be erected on the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square, in keeping with its 19th Century military history; notes the words of the celebrated Times journalist William Russell, who said 'I trust England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succour them and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead'; recalls that the fund set up on her behalf in 1867 was chaired by Colonel Henry Daniell of the Coldstream Guards, had as patrons the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh, and that its committee included senior officers of some of Britain's most famous regiments and her Royal Navy; concurs with the gratitude and approbation expressed by Queen Victoria for her services; and therefore feels that her place in the Square would be well deserved and a fitting tribute to a women from Jamaica whose work in the Crimea was so highly regarded.

This motion has been signed by a total of 29 MPs, 1 of these signatures have been withdrawn.