Birth of Florence Nightingale ~ The Lady With The Lamp
Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy, on 12th May 1820.
The city of Florence was the inspiration for her name.
Born into a very wealthy family, they frowned upon her entering into the nursing profession, and saw it as beneath a lady of her station.
Florence went against what was traditionally expected of her, and she would go on to become a war-hero nurse.
Leaving her family, she moved to London to work.
There, she received a letter from the Secretary of War, asking her to put a team together to look after British soldiers in the Crimea, during the Crimean War.
This was the first time that women had been officially allowed to serve in the army.
When she first arrived, with a staff of 38 nurses, the army doctors wanted nothing to do with her.
But she wouldn’t go away and soon got to work ~ cleaning up the awful conditions there.
There weren’t enough beds, everything was filthy, there weren’t proper loos, and there were rats everywhere.
She quickly got the more able soldiers to work, making them scrub the hospital clean.
She would walk around the hospital at night, to make sure the poorly soldiers were comfortable.
This is how she became known as the lady with the lamp.
When she returned home, she was welcomed as a hero.
Even Queen Victoria wrote her a letter, to say thank you for what she had accomplished.
Later in life, she kept up a prolonged correspondence with Irish nun Sister Mary Clare Moore, with whom she had worked in Crimea.
Her most beloved confidante was Mary Clarke, an Englishwoman she met in Paris in 1837, and kept in touch with throughout her life.
Some scholars believe that she remained chaste for her entire life, perhaps because she felt a religious calling to her career.
Florence Nightingale died peacefully in her sleep in her room at 10 South Street, Mayfair London, on 13th August 1910.
She had reached the remarkable age of 90.
The offer of a burial in Westminster Abbey was declined by her relatives, and she is buried in the churchyard of St Margaret’s Church in East Wellow, Hampshire.
Florence Nightingale completely transformed the quality of care in war, and went on to improve healthcare all over the world, that’s a pretty amazing legacy to leave.
A true hero who dedicated her life to helping others
