Mrs. Seacole was born Mary Jane Grant to a Scottish father and a Creole mother. She was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1805, although she never revealed her full birthdate. She is one of three children and grew up in a relationship with her brother and sister. Her father was a Scottish soldier stationed in Jamaica which was a British colony. She grew up with her mother who taught her how to manage a home and care for the sick with herbal remedies. She began to help her mother in running the Grant boarding house and caring for the sick. She learned hard work and surviving on her own means from an early age, which she took with her throughout her life.

National Geographic Society. “Mary Seacole.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 15 Oct. 2012, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/mary-seacole/. 

Seacole, Mary. Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, Penguin Classics. 1857.