Betsi Cadwaladr (the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board in Wales is named after her) was a nurse in the Crimean War but, apart from the ‘Autobiography’ of 1857 and a few booklets for children, her life remains little known. The aim of this new booklet is to fill this gap and raise awareness of her historical significance in and beyond Wales.
After a short account of Betsi's rather strange childhood and her life in domestic service, together with the adventurous seafaring life that took her to many parts of the world, the focus shifts to her life and experiences in the Crimea. Why, at the age of sixty-five, did she become so determined to undertake such a hazardous journey? Why did she dislike Florence Nightingale so much? What was her attitude to the other nurses and, above all, to the many sick and wounded casualties of a war that so captivated the interest of the British public? Why, unlike her more famous contemporary at Balaclava, the Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole, did Betsy die in poverty? And why did she carry her Welsh Bible with her all her life?
Read this book to find out more...
After a short account of Betsi's rather strange childhood and her life in domestic service, together with the adventurous seafaring life that took her to many parts of the world, the focus shifts to her life and experiences in the Crimea. Why, at the age of sixty-five, did she become so determined to undertake such a hazardous journey? Why did she dislike Florence Nightingale so much? What was her attitude to the other nurses and, above all, to the many sick and wounded casualties of a war that so captivated the interest of the British public? Why, unlike her more famous contemporary at Balaclava, the Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole, did Betsy die in poverty? And why did she carry her Welsh Bible with her all her life?
Read this book to find out more...
