<P> A 200 - page autobiographical account of her travels was published in July 1857 by James Blackwood as Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, the first autobiography written by a black woman in Britain . Priced at one shilling and six pence (1 / 6) a copy, the cover bears a striking portrait of Seacole in red, yellow and black ink . Robinson speculates that she dictated the work to an editor, identified in the book only as W.J.S., who improved her grammar and orthography . In the work Seacole deals with the first 39 years of her life in one short chapter . She then expends six chapters on her few years in Panama, before using the following 12 chapters to detail her exploits in Crimea . She avoids mention of the names of her parents and precise date of birth . A short final "Conclusion" deals with her return to England, and lists supporters of her fund - raising effort, including Rokeby, Prince Edward of Saxe - Weimar, the Duke of Wellington, the Duke of Newcastle, William Russell, and other prominent men in the military . The book was dedicated to Major - General Lord Rokeby, commander of the First Division; and William Howard Russell wrote as a preface, "I have witnessed her devotion and her courage...and I trust that England will never forget one who has 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 ." </P> <P> In 2017 Robert McCrum chose it as one of the 100 best nonfiction books, calling it "gloriously entertaining". </P> <P> Seacole had joined the Roman Catholic Church circa 1860, and returned to a Jamaica changed in her absence as it faced economic downturn . She became a prominent figure in the country . However, by 1867 she was again running short of money, and the Seacole fund was resurrected in London, with new patrons including the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Cambridge, and many other senior military officers . The fund burgeoned, and Seacole was able to buy land on Duke Street in Kingston, near New Blundell Hall, where she built a bungalow as her new home, plus a larger property to rent out . </P> <P> By 1870, Seacole was back in London, and Robinson speculates that she was drawn back by the prospect of rendering medical assistance in the Franco - Prussian War . It seems likely that she approached Sir Harry Verney (the husband of Florence Nightingale's sister Parthenope) Member of Parliament for Buckingham who was closely involved in the British National Society for the Relief of the Sick and Wounded . It was at this time Nightingale wrote her letter to Verney insinuating that Seacole had kept a "bad house" in Crimea, and was responsible for "much drunkenness and improper conduct". </P>

Where did mary go to help british troops