Famous British Nurses

Mary Seacole was a British-Jamaican nurse, businesswoman, and healer. She played a major role during the Crimean War, providing aid for wounded servicemen and nursing them back to health. In 1991, Seacole was posthumously honored with the Jamaican Order of Merit. In 2004, she was named the greatest black Briton for her contribution during the war.

Jennifer Worth was a British memoirist best remembered for her best-selling trilogy: Call the Midwife, Farewell to The East End, and Shadows of the Workhouse. The trilogy, which is about Jennifer Worth's experience as a nurse and midwife in East End of London during the 1950s, inspired the popular TV series, Call the Midwife. 

Edith Cavell was a British nurse best remembered for saving the lives of many soldiers from both camps without discrimination. She helped nearly 200 Allied soldiers escape from Belgium during World War I. Her decision to help both German and Allied soldiers without discrimination landed her in trouble; Edith Cavell was accused of treason and sentenced to death.

Elizabeth Fry was an English social reformer, prison reformer, Quaker, and philanthropist. Nicknamed the Angel of Prisons, Fry played a major role in the Gaol Act, which necessitated sex-segregation of prisons. The act also mandated the appointment of female warders for female inmates.

Mimi Smith was a British nurse best remembered as the parental guardian and maternal aunt of the popular English musician John Lennon. She played an important role in the upbringing of John Lennon. Mimi Smith has been portrayed in several films, including Birth of the Beatles, In His Life: The John Lennon Story, and John and Yoko: A Love Story.

Initially a journalist, Nancy Wake earned the nickname The White Mouse for her skilful spying on Germans. Working under the alias Helene for the SOE, the stiletto-wearing socialite earned respect for her 500 km bicycle ride to report a situation to London, while being chased by the Nazis.

Suze Randall is an English photographer, model, and pornographer. Randall worked as a staff photographer for Hustler and Playboy, becoming the first woman staff photographer for both the publications. In 1980, she directed a pornographic film titled Kiss and Tell, becoming one of the earliest woman porn film directors. Suze Randall has also modeled for magazines like Hustler and Playboy.

Derek Longmuir is a Scottish retired drummer. He is best known for co-founding the pop rock band, Bay City Rollers. Longmuir retired from music in the 1980s and started training as a nurse. He then went on to work at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. In 2000, Longmuir pleaded guilty for possessing child pornography and was sentenced to 300 hours' community service.

Constance Kent was an English woman who murdered her half-brother, Francis Saville Kent. She was only 16 years old when she killed her three-year-old half-brother. The murder inspired several works of art, including films and novels.

English ethnographer and traveler Mary Kingsley was the daughter of renowned physician and traveler George Kingsley and the niece of Charles Kingsley. Unlike girls of her era, she was well-educated and later ventured on an exploratory trip to West Africa, becoming the first European to enter remote areas such as Gabon.