Mary’s remarkable autobiography was published in 1857. In the same year a number of distinguished officers organised a concert in aid of Mary at the Royal Surrey Gardens Music Hall in London. She had been made bankrupt by the sudden end of the war, but unfortunately she received very little money from the concert.

Mary died in 1881 and was buried in the Catholic Cemetery at Kensal Green, London. For a century her fame and achievements died with those who knew her, but recently she has been remembered and restored to our history. In 2004 Mary Seacole was voted top of a list of 100 of the greatest Black Britons and was again recognised by the public for her achievements during the Crimean War.