Florence Nightingale, Military Nurse

Florence Nightingale: 'The Lady with the Lamp'

"Bring me 200 scrubbing brushes" was the first instruction issued by Florence Nightingale a few hours after arriving at the Military Hospital in Scutari, Turkey. Accompanied by 37 nurses, Florence had answered a call to help British soldiers who had been wounded in the Crimean War, and she arrived none too late. On the day of her arrival, 25 October 1854, the inconclusive Battle of Balaclava resulted in a huge number of wounded soldiers requiring attention. As was common in those days, there were neither the staff nor the facilities to assist them. However, Florence was equal to the occasion. With commendable foresight, she had brought £30,000 and a shipload of supplies with her, and within a few weeks, the death rate in the hospital had fallen from 42 per 100 to 2.

Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 into a well-to-do family with houses in Hampshire and Derbyshire. She was educated by her father, spoke six languages fluently, and was well-versed in history, mathematics, and philosophy. At the age of 17, she claimed to have had an instruction from God to devote her life to nursing the sick, but it was not until she was 30 that she joined a German religious group devoted to the study of nursing. Four years later, fully trained and to the horror of her parents and friends, she announced that she would spend the rest of her life caring for the sick. In 1854, she arrived in Scutari to take charge of the Military Hospital (at the request of her friend, the Secretary of State for War), and thus began a career that would last a further 55 years. Although very unpopular with the Army Medical Service, she was worshipped by the wounded soldiers, who called her 'The Lady with the Lamp'. Every evening, after 8 o'clock, she would walk around the wards carrying a lamp to check on the day's work. As she passed each bed, the soldiers would kiss her shadow as it crossed their pillow.

In 1855, she transferred herself and some of her nurses to the Crimea, where she immediately ran into trouble. The Inspector General of Hospitals contended that she had no authority outside Scutari, but this was remedied in March 1856, when she was made Superintendent of the Female Nursing Establishment of all British Military Hospitals. It was then back to Britain to a hero's welcome, which she declined, and to the receipt of a purse of £45,000, collected by a grateful British public. She devoted this sum to the founding of the St Thomas's Hospital School for Nurses (the first in the world), to initiating the founding of the British Army Medical School (1857), and to a campaign to improve the food, health, and living conditions of the British soldier. This last campaign was received by the Establishment with tolerance but without enthusiasm.

Her successes and influence are all the more remarkable, as from 1857 until her death, she was a housebound invalid. From her house in London, she carried on a voluminous correspondence, received large numbers of visitors from the greatest to the most humble, and read extensively. Few would embark on any course of action within her sphere of interest without her personal blessing. She was particularly knowledgeable about India, a country she had never visited, and was regularly consulted on many matters by the India Office in London. Her interests ranged from the reform of workhouses to the training of midwives, from the design of hospitals to writing textbooks for nurses. At the age of 72, she organised a very successful campaign to raise health standards in Buckinghamshire. A personal friend of Queen Victoria, she had immense direct and indirect influence on all the matters that attracted her attention. "Such a head!" the Queen once said. "I wish we had her in the War Office!"

By 1901, she was completely blind, having suffered from poor eyesight all her life. In 1907, she was awarded the Order of Merit by the King – the first woman ever to receive this very high honour. She died on 13 August 1910, and, having earlier declined the offer of a State Funeral and burial in Westminster Abbey, was buried in the family grave in Hampshire. Nevertheless, her coffin was transported to the graveyard on a gun carriage and carried to the family crypt on the shoulders of six Army sergeants.

Every Ballantynes sculpture is completely handmade and finished to the highest possible quality.

All our sculptures come attached to a wooden base. We offer the choice of a presentation base, or you can upgrade to one of our fine Mahogany bases.

Complete your piece by adding a brass plaque to the front of the base, personalised with your own message!

We have three finish options:

Cold Cast Antique Bronze – This is our most popular style. The sculpture is made with powdered bronze added into the composite. Then it is buffed and polished to highlight the bronze. The colour is similar to that of a Victoria Cross Medal.

Hand Painting – The sculptures are cast in a white ‘China clay’ finish. They are then hand painted using a combination of air brushing and hand application. We use high quality oil paints, that are designed to our particular specification. We add in shading and distressing to achieve a realistic effect before applying a 20% satin over-finish to protect the piece from the effects of time.

Electroformed Silver – Our Electroformed Silver Sculptures make magnificent pieces. We take a China white casting and cover it in a thick (300) micron layer of pure sterling silver. Before the items are hand polished to achieve a high shine. These pieces require a clean every so often with a silver polish such as ‘Silvo’. These pieces are presented on a Mahogany or Granite base. Complete with a Silver plaque on the front.