Free learning resources from arts, cultural and heritage organisations.

Introducing Florence

Florence Nightingale is one of history’s most famous nurses. She was also part of a large family, which included her second cousin and goddaughter Gwendolen Gascoigne who was the lady of the house at Lotherton Hall in Leeds.

 

Three quarter portrait of Florence. she is wearing a lace cap and shirt with a fitted jacket over the top. She is holding a folded piece of paper in her hands and wears a wide skirt.
Portrait of Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 and was named after the Italian city where she was born. She was part of a wealthy Victorian family. Today, we recognise Florence as someone who made nursing and hospitals better and cleaner which saved many peoples lives. She is sometimes known as ‘the Lady with the Lamp’, a name given to her during the Crimean War (1853-56). Throughout the war she worked to improve the conditions and care of soldiers at the Scutari Barracks hospital in Turkey.

Pencil sketch of Florence as a young woman sitting in a chair and reading a book.
Sketch of Florence Nightingale