Very much the "hands-on" administrator, Florence Nightingale worked tirelessly night and day making rounds, one of her famous Turkish lanterns in hand, tending to the sick and wounded. Very soon she became known as the "Lady of the Lamp".
She returned to England in 1857 and rejected the heroine's welcome offered to her. Although she remained in her home in London almost constantly for the next 53 years, suffering from certain "unexplained" illnesses she remained active in continuing her work, supported by her friends and most notably Queen Victoria. In 1860 the Nightingale School for Nurses, the first of its kind was established. She also became an expert in public health in India, and from her couch advised Viceroys on matters from rural sewerage projects to prison health. In 1907 she became the first woman to be awarded the Order of Merit.
To be called a "Florence Nightingale" is one of the highest tributes one can pay to a caring,supportive, courageous woman.
Florence Nightingale's personal and family life was not so satisfying. In Victorian England, women like Florence were supposed to marry, but God, she believed, had marked her out for special service. She refused wonderful marriage proposals---her parents were livid and bitter family quarrels ensued.
On her 30th birthday, Florence wrote in her diary, " Today I am thirty---the age Christ began his mission. Now no more childish things. No more love. No more marriage. Now Lord, let me think only of Thy will, Oh Lord, Thy Will."
A somewhat more charitable sketch of her is found in Gillian Gill's new book, "NIGHTINGALES: The Extraordinary Upbringing and Curious Life of Miss Florence Nightingale"
