Britain's black heroes

An unsung heroine of the Crimean War, she tended the wounded but returned home penniless while her contemporary Florence Nightingale was feted the world over.

Now Mary Seacole has at last got the recognition she deserves. Today the nurse is hailed as the greatest ever Black Briton in a poll celebrating the contribution of black people to the nation's national heritage.

Organised by website Every Generation, the survey was designed as a counterblast to the BBC Great Britons poll last year, in which not one black person made it into the top 100. Mary Seacole heads a list which includes newscasters, trade unionists, authors, academics, royalty, musicians and athletes.

It ranges from hip-hop star Miss Dynamite to the grandmother of Queen Victoria, Queen Charlotte.

Born in Jamaica, Seacole learned her trade from her mother and overcame official obstruction to go to the Crimea, at her own expense. She set up the British Hotel near Balaclava for injured soldiers.

In joint second place are two church leaders, the Rt Rev Dr Wilfred Wood has been Anglican Bishop of Croydon since 1985, and Oliver Lyseight, a Jamaican who arrived in Britain in 1951, founded the first black-Britonled Pentecostal church.

The rest of the top five is taken by Mary Prince, Olaudah Equiano, and the wife of Edward III, Queen Philippa of Hainault.

Other names in the top 100 include Stephen Lawrence, Sade, Lenny Henry, Lennox Lewis and Mike Fuller, Britain's first black chief constable.