Betsy Cadwaladyr : A Balaclava Nurse - The Autobiography of Elizabeth Davis

The fascinating story of the 19th-century Welsh woman Elizabeth Davis, also known as Betsy Cadwaladyr, the “Balaclava nurse,” is brought up to date in this edition, which includes both the original introduction by editor Jane Williams and a new introduction by Deirdre Beddoe. This autobiography is a unique record of the experience of an early 19th-century Welsh working woman, recalling, both the ordinary life of domestic service and her extraordinary experiences traveling to many exotic parts of the world as a companion and ladies’ maid. Her time as a hospital nurse in Balaclava in the Crimea, where she served under Florence Nightingale, is described and is a central part of her life story.