Discover Nightingale's Life, Work and Legacy in the Midlands

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Nightingale Comes Home: An Interdisciplinary Investigation

This AHRC-funded research project will produce a more complex historical and literary understanding of Florence Nightingale by mapping her family and home connections to Derbyshire, and analysing how her regional experiences impacted her career, attitudes, and writings.

A joint venture between the School of Health Sciences and the Department of History, the project also investigates what Nightingale's life and work reveals about the health history and cultural life of the Victorian Midlands. It is timed to coincide with national celebrations of Nightingale's bicentenary in 2020.

Click the links to the left or below to explore more about our work - and gain unprecedented virtual access to Nightingale's Derbyshire home by following our panoramic tour of Lea Hurst.

Our book, Florence Nightingale at Home, is published by Palgrave Macmillan in November 2020.

Our exhibition, at the Lakeside Arts centre, runs from 29 October 2020 to 25 April 2021. Book your ticket on the Lakeside Arts website.

In May 2020, in honour of Nightingale's bicentenary, we launched an online exhibition and series of talks and articles.

Our project blog is regularly updated with news and research content - please take a look and subscribe for updates!

Click here to download Nightingale-themed driving and walking tours of the area around Lea Hurst.

And click here to get involved or join our mailing list!

This project is supported by AHRC grant no. AH/R00014X/1

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At Home with the Nightingales

Step inside Lea Hurst, Florence Nightingale's home in Derbyshire

Latest Announcements

London Road Community Hospital in Derby Renamed After Florence Nightingale

On July 5th 2021, London Road Community Hospital in Derby was renamed Florence Nightingale Community Hospital. In addition to the renaming, the current and former chairs of the hospital, respectively Dr Kathy McLean and John Rivers CBE, unveiled a new statue of Florence Nightingale. In his talk at the event, Mr Rivers highlighted how Florence ...

The post London Road Community Hospital in Derby Renamed After Florence Nightingale appeared first on Florence Nightingale Comes Home for 2020.

Book talk – Richard on Florence Nightingale at Home

On 12 February, I gave a talk to the Derby Archaelogical Society about our book, Florence Nightingale at Home. You can watch the talk at the following link: Richard’s talk to the DAS

The post Book talk – Richard on Florence Nightingale at Home appeared first on Florence Nightingale Comes Home for 2020.

Interview with Ian Maclean MBE of John Smedley Ltd

John Smedley Ltd is one of the oldest textile businesses in the world, having been first established at Lea in Derbyshire in 1784 by Peter Nightingale – Florence’s great-great-uncle. I recently interviewed Ian Maclean, its current managing director, about the company’s historical legacy, links with Nightingale, and its work during the pandemic, for which Ian ...

The post Interview with Ian Maclean MBE of John Smedley Ltd appeared first on Florence Nightingale Comes Home for 2020.

Our exhibition – update

Our exhibition, ‘Florence Nightingale Comes Home’, which was originally scheduled to open in the spring, finally opened on Thursday 29 October 2020 – only to have to re-close again on the 30th because of new Covid-19 restrictions. In the first instance the closure lasts for 28 days. We are hoping to film a virtual guided ...

The post Our exhibition – update appeared first on Florence Nightingale Comes Home for 2020.

Congratulations to nurses celebrated in Queen’s Birthday Honours

The recently-announced Queen’s Birthday honours list celebrates more than 50 nurses, with particular attention paid to those working in emergency care, infection prevention and control, public health, research and the military. The awards include two new damehoods, notably including Anne-Marie Rafferty, who is part of our Nightingale project’s advisory board. the honours list acknowledges her ...

The post Congratulations to nurses celebrated in Queen’s Birthday Honours appeared first on Florence Nightingale Comes Home for 2020.

Leading image: 'Florence Nightingale', background extended of photograph by William Edward Kilburn, c. 1856. This image is released by the National Portrait Gallery under a Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)