Laydy of the Lamp
Found: Florence Nightingale’s fresh eggs order for patient
CARING With her lamp tending troops
A LETTER written 121 years ago by Florence Nightingale asking a farmer to send fresh eggs for a patient has been found in a loft.
The nurse, dubbed Lady of the Lamp, wrote the note on March 6, 1899, when she was 79.
It was on headed paper and addressed from 10 South Street, Park Lane – where she lived until her death aged 90 in 1910.
The letter, which is going up for auction, reads: “To the Aylesbury Dairy Co. Would you be so very good as to send me at once 6 eggs, if possible, laid this morning (or less than 6 if not laid this morning) with the dark brown shells, for a gentleman very ill indeed, who fancies them – and to supply me with the same every morning for the gentleman who likes your eggs, & takes hardly anything.
“I will send them to him at once. Yours faithfully, Florence Nightingale. I shall be so much obliged to you.”
A homeowner stumbled across the note while rummaging through a box of old papers.
The seller, who does not want to be identified, said: “I don’t know why I never noticed the signature at first.
“I’d glanced at the note a few times and wondered why someone in my family had decided to keep a letter from someone going on about eggs.
“I’ve had it for years. It was in a box of old family heirlooms which I’d inherited.” It is expected to fetch up to £600 at Hanson’s Auctions in Etwall, Derbys, later this year.
Auctioneer Charles Hanson described the letter as a “wonderful find”. He added: “It is from Britain’s most famous nurse displaying her caring nature. She is an iconic figure
Florence Nightingale in around 1860 whose dedication continues to be displayed by NHS workers today.”
Nightingale was born in 1820 in Florence, Italy, into a wealthy British family. She achieved national acclaim while managing and training nurses during the Crimean War.
Images of her checking on wounded soldiers at night with her lamp led to her nickname.
The field hospital built in the ExCel centre in East London to cope with the coronavirus pandemic was named after her.