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article concluded by noting that historians were divided as to whether she died in bed or in
battle. The article made no attempt to question the validity of key aspects of their stories such
as images of Florence Nightingale’s lamp, or the reasons for Grace’s death in poverty. On the
contrary the article claimed that it had the support of academic historians:
… the [government] watchdog [QCA] was yesterday attacked by historians for downgrading
Miss Nightingale in favour of politically correct Left-wing fashion … historians reacted
angrily to the material which had been posted on the QCA web site. Dr. David Starkey said
that there is ‘no contest between Miss Nightingale and Grace O’Malley - whom he had never
heard of. (Harris, 2004, p.25)
Given the prominence of Starkey in the media and the fact that he had written a book
(Starkey, 2001) and television series about Elizabeth, his view would have presumably had
credence with Daily Mail readers. More recently, Starkey’s strongly Anglo-centric and elitist
perception has been highlighted in the Guardian:
Looking at power from the top down and from the centre outwards, the Starkey view
is thoroughly reactionary and insular. English history is therefore seen not just as royal
centric, it’s also a series of plots at court. The consequences may be enormous and the
stakes are high - but it’s the passions and intrigues, the hatreds and rivalries of a few
key individuals that matter. (Williams, 2006 [online])
This critique helps to explain why Starkey explored Elizabeth I but not Grace O’Malley. The
article cited further support from Alex Attewell, director of the Florence Nightingale Museum
and Nick Seaton, of the Campaign for Real Education. The first of these was likely to be
concerned at the prospect of schools replacing Florence Nightingale. The Campaign for Real
Education was established in 1987 in order to promote for traditional approaches towards
teaching. The organisation tried to promote national history which included facts about ‘great
moments’ and ‘great figures’ such as Florence Nightingale in the National Curriculum in the
late 1980s and early 1990s (Seaton, 2007 [online]).