(Rare!) Voice of Florence Nightingale (1890)

[GeoJDr]

I wish I could understand her better Can you caption what she is saying. This is a treasure. Thank you for posting..

[stuvo1977]

Man, she sounds stuffy! She was a great and influential woman regardless.

[IanHunedoara8]

She was probably told to enunciate clearly and speak as loud as possible. Possible reason why early vocal recordings sounded so rigidly formal.

[CrimsonPetal100]

She speaks so proper! A very authoritative voice.

[carlosisapimp]

Sorround sound at its best

[ldyralazera91]

beautiful

[mosaicism105]

of course, people not associated within the Nursing Profession won't appreciate this.

[Simeon644]

wow, what a drama queen

[Lookinland]

Wow,I never thought I'd ever hear her voice in my life ...

It's life changing

FN was my hero since I was a kid reading my ladybird book 'Lady with the lamp'

Thanks ever so for uploading :-)

[jercsverige]

Fuck! it's real, Justin Bieber it's inmortal xD

[CeleryMan3]

I thought people only spoke with ornate cue cards in the 1890's

[rockyfan94]

why does she sound retarded ?

[SasquachPL]

this sounds like my maths teacher...

[jwavanerkel]

A better name would be 'Florence Crow'.

[TheRaviiraj]

this woman was healed from Cancer by the late 20th century prophet.. William Branham..

[LostJedi26]

Do any of you have in writing what she was saying? Because of the quality, and my hearing difficulties, I can't catch all the words.

It's true they had very different accents back then. More rolling of the R's, not really a British accent, but definitely not like how we speak today. This is amazing to me.

[UTubeIsTrackingYou]

@LostJedi26 Most of it can be read on the record jacket shown in this video.

[lizzygomuroxz]

Hi @LostJedi26 this is what shes saying

When I am no longer a memory, just a name, I hope my voice will perpetuate the great work of my life. God bless my dear old comrades of Balaclava and bring them safe to shore. Florence Nightingale.

hope that helped :D

[david1513]

holey holey thats amazing

[Taew2009]

I think Mr. GreenFlamingoMaster needs to re-do his math and take some history classes while he's at it!

[lastmondaypast1]

LOL people talked like they were in theater back then? Thats weird.

[wkunzelman1]

@lastmondaypast1 I think she's trying to speak clearly so that the recorder can pick her up.

[brittandpais]

wow if it's real :)

[alanteam]

her brain just farted.

[NJTotire]

This is an enjoyable way to learn a little about history, but I don't know why I waste my time reading some of these comments. OM some people have to get so mean just over the darndest things!

[FreeBlago1]

I just farted.

[tcb20744]

this is white supremacy

[ZemplinTemplar]

She was right. :-)

[Warriorcatsfan227]

Wow

[0007grom]

Do you realize the voice you just heard was once a little girl in a time when people like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams still walked the earth? Wow.

[tcb20744]

@0007grom Fuck Thomas Jefferson & John Adams Bitch... kill yourself and enjoy your hell

[VABkWrm]

@0007grom Gives one pause for thought, doesn't it?

[gatitopink16]

woooow



[ewithnall]

Just Wow!

[MECowhey]

We're lkistening to the voice of someone who was 6 years old when Thomas Jefferson died. This is just so incredibly fascinating to me.

[TheRabbitRush]

Seagulls.

[maitreyaisthebeast]

My house was built in 1882....LOVE THIS!

[TheAdnaan88]

she would never imagine that she would be put up on youtube.

[damnhated16]

amazing!!

[PeLnKo]

wow this is just amaizing

[baddmaddogg]

1890-2011.... wow.

[ByabyaChannel]

This clearly shows that she was a real person and not just someone in the history books

[glawsny]

I heard she was a tramp,the caring of soldiers was just an excuse.

[NewDisneySucksHard]

@bazza230567 lol

[Jbamski]

@glawsny its true, she did not do anything, mary seacole did all the work and she took all the credit

[Satituite]

Creeeeeeepy.

[ralphvhoi04]

i really do admire FN..... withoout her may be im not taking nursing right now.... may be i will never be able to see the things im seeing right now... may be im not the person who am i right now.... THANKS FN.... your my inspiration as i go through the fields of nursing and as i believe that it is a calling not a profession just like what you believe.......

[veevee305]

Great quality, considering its age. As a future nursing student (working on those pre-reqs!), this means something special to me--the voice of the founder of my future profession. Nursing has gone farther than Nightingale could have ever imagined. We no longer simply "help the physician," we have our own unique model of healthcare and make diagnoses.

[squidgetpj92]

i love history, and these recordings make me love it all the more because we are listening to voices of people without the use of modern technology...

[SeekerNami]

This old recording is so cute! People like her are the ones who deserve their memories to last and become part of human history! <3

[JFredUK]

'When I am no longer even a memory - Just a name.' Truly, a voice from beyond the grave.

[borgduck]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA­A!!! A ghost!!!!

[flagamanman]

did you know she was born in Jamaica 

[mikelheron20]

@flagamanman She was born in Florence. That's why she was christened Florence. I think you're confusing her with Mary Secole.

[BottomlessBen]

This is gonna be my ring tone.

[naponroy]

I like how even though she speaks with a British accent, she still pronounces her "R"s rather than turning them into an "ah" as most do today. Shore, dear, work, etc.

[Mashka61]

I cant quite get what's the words but this is a precious tresure! :D

[ccrtelevision]

Wow, that's an amazing recording from something so old! Good job ;)

[michellekwan483]

This is so cool

[noriemar]

this is very amazing...

[DaAmericanWanksta]

wow...................121 years ago and we can hear her talk. Now That is awesome and cool.

[eslubin]

@DaAmericanWanksta just think in 100 years people will be saying the same thing about britney spears!

[DaAmericanWanksta]

@eslubin word up

[mypureimagination]

@eslubin nah...... LMAO

[chrono4203]

@eslubin The gravity of this recording is obviously lost on you. 

[chrono4203]

Respond to this video... In 100 years this will still be looked at in awe since its in the era of the first sounds ever recorded in human history. Britney spears is just a blip in the sea of music that people in 100 years from now will listen to. The word "rare" is key.

[pictureisup1]

@eslubin or Justin Beiber 

[crab5mt]

@eslubin ...Oh yeah??

[HHH100]

@eslubin I doubt it! Britney like all other female so called singers of today are phony bimbos void of talent. Without computers to correct their voices, they are nothing more than shrills of noise. And even with computers, they do not sing, but only make sounds as if they are perpetually constipated.

America has lost its sense of talent.....

[GarrardAT6]

It made me cry!!! Amazing!!!

[buccavich]

What exactly is she saying? Couldn't make all of it out.

[Tenortalker]

Amazing to hear her and yes she was known to be pretty formidable as contemporary accounts tell us. Also just a touch conceited 'my great work' etc. An inspiration to the Victorians, as was Jenny Lind. Are there any cylinders of Lind speaking?

[ShinyHall]

How is it rare? its on youtube

[sterlingmenthol77]

spooky

[AndyAlm]

We can hear you, Florence!

[hallowedbeeddie]

I´m just overwhelmed by this. incredible to listen something from the 19th century

[D1CEFF]

amazing.. yay florence nightingale! Thank you for posting this =)

[Raiden738]

i got chills hearing her say that...

HERE, WE CAN HEAR IT!! YAY!!

[eccb31]

I'm scared!

[pearl99yey]

this is way cool. thank you for sharing, really!

[Daninha86]

Wowww! Incredible. Her voice was like I imagine. 

[TheGoldStandardBoy]

She sounds fucking terrifying.

[GhostHuntingAUS]

I dunno.. she was probably like a deer caught in the headligts.. and yes... she does shreak

[makola1970]

wow never knew this was even possible - thanks soooo much - my KS1 class are in for a treat!!!1

[leekeygxk]

That's really ancient. Wow.

[MrChunkyMonkey79]

She really shreiks...

[Stravinsky91]

@Schneider10101 Well so people could udnerstand of course, if you listen to people talking fast in these very old recordings, you wont hear a thing XD

[kimjociable]

maybe it's just me, but it feels like the people in these early recordings speak with accents that sound a bit different than today's british english. Check out vita sackville-west's recording and george v/mary's speech on youtube...was that how english used to sound like back in the old days? it sounds more nasal and it also sounds as if some of the r's are pronounced similar to 'perro' in spanish (tongue rolling)

[Strophal]

@kimjociable They do sound different. I knew my great-grandfather (born 1876) and HIS pronounciation was also somewhat different from today's RP. More rolling 'r' (there was a rule, because not all 'r' were pronounced thus) but mostly the vocals were sometimes broader and some words were pronounced quite differently than today. The nasal soound may be due to the poor recording, but it definitely was a 'harder' English, at times reminiscent almost of German, for today's ears at least.

[sewitt60]

@kimjociable You would be right. The English most of us speak today is what I call "lazy" English. In fact in many of these early recordings, American English and English sound alike.

[donno54]

she sounds like the old english actress Edith Evans

[fairiegirlga]

She had a ver :upper crust" accent, didn't she?

[ShalomSpirit]

how lovely to hear one of my heroine's voices from so many years ago! Thank you for posting this!!

[heinzie5]

wow. florence nightingale was not modest xD

[Day0One]

This is so... AMAZING !!!

Very, very, cool...!!!

I love this kind of stuff.

Discovery, History, Science... Ect...

[Beentakenaway123]

so interesting! thank you for sharing.

[FakeApology]

Goodness, she talks slow.

Perhaps it's the emotion, though?

[PenelopeFluffington]

@FakeApology

No doubt, those present being mindful of this 'new' technology, instructed her to speak clearly and slowly to produce the best result they were capable of. My grandparents were always taught to do the same when answering the telephone in its infancy.

[FakeApology]

@PenelopeFluffington

Ah, that makes sense, thank you for your information.

[PenelopeFluffington]

@FakeApology

No doubt she was instructed to speak clearly and slowly for the purposes of producing the clearest result they were capable of. People used to be instructed to do likewise when speaking on the telephone, in its infancy.

[GreenFlamingoMaster]

If she was 70 when this was recorded, we're listening to a voice over 180 years old. Long before 9/11, long before the moon landing, long before the completion of the Panama Canal, even long before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. It makes you wonder just how life was like, back before the modernization of the world... Oh how I long to have lived another life in a time before technology.

Oh well, this is now, that was then, can't change who I am, can't change when I am,

[vitalalive69]

@GreenFlamingoMaster I wouldnt recommend it, you would then also live in a period whemedicine was not as developped as today and the chances you would make it past 35 years would be 50% less then now. I wish I lioved in a world in the future where people dont wage war upon each other and there is plenty of resources and food for the entire human race and where people would share these rather then killinge achother for those resources

[peacemaker083]

@GreenFlamingoMaster Well Lincoln died in 65. This is from 1890. :)

[mrthe300sparten]

@GreenFlamingoMaster I do agree that you are right, although, Lincoln was assassinated in April of 1865 and this recording was in 1890.

[CorporateNothing]

@GreenFlamingoMaster It's funny because this very recording is the product of what was then considered cutting-edge technology.

[TrolleyPower]

@GreenFlamingoMaster Where are you getting 180 years from???

It's 120 years ago.

[Ovidius89]

@TrolleyPower

He added her age at the time :)

[BlogsbytheDay]

@GreenFlamingoMaster actually, this was after the assassination of abraham lincoln

[Bicicletasaladas]

@GreenFlamingoMaster I feel exactly the same. Like feeling homesick of a time I've never lived. I specially feel that way about the XIX century.

[Brace67]

@GreenFlamingoMaster The voice of Florence Nightingale was recorded in 1890, just at the advent of sound recordings but long after Abraham Lincoln's assasination which occured on April 14, 1865.

[MillionthUsername]

@Brace67 The point was that she was born 70 years prior to the recording, so she and her voice were around long before Lincoln. We can hear her voice now and yet her lifespan takes us back to 1820, so it's like we have a direct connection with that time because of her. It's fascinating to think about. We're basically listening to how people talked 180 years ago because the technology of recording was in its infancy when she was in her old age. Pretty cool, huh?

[emmers57]

@GreenFlamingoMaster Sorry, this was recorded long after Lincoln's assassination. 

[Monstermack40]

@GreenFlamingoMaster  Not 180 years ago, 121 years ago.

[Discreetuserhandle]

@GreenFlamingoMaster

Why?

[djscotty1111]

transformingArt Thank you !

[zthetha]

Sounds like Margaret Thatcher in a bucket. - best fuckin place for her!

[jeezheadsick]

@zthetha you a leg lol

[80jasey]

wow! it's amazing that we can still hear her voice 120 years later! she sounds kinda like my great-grandmother, but this was recorded before great-grandma was even born.

[gotch09]

Never in a million yeas would I have thought that anything like this existed.

[jackpoint188]

She sounds very dignified and articulate which comes through very clearly. She probably heard other recordings of rushed unclear speech.

[peacemaker083]

We are so fortunate to have these historical treasures preserved and available to us in this age. The ability to record and play back audio and video are one of the best invention's.

[dogloverdan09]

why does she sound so crippled and wierd

[karatekween33]

@dogloverdan09 because it's a recording 120 years old...

[dogloverdan09]

she sounds retarded

[azidRockz]

@dogloverdan09 You're the retarded.

[superhamzah85]

@dogloverdan09

She was just over 70 years old...idiot.

[earedien13350]

Thankyou for this. Florence Nightingale is and will always remain my hero and inspiration, as she has been for many others. Though we all know she's real, hearing her voice makes her considerably more real and reminds us she was human. It also reminds us that one human can make a difference, man or woman.

[2reeler]

Great historical post! thank you. Florence Nightingale became superintendent of London's Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen in 1850.. She founded the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses at St. Thomas Hospital in London in 1860, marking the beginning of professional nursing education.

In 1907, she received the British Order of Merit; she was the first woman to be so honored

[salvagebar]

She saved the lives of a lot of people just by cleaning hospitals to prevent infection, and she invented the polar area diagram. 'nuff said.

[f01863]

To a wounded soldier,an angel of light and compassion!

[MUZIKLUVA420]

dont you just luv historical stuff, it enlightens my soul and reflects on what my relatives had to endure from years of hate oppresion and flat out biggotry, GOD BLESS AMERICA

[smileykisses420]

wow thats amazing

[kuragxo]

Thanks. For years I've been trying to figure out what she was saying on this recording and you provided the text. (This recording was used in 1968 on Pearls Before Swines' Balaclava album.)

[wattever333]

great sound quality!

[ButterPopcornDammit]

Well........I'm kinda speechless.....:O

[TheReaSlimShady]

O.M.G This Is Amazing!

[MelanieLouM]

Bet she never thought in her wildest dreams that this recording would be heard by so many born long after she died and in such a way! ^_^

[huiren92]

Errr....... horrifying sound...i can't sleep already... thanks to you.... r u gonna say u r welcome????.... seriously... its like a old woman dying talking...

[jiujitsufight09]

I like turtles .

[axoxg13]

OMG its very rare!

[arbiterjei]

lol shes talkin to us from the dead

[Sponge1515]

why were people back then always talking so mean and seriously

[StlyDutch]

Maybe because the recordings that were made back then weren't made for fun, but to leave a serious message behind for the future.

[knighterrantfilms]

Because the UK was mean and serious then... invading countries, killing the natives... political wars.

[ChrissyJasmineTube]

I'm pround that my school is named after her

[cyclepod1]

She sounds like one of my old school teachers, but she sounds like she really means what she says.

[carlogic1953]

GhostReconGuy: by the nature of your remarks you seem to be an American imbecile (average). Or a rare specimen of self disruptive Briton, of course...

[MrJST87]

Whoa that's spooky, she's talkin to us from 1890!

This woman was nursing wounded soldiers in the Crimean war. It's surreal to hear someone speaking from that time period.

[Mktryk]

WHOA! Who'd have thought the 2nd most famous Victorian lady would have actually had a recording made of her voice- and that that recording survives? NOW I've got some idea how she was able to command men of all ranks to renovate that hospital in Crimea to save the wounded. Ironically, she was so reclusive afterwards she made the Queen herself look like a party animal (and it's hard to find any pics of her after 1860)- yet no vocal recording of Her Majesty seems to have survived. Thanks for this!

[lololauren2001]

THIS IS AMAZING I CANT BELEIVE IT STILL KINDA WORKS WOW THIS IS JUST AMAZING!! i sound like a nerd

[lololauren2001]

@lololauren, why do you type in caps? And you are a nerd... Anywho, THIS IS AMAZING I CANT BELEIVE IT STILL KINDA WORKS WOW THIS IS JUST AMAZING!!

[clubpenguinratboy33]

lol thats awesome audio recording form back 120 years ago edison is awesome!

[ceredigio]

I believe at the time this recording was made, Nightingale lived on Park Road in Westminster, Central London.

On the British Library CD set 'Voices of History' can be heard the 'master cylinder' of this recording, with an 'alternative take' of Nightingale's remarks before the one that is heard here. I believe the BBC has a copy of the cylinder as well.

[cyclepod1]

i didn't know you can get a CD of the voices,

[transformingArt]

@ceredigio Thanks for your information. I am aware about the 'Alternate take' and has the latest transfer done by British Library as well, but never actually heard the alternate recording. Thanks for posting this.

[ProductionsHead]

@transformingArt

i dont mean to burst edison's bubble, but Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, in 1860 made the first recorder, the recorder played back sounds, unlike edison's phonautograph, but the phonautograph's quality is amazing, compared to edouard's.

[ravingrabbid14]

@JustJKinU lol you are right

[belltcm]

Thank you so much!

[classicalgirl01]

Absolutley Amazing!!