225:"That he was led to undertake this novel practice in 1774 to counteract the small-pox, at that time prevalent at Yetminster, where he then resided, from knowing the common opinion of the country ever since he was a boy (now 60 years ago) that persons who had gone through the cowpock naturally, ie by taking it from cows, were insusceptible of the small-pox; by himself being incapable of taking the small-pox, having gone through the cow-pock many years before; from knowing many individuals, who, after the cowpock, could not have the small-pox excited; from believing that the cow-pock was an affection free from danger; and from his opinion that, by the cow-pock inoculation, he should avoid ingrafting various diseases of the human constitution, such as "the Evil (scrofula), madnes, lues (syphilis), and many bad humours," as he called them."
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130:. It was known in the dairy-farming areas in the south-west of the country that the milkmaids and other workers who contracted cowpox from handling cows' udders, were afterwards immune to smallpox. Such people were able to nurse smallpox victims without fear of contracting the disease themselves. This folk-knowledge gradually became more widely disseminated amongst the medical community: in 1765 a Dr Fewster (possibly John Fewster) of
286:(Sacred) To the Memory OF Benj.in. Jesty (of Downshay) who departed this Life, April 16th 1816 aged 79 Years. He was born at Yetminster in this County, and was an upright honest Man: particularly noted for having been the first Person (known) that Introduced the Cow Pox by Inoculation, and who from his great strength of mind made the Experiment from the (Cow) on his Wife and two Sons in the Year 1774.
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202:, founder of the Original Vaccine Pock Institution, had brought evidence before the House of Commons of Jesty's work in 1774, work which pre-dated Jenner's by 22 years. Unfortunately, Jesty's well-documented case was weakened by his failure to petition in person, and Pearson's inclusion of other claimants whose evidence could not be validated, so no reward was forthcoming.
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In 1805, at
Pearson's instigation and the institution's invitation, Jesty gave his evidence before 12 medical officers of the institution at its base on the corner of Broadwick Street and Poland Street in Soho. Robert, Jesty's oldest son (by then 28 years old) also made the trip to London and agreed
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that had the disease, and using a darning needle, transferred pustular material from the cow by scratching their arms. The boys had mild local reactions and quickly recovered but his wife's arm became very inflamed and for a time her condition gave cause for concern, although she too recovered fully
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Jesty and two of his female servants, Ann Notley and Mary Reade, had been infected with cowpox. When an epidemic of smallpox came to
Yetminster in 1774, Jesty decided to try to give his wife Elizabeth and two eldest sons immunity by infecting them with cowpox. He took his family to a cow at a farm
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Unaware of George
Pearson's previous petitions to the Pitt Government about the Dorset farmer, the Reverend Dr. Andrew Bell, rector of Swanage near where Jesty later resided, prepared a paper dated 1 August 1803, proposing Jesty as the first vaccinator, and sent copies to the Original Vaccine Pock
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Jesty's experiment was met with hostility by his neighbours. He was labelled inhuman, and was "hooted at, reviled and pelted whenever he attended markets in the neighbourhood'". The introduction of an animal disease into a human body was thought disgusting and some even "feared their metamorphosis
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For the event, Jesty's family had tried to persuade him to dress in a more up-to-date fashion, but he refused saying that "he did not see why he should dress better in London than in the country". Immediately after his interrogation, Jesty was taken round to the studio of the portrait painter
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The notion that those people infected with cowpox, a relatively mild disease, were subsequently protected against smallpox was not an uncommon observation with country folk in the late 18th century, but Jesty was one of the first to intentionally administer the less
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to be inoculated with smallpox again to prove that he still had immunity. After Jesty had been cross-examined, he was presented with a long testimonial and pair of gold mounted lancets. The verbal evidence of their examination was published in the
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114:, Dorset, and baptized there on 19 August 1736, the youngest of at least four sons of Robert Jesty, who was a butcher. Little else is known of his early life. In March 1770 he married Elizabeth Notley (1740–1824) in
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On Sunday 15 July 1806, Bell preached the same sermon twice in honour of Jesty, "whose discovery of the efficacy of the cowpock against smallpox is so often forgotten by those who have heard of Dr Jenner".
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into horned beasts". But the treatment's efficacy was several times demonstrated in the years which followed, when Jesty's two elder sons, exposed to smallpox, failed to catch the disease.
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The life of the Rev. Andrew Bell: ... prebendary of
Westminster, and master of Sherburn hospital, Durham. Comprising the history of the rise and progress of the system of mutual tuition
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on 16 April 1816 and was buried in a prominent position in the parish churchyard. His widow, Elizabeth, died on 8 January 1824 and was buried alongside him. Both headstones are
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entitled "Cow pox and its ability to prevent smallpox", and Dr. Rolph, another
Gloucestershire physician, stated that all experienced physicians of the time were aware of this.
254:. Jesty proved an impatient sitter, and so Mrs Sharp played the piano to try to soothe him as Sharp painted. After a chequered history, the portrait is now owned by the
90:, a medical doctor who is given broad credit for developing the smallpox vaccine in 1796, Jesty did not publicise his findings made some twenty years earlier in 1774.
118:, four miles north-east of Yetminster. The couple lived at Upbury Farm, next to Yetminster church, and the couple had four sons and three daughters.
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for discovering and promoting vaccination, and another award of £20,000 followed in 1807. Before this first amount had been awarded,
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experiments. In about 1797 Jesty and his family moved from
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Interest in the prophylactic powers of cowpox virus grew and in May 1796, over 20 years after Jesty had made his inoculations,
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Peter C. Plett (2006). "Peter Plett und die übrigen
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who (possibly encouraged by Jesty's efforts) vaccinated over 200 of his parishioners in 1806.
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The First
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During the eighteenth century smallpox was widespread throughout
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556:(20–27 December 2003). "Benjamin Jesty: new light in the dawn of vaccination".
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Blue plaque commemorating Jesty's pioneering work at Upbury Farm at
Yetminster.
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Patrick J Pead, 2003, "Benjamin Jesty: new light in the dawn of vaccination"
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Vaccination Rediscovered: New Light in the Dawn of Man's Quest for Immunity
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Graves of Benjamin (left) and Elizabeth (right) Jesty in the churchyard at
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Robert Southey; Charles Cuthbert Southey; Caroline Bowles Southey (1844).
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453:"Smallpox: The Triumph over the Most Terrible of the Ministers of Death"
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Patrick J Pead, 2006, "Benjamin Jesty: the first vaccinator revealed"
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Volume 362, Issue 9401, 20 December 2003, pages 2104–2109 (online at
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In June 1802 Jenner was given a reward of £10,000 from the
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Images of England page on Jesty's famhouse in Yetminster
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against smallpox from 1770 to 1791; only Jobst Bose of
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Report from the Original Vaccine Pock Institute, 1805
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Volume 368, Issue 9554, 23 December 2006, page 2202
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680:Dorset Page – First Recorded Small Pox Vaccination
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313:(2). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag: 219–232.
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374:""Jesty, Benjamin (bap. 1736, d. 1816)", rev."
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383:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
178:coast. Here he came to the attention of Dr.
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36:(c. 1736 – 16 April 1816) was a farmer at
451:Nicolau Barquet and Pere Domingo (1997).
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339:The Greatest Killer: Smallpox in History
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685:The Jesty Family Tree – Jolyon Jesty
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509:. Chichester, UK: Timefile Books.
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