Benjamin Jesty

Benjamin Jesty (1736-1836) was a farmer at Yetminster in Dorset, England. He is one of the six English and German people who reportedly administered cowpox to artificially induce immunity against smallpox in the years 1770 till 1791. [*Peter C. Plett: "Peter Plett und die übrigen Entdecker der Kuhpockenimpfung vor Edward Jenner." In: [http://www.steiner-verlag.de/Sudhoff/ Sudhoffs Archiv] , Zeitschrift für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Band 90, Heft 2, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, 2006, S. 219-232 (ISSN 0039-4564)] __NOTOC__

Life and work

In 1774, Jesty infected his wife, Elizabeth Jesty, and their two eldest children with cowpox in the face of a growing smallpox epidemic. [cite book |title=Vaccination Rediscovered: New Light in the Dawn of Man's Quest for Immunity |last=Pead |first=P.J. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2006 |publisher=Timefile Books |location=Chichester, UK |isbn=0955156106 |pages= |url= ] The notion that cowpox 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 virulent virus.Fact|date=August 2008

Later, Jesty and his family moved to Downshay near Worth Matravers, a Dorset village near the coast, and he and his wife are buried in a prominent position in the churchyard there with an inscription crediting him for his work in helping Edward Jenner develop a vaccine against smallpox.

Unlike Jenner, a medical doctor who is given broad credit for developing the smallpox vaccine in 1796, Jesty did not publicise his findings in 1774.

References

Further reading

*cite book |title=The First Vaccinator - Benjamin Jesty of Yetminster and Worth Matravers and his family, (Swanage) |last=Wallace |first=E.M. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1981 |publisher=Private publisher |location= |isbn= |pages= |url=

External links

* [http://www.thedorsetpage.com/history/smallpox/smallpox.htm Dorset Page - First Recorded Small Pox Vaccination] -
* [http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/News-archive/Browse-by-date/2006/Features/WTX033489.htm Welcome Trust - Benjamin Jesty portrait and landmark vaccination]
* [http://www.jesty.org The Jesty Family Tree - Jolyon Jesty]
* [http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101037605/ Oxford Dictionary of Biography]