In 1805 Benjamin Jesty travelled from Dorset to London where he was the guest of Dr. Pearson of the Vaccine Pock Institute, who recognised Benjamin as the first person to vaccinate against smallpox – some 20 years before Edward Jenner.
The society had arranged for the artist Mr. Sharp to paint a portrait of Benjamin while he was in London, something he found very irksome; being a farmer he was not at all used to sitting still for hours on end. Before leaving for London he had turned a deaf ear to his wife Elizabeth when she suggested he invest in a new suit of modern clothes. He was viewed by some in London with a mild curiosity a situation not helped by his rich Dorset accent. He was glad to return to Dorset bringing with him a pair of gold mounted lancets and a testimonial to recognise his services to the cause of vaccination. He is reported to have said the best thing about the trip was being able to get a shave each day instead of having to wait until market day.
The portrait, the original of which is believed to be with descendants now living and farming in South Africa, tells us, as it should, quite a lot about the man. He had a friendly open face displaying a hint of amusement at all the attention he was receiving. He was probably a straightforward person who would speak his mind. We know he was an honest man because he was an assessor and collector of land taxes. His portly build confirmed his comfortable life style and the portrait belied his 69 years.
This medical pioneer was in fact a yeoman farmer born in Dorset. He was baptised on the 19th of August 1736 at St.Andrew’s church, Yetminster and was given his father’s name. His grandfather John Jesty of Leigh, which is close to Yetminster, appears, from the inventory of goods made when he died, to have been a farmer of some substance. We may assume Benjamin had a good start in life and was probably educated at Boyles School, Yetminster.
In 1770 he married at St. Andrew’s church a girl from the village, Elizabeth. Three children arrived in quick succession: Robert in 1771, Benjamin in 1772 and Elizabeth in 1773. They lived at the farmhouse named Upbury. This was the family of Benjamin Jesty when smallpox hit the village of Yetminster in 1774.
Benjamin was confident he was safe from the disease, having had smallpox when he was a young child, but he was concerned about the wellbeing of Elizabeth and their children. Two dairymaids were employed on his farm and he knew both of these girls had earlier had cowpox and both had nursed members of their family suffering from smallpox without catching the disease. It was well known that dairymaids rarely caught smallpox. He reasoned that if dairymaids who caught cowpox accidentally were immune then it followed that someone who caught the disease deliberately would be similarly immune from the more serious smallpox.
It came to his ear that a Mr Elford who farmed at Chetnole had an outbreak of cowpox amongst his herd. It was this timely news that almost certainly decided Benjamin on the course of action he was to take and he hurried to Chetnole, only about four miles away, with Elizabeth and the boys.
How much Benjamin had told his wife in advance about his intentions we will never know but she would certainly have been frightened when she realised the full implication of what he had in mind. This was a hugely risky undertaking, a matter of life over death for the people he loved most. If he were wrong the consequences for his wife and children would almost certainly be fatal.
He proceeded to move amongst farmer Elford’s cows looking for a mature pox that would be certain to ‘take.’ When he had found what he was looking for he took out a needle and with it he scratched his wife’s arm just below the elbow and inserted the matter from the pox. It was the boys’ turn next: first Robert and then Benjamin. The first authenticated vaccinations had taken place in a field in the Dorset countryside amongst a herd of cows. The next few days were to be crucial.
When word of what he had done reached his neighbours he was ridiculed but when it was learnt that Elizabeth was very ill sentiment turned to anger and indignation. Benjamin found that his friends and neighbours had taken against him for being so foolhardy and reckless with the lives of his family. However he remained undaunted and continued about his business stoically putting up with being “hooted at, reviled and pelted whenever he attended markets in his neighbourhood.”
In the boys the cowpox ran its normal course and they were soon out of danger. Elizabeth became very ill, her arm became inflamed and she had a high fever. This was a testing time for Benjamin and he called in a doctor who when told of the cause of the illness is recorded to have said “You have done a bold thing, Mr. Jesty, but I will get you through if I can.” And he did. After a while Elizabeth improved and before long the Jesty family was able to return to their usual routine. The family increased and in all the couple had four sons and three daughters.
Benjamin Jesty died on the 16th of April 1816, aged 79, and is buried in the churchyard at Worth Matravers. Elizabeth survived a further eight years and passed away on the 8th of January 1824 aged 84 years and is buried beside her husband.
Benjamin and his family had moved from Yetminster to Downshay manor, in the parish of Worth Matravers in the Isle of Purbeck. It was here that Benjamin Jesty met Dr. Bell who became vicar of Swanage in 1801 and is well known as the founder of Free Schools. He was an enthusiastic supporter of vaccination. Dr. Bell came to hear of Benjamin and how he had vaccinated his family 22 years before Jenner. He wrote to his friends in London and as a result of this correspondence Benjamin received his invitation to London and acknowledgement of his work but it was Jenner who received all the acclaim for the procedure and some £30,000 from the government to develop and encourage vaccination.