On Vaccination Against Smallpox

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Edward Jenner, FRS, (1749-1823) was an English scientist who studied his natural surroundings in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England. He is often credited as the first doctor to introduce and study the smallpox vaccine. He trained in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire as an apprentice to John Ludlow, a surgeon, for eight years from the age of 14. In 1770 he went up to surgery and anatomy under the surgeon John Hunter and others at St George's, University of London. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1788, following a careful study combining observation, experiment and dissection into a description of the previously misunderstood life of the cuckoo in the nest. In 1792, he obtained his M. D. from the University of St Andrews. In 1803 in London he became involved with the Jennerian Institution, a society concerned with promoting vaccination to eradicate smallpox. In 1808, with government aid, this society became the National Vaccine Establishment. Jenner became a member of the Medical and Chirurgical Society on its foundation in 1805, and subsequently presented to them a number of papers. In 1823, he presented his Observations on the Migration of Birds to the Royal Society.