Benjamin Jesty

Benjamin Jesty (* around 1736 in Yetminster, Dorset, † April 16, 1816 in Worth Matravers ) was an English farmer and pioneer in the field of vaccination.

Jesty observed that his milk maids who to cowpox - a relatively harmless virus infection - were ill, later not suffering from smallpox. In 1774 he infected his wife and two sons with cowpox a cow in order to protect a family against smallpox.

Life

On August 19, 1736 Jesty was baptized as the youngest son of the butcher Robert Jesty. In 1770 he married in Long Burton Elizabeth Notley ( 1740-1824 ). With her ​​Jesty had four sons and three daughters. The family lived on the farm Upbury in Yetminster.

Vaccination

Jesty was a successful farmer. He lived first in Yetminster and moved to Downshay later. 1774 broke around Downshay from smallpox. Ann Notley and Mary Read were two of the milkmaids of Jesty. A brother or a nephew of the two suffered from smallpox. Although both visited their relatives, none of them fell ill with smallpox. Both were previously infected with cowpox. Jesty knew that a neighboring farmer ( Mr. Elford in Chittenhall ) had several cows infected with cowpox. He took his wife and two of his sons, Robert (two years old) and Benjamin (three years old), with his neighbors. With a knitting needle of his wife he took from an infected cow from a Pockenpustel material and inoculated it with his sons in each upper arm. With his wife, he inoculated it into a forearm. Self unhandled Jesty, where he was before suffering already on cowpox. He was convinced that this past illness would protect him sufficiently. The arms of his two sons were local reactions. When his wife sat on the arm a significant inflammatory response, so that they became seriously ill. She recovered from the disease but again quickly. In 1824 she died at the age of 84 years. His sons affected neither in 1789 with a renewed smallpox epidemic, still later, when Jesty brought his sons into contact with infected people aware. Besides his family Jesty inoculated nor Abigail Brown. Jesty was 79 years old.