Huh.
I’ve been having a blast lately trawling the British Newspaper Archive. I don’t recommend it, though – it costs money.
I ran across this item from 1866. A man was brought before the magistrates by the Vaccination Officer for not having his daughter vaccinated against smallpox. His reason was that the vaccine had terribly damaged his son.
According to Grok, the Vaccination Act of 1853 was the first to mandate vaccines. Infants were to be vaccinated against smallpox within the first three months of life, on pain of fines and imprisonment.
The item goes on to say the that members of the Anti-Vaccination Society had their fees paid by the society. According to ChatGPT:
The Vaccination Act of 1853 was controversial because it represented an early and aggressive assertion of state power over individual health decisions. It sparked widespread public opposition, laid the foundations of the anti-vaccination movement in Britain, and led to significant debate about the balance between public health and individual rights.
Specific numbers aren’t available, but some kids really did get sick. Not least because consistent manufacture and dosages weren’t available then. They finally introduced a conscientious objection clause in 1898.
Huh.
Posted: May 29th, 2025 under medicine.
Comments: 3
Comments
Comment from Uncle Al
Time: May 29, 2025, 10:09 pm
I get rather irate over govt vax mandates. It isn’t because I’m an enemy of vaccination (although there is a great deal of venal dishonesty and fraud there). It’s because I’m an enemy of the state.
Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: May 30, 2025, 5:47 pm
Speaking of fun with old documents, I stumbled across an “unclaimed property” site run by the state where I was born. Naturally I entered my last name. To my surprise up popped (what turned out to be) an unclaimed life insurance policy for grandmother Vegetable …who passed away in 1990. I submitted a claim but it developed they needed me to match her to a street address. (Why? I guess it was her address when the policy was taken out?)Amazingly I was able to do that using a 1930 Census report. My father is shown too – he was one year old.
The insurance isn’t much money in today’s numbers but it’ll pay for my Ancestry.com membership.
Oh, and since I was in there, I looked and found someone had done the Vegetable family tree and Tobias Vegetable came to America in 1748.. and his grandson John got a pension as a soldier in the revolution! Can I get an honorary membership in the Daughters Of The American Revolution?
Comment from granny
Time: August 22, 2025, 9:32 am
Interesting historical snippet! It’s vital to remember the context. While mandated vaccination seems harsh, smallpox was devastating.
Write a comment
Beware: more than one link in a comment is apt to earn you a trip to the spam filter, where you will remain -- cold, frightened and alone -- until I remember to clean the trap. But, hey, without Akismet, we'd be up to our asses in...well, ass porn, mostly.<< carry me back to ol' virginny