JENNER, EDWARD

1787 - 1806

Admin history: Edward Jenner (1749-1823) was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, on 17 May 1749. In 1761 he was apprenticed to a surgeon, Daniel Ludlow of Sodbury, before, at the age of 21, enrolling as a resident house pupil of the great surgeon John Hunter, in London. He went on to pursue his studies at St George's Hospital. In 1773 he returned to Berkeley to set up practice, and soon became successful. In his spare time he made botanical and ornithological observations, continued to collect fossils, played the flute and violin, and wrote poetry. He made observations on the temperature of animals. Hunter encouraged him in this task, and upon his request Jenner sent him specimens of salmon-spawn, porpoises, cuckoos, and fossils. Jenner helped establish a medical society in Rodborough, Gloucestershire, whose members met to read papers on medical subjects before dining together. Jenner contributed papers on angina pectoris, ophthalmia and valvular disease of the heart and commented on cowpox, which had already begun to concern him. He also belonged to a similar society which met in Alveston, near Bristol. In 1787 Jenner wrote a paper on the 'Natural History of the Cuckoo', which was published in the 'Philosophical Transactions' the following year. In 1788 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1792 he obtained his MD from the University of St Andrews. Jenner published 'Further Observations on the Variolae Vaccinae or Cow-pox' (1799). During 1801 he received a number of congratulatory addresses and medals, including a medal from the medical officers of the British fleet, a ring from the Empress of Russia, and a service of plate from the gentry of Gloucestershire. He became a member of the Medical and Chirurgical Society on its foundation in 1805, and subsequently presented to them a number of papers. With his professional practice so impeded by his work promoting vaccination he again applied to Parliament for aid in 1806. An inquiry set up by the Royal College of Physicians reported favourably on the advantages of vaccination and the merits of Jenner. The House of Commons consequently awarded him £20,000. In 1813 the University of Oxford awarded him the degree of MD. In 1821 he was appointed Physician Extraordinary to King George IV and was made Mayor of Berkeley and Justice of the Peace. In 1822 he published 'A Letter to C.H. Parry, MD, on the Influence of Artificial Eruptions in Certain Diseases Incidental to the Human Body', and wrote 'Observations on the Migration of Birds' (1823), which he read to the Royal Society on 23 November 1822. On 26 January 1823 he died. Sources: 'Dictionary of National Biography', vol. XXIX, Sidney Lee (ed.) (London, 1892) [DNB, 1892, pp.321-24] 'Edward Jenner and Vaccination', Anthony John Harding Rains (London, 1974) 'Edward Jenner, 1749-1823', Richard B. Fisher (London, 1991)‎