History Bytes: Inoculation

February 5, 2015

The spread of measles is in the news and the use of vaccinations continues to be controversial, just as it was over 200 years ago.

In 1817 David Melville of Newport had his children vaccinated for smallpox and recorded the event in the family bible, along with births, marriages and deaths. Some considered inoculation a necessary interference with God’s will and worthy of recording in bibles. It was also a written record to prevent future unneeded treatments.

The smallpox vaccine was developed by Edward Jenner in England and brought to America by Newport native Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse after 1796.

Above: Family record from an early 19th century bible that shows birth and inoculation dates, from the NHS collection.