Out of time: anti-vaxxers in Victorian Notts

Nottingham, like many other cities, was in Victorian times fighting a losing battle against many diseases, including smallpox. This contagious disease caused fever, tiredness, aches and pains, along with fluid-filled blisters and pustules in the mouth and body. It spread through the city like wildfire because of overcrowding, poor sanitation, limited preventative knowledge, and close contact. Nottingham’s Sanitary Committee reported several nasty outbreaks, especially in 1882. The committee reported 703 cases leading to a mass disinfectant campaign of 4,995 items of bedding and clothing and 1,092 rooms. A meeting was held where it was decided to introduce mandatory case reporting, with financial rewards available for anyone who did. As a result of the report, the patient and anyone who had contact with them were taken to hospital, where they were quarantined while their house was disinfected. Bagthorpe Hospital set up a temporary infectious hospital, and Plumptre Hospital, often referred to as the Garden Hospital, also served as one.

The reported cases also had an unexpected benefit: they allowed the disease to be mapped across the city in 1882. This showed that the east and south sides were particularly affected, while the west was not. There was further concern that the area hospitals would catch smallpox through the air. This may be why the Health Committee favoured Bagthorpe Hill as a site, as it was more isolated than others. 

Physician Edward Jenner created a vaccine in 1796. He noticed that milkmaids who caught cowpox did not catch smallpox – and created a successful vaccine containing a small amount of cowpox. It was first used in Nottingham by Surgeon to the General Hospital, John Attenburrow.

The vaccine was made free in 1840, then compulsory for all children below age fourteen in 1867. This was punishable through arrests, fines, or prison sentences. Opposition and resentment began to grow along with an anti-vaccination movement. There were many reasons for this: some felt the material made from cows was unhealthy or were religiously opposed to it, while others didn’t believe it was contagious and objected to being told what to do.

Rumours also circulated, particularly in the Meadows area, that it could cause death. Families who lived there decided not to vaccinate their children, despite the law. James Farnsworth, James Bradshaw, Jas W. Knight and Walter Finch were all brought to court. Bradshaw was described as a ‘conscientious objector’ to the vaccine. He had two sons, one of whom had died of erysipelas, and Bradshaw had blamed the vaccine for this. His defence in court, when asked about it, was, "there is no saving of life by vaccine”. Such court cases further publicised and fuelled the movement. 

Leicester had established an anti-vaccination league in 1869. It was felt in the city that they had created an alternative to the vaccine through quarantining, mandatory reporting of cases, disinfection of houses and belongings - which often included burning items. Nottingham would have been aware of the movement, as Leicester campaigners occasionally travelled to the city for demonstrations. One such demonstration led by notorious anti-vaccine supporter, Amos Booth, took place in Market Square in April 1886. As the crowd grew quickly, police intervened to get Booth to leave. When he refused, they unsuccessfully attempted to forcibly remove him, then allowed him to finish. 

While here, Booth set up a stall next to Frederick Johnson, a travelling auctioneer, and pointed him out to the crowd. Johnson had the task of selling items seized from the homes of anti-vaccinators who had refused (or couldn’t) pay their fines, which was something that made him incredibly unpopular with the movement, as it was seen to be supporting the imposing of fines. Booth loudly told his audience that Johnson was dealing in stolen goods in Nottingham, which he wouldn’t dare to do in Leicester. He told people not to buy the goods because the police would call them shortly after and they need only ask the Leicester force about Johnson’s character. For good measure, he added that Johnson had seven illegitimate children – an accusation that carried weight in Victorian England – especially since an accusation of one child had been brought before the court but not seven. Johnson retaliated by bringing him to court, claiming his accountancy business had declined; he won £200 in damages. Booth was charged with assaulting the bailiffs who came to his home in Leicester.

Anti-vaccination meetings took place, including at Circus Hall in the 1890s. The aim was to support any legitimate means of repealing the Vaccination Act. Speakers at the event encouraged the audience to ‘be like Leicester’ and ‘claim their birthright’. In 1898, a ‘conscientious objector’ clause was added to the Vaccine Act.

The debate continued into the early 1900s – clerks at a Board of Guardians meeting announced that between 1899 and 1903, 16,108 people had been vaccinated, costing the city £6,544. A meeting was held at the Exchange Hall to discuss these figures – it was announced the vaccine caused cancer and an anti-vaccine society should be set up. It was considered controversial as a prominent member of the Board of Guardians announced that the government had falsely declared the vaccine unsuccessful in the fight against smallpox. 

Throughout the following decades, smaller outbreaks occurred but were notably milder, including Sherwood in the 1910s and Mansfield in 1924. In the 1920s, warnings urged people to avoid mixing unless they had been recently vaccinated. An appeal was also made to close churches and Sunday schools as the Anti-Vaccination League counter-argued that not one case had been proven against the unvaccinated. However, the figures show a dramatic decline in numbers: of the first 27 cases, ten were vaccinated, two were revaccinated, and there were thirty unvaccinated cases – no fatalities. 

By 1980, the World Health Organisation declared smallpox eradicated.