FEBRUARY 2021
HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
CONTENTS HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY Journal of the Archaeology and Heritage Group
EDITORIAL 3
Perspective DAVID BRYSON
February 2021
Heritage in Miniature, well smaller thanour usual fare.
Editor David Bryson heritage.editor@rps.org
Gwil’s rant . . . GWIL OWEN ARPS
Advisory Editor Eric Houlder LRPS
Finding the humour in heritage photography.
Advertising enquiries David Bryson heritage.editor@rps.org Archaeology & Heritage Group Committee Members Gwil Owen ARPS Chair heritagechair@rps.org Mike Glyde Secretary heritagesec@rps.org George Backshall, LRPS Treasurer heritagetreasurer@rps.org David Bryson Heritage Photography editor heritage.editor@rps.org R. Keith Evans FRPS Roger Lewis ARPS Shaun Parkes
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FEATURES 5-6 Three faithful dogs ROBERT GALLOWAY LRPS
The statues exemplifying the universal appreciation of faithful dogs
7-8 Photographing objects on a darkfield ground. ERIC HOULDER LRPS
Darkfield photography of archaeological finds.
9-11 The scientific heritage An account of the Nuclear Accelerator based on the work of Cockcroft and Walton.
12-16 Family heirlooms and
Published by the Archaeology and Heritage Group of the Royal Photographic Society, January 2021.
Aunt Balderston’s Davenport Desk GEORGE BACKSHALL LRPS
Copyright in all text and photographs is held by the credited authors, or as otherwise stated. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any form without prior written permission of the Publisher.
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Front cover photograph Cockcroft and Walton’s Voltage Multiplier. Robert Galloway LRPS Back cover photograph Lewis Merthyr Colliery, Rhondda Valley Roger Lewis ARPS. Printed by digitalprinting.co.uk Milton Keynes, MK9 2FR United Kingdom. 2
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of Cockcroft and Walton ROBERT GALLOWAY LRPS
Colin Murrell
Print ISSN 0958-0565 Online ISSN 2632-3346
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Collieries of South Wales ROGER LEWIS ARPS, FDPS
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Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the valleys of south Wales were no different to many of the rural landscapes in the rest of the country.
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Vaccination ephemera DAVID BRYSON
Adverts, newspapers, journals and documents can tell us alot about the story of vaccinations.
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EDITORIAL
Perspective Heritage in miniature, well some smaller than our usual fare DAVID BRYSON This issue is really dedicated to smaller objects of heritage though the topic has stretched slightly in places. Gwil’s rant emphasises the role we can play in both entertaining and pleasing through our photography as well as the importance of capturing the incongruous and humourous when we see them. We start our feature articles with the first of Robert Galloways’s 2 articles with a look at 3 statues dedicated to faithful dogs who went beyond the call of duty in serving their masters. This is followed by Eric Houlder reminiscing and giving advice on how best to photograph small pieces of heritage using darkfield ground. Though as large as houses Robert Galloway’s second article looks at massive heritage but heritage that isn’t the traditional house or church but the magnificent scientific heritage of Cockcroft and Walton’s nuclear accelerator. Next comes examples of smaller heirlooms and heritage with George Backshall’s article about his Aunt’s Davenport Desk reminding us of the value of photograping and keeping records of family treasures for future generations. Though large in size Roger Lewis shows us both sides of the remains of the South Wales collieries from the coal and pit workings in the valleys alongside the smaller and intriguing warning signs. Finally there are many echoes of current anxieties between the early vaccinations for smallpox and the fight against Covid-19 which David Bryson looks at through posters, newspapers and other vaccination documents and ephemera.
Future editions of Heritage Photography At a recent committee meeting it was suggested that we produce a similar issue the special issue but more aimed at new members to show them the breadth of the photographs members’ produce. The aim would be for this to go to new members who join our group.
Group website in development. https://archaeologyandheritagephotography.co.uk/
Themes for future issues Suggestions are: “Historic and prehistoric” or just “Prehistoric” Requested by Mike Glyde and several others. “Scientific and technical” This would be good and could include infrared, thermal imaging, aerial and drone photography. “Engineering” Those feats that span the ages or new works, the heritage of the future. The aim is to have as many features and photographs ready in advance of the publication dates. It would also be good to have more articles and photographs ready for our regular issues. So I have too much for issues. If you have an idea for photographs or articles and photographs for the journal please contact me. heritage.editor@rps.org
DAVID BRYSON
This issue will include work from the archives, the forthcoming exhibition when it takes place and we would like as many images from members as possible. An A-Z collection from the facebook page will also show an eclectic range of photographs. 3
EDITORIAL
Gwil’s rant . . . . . Chair of the Archaeology and Heritage Group. GWIL OWEN ARPS.
I
t cannot have escaped your attention that my main activity for the past many months has been to set up - with help and advice of course - our group exhibition. We are yet again frustrated by the virus, but it will be held, it will, it will. Having had the pleasure of seeing all the exhibits, and their intended layout I have been struck in particular by two aspects of the images. The first is how well each image draws the viewer’s attention to specific facets of the subject: for example in the many ways church architecture is presented. It can be light and airy, dark and mysterious, as representing vast space, or as a private enclosed space. Done well, as they all are, the viewer is drawn into a sense of being there - they all seem real - and from that can arise our own private thoughts on matters that are not strictly physically real, such as religion or beauty. I have chosen an ecclesiastical theme as an exemplar, but the general principle applies to landscapes, cityscapes, warplanes and grubbing around in the archaeological muck, all themes that are there for us to explore and learn from. I’m reminded of the French playwright Molière who used the phrase “plaire et instruire” as the purpose of his comedies. Entertain and please. It is a motto appropriate to all the various arts, ours included.
extricating a modern bicycle from a Roman pavement. Humour is a facet of all our lives in that much of the world can be seen as joyous, comic even. Perhaps we might all consider the fun and irony and pure comedy of our “cultured” existence. After all fun is found in many of our churches. The misericords in St. Laurence’s, Ludlow spring to mind. Another aspect of our heritage that rarely surfaces in the group’s work is individual family heritage, which is odd really when most of us will have more family snapshots put away in our cupboards than formal, serious, heritage work. Frequently the visual record of and from the men and women who created our current family heritage is tucked away and easily forgotten. Without written annotations we can only make general guesses as to how the world was for them. Now might be a good time to drag out our family archives and make them intelligible for posterity - names, dates, relationships, notable events and so on. I confess to having failed to live up to my own advice here. So to conclude this waffle, here from my own jumbled past is an image that brings humour into play, and illustrates how not to treat heritage.
This is one of my favourite family snapshots. I think its funny. Most people giggle when they see it. It’s one of my children. God only knows which one! Gwil. Just email me: heritagechair@rps.org. Excavating a bicycle. Photograph: Mike Glyde.
The second thought that flitted though my tiny mind was that humour is underrepresented. The one exception is an image of an archaeologist
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FEATURES
Three faithful dogs The statues date from 1872 to 2006 and range from Scotland to Tokyo, exemplifying the universal appreciation of faithful dogs. ROBERT GALLOWAY LRPS have the sculpture mounted on a red granite plinth just across the road from the gates into Greyfriars Kirkyard. For more information go to: https://en.wilkipedia. org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby or https://www.historicuk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/GreyfriarsBobby/.
Hachiko, Tokyo. Hachiko was a Japanese Akita Inu dog born in November 1923 and was bought in 1924 by Professor Hidesaburo Uena who lived in Shibuya on the outskirts of Tokyo and travelled daily by train to work in Tokyo and then back home. Hachiko always went to the station to meet the train bringing his master home. This routine became well known locally. One day in 1925 the professor did not return, having died in Tokyo. Thereafter for the next 9 years Hachiko met the appropriate train at Shibuya Station until he too died in 1935.
Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh
Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh. Bobby was a skye Terrier. born May 1855 and acquired by John Gray as a companion for his tedious hard work tramping the Edinburgh streets as a night-watchman for the City Police. In this role, Bobby became well known and liked by the people of Edinburgh. Bobby’s master died in February 1858 and was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard; for the remainder of his life, 14 years, Bobby stayed beside his master’s grave. During this time, in 1867 a law required that dogs be licenced and Sir William Chambers the Lord Provost of Edinburgh purchased a licence for Bobby to keep him safe from being destroyed as a stray. Bobby’s story so attracted Baroness Burdett-Coutts that in 1882 she commissioned sculptor William Brodie to create a life size sculpture of Bobby. After Bobby died, she obtained permission to
Hachiko honoured with sash and pose of flowers between front paws; the evening street lighting emphasises the sparkle of the statue and subdues the background crowd, photograph taken in 2007.
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Bamse, Montrose. Canine scale is given to the by the Black Labrador, faithful Balach Galloway.
In 1934, in appreciation of Hachiko’s loyalty a bronze statue of him by Teru Ando was located at Shibuya Station. The metal was recycled during World War II. In 1948 Takeshi Ando, son of Teru, made a replacement statue which now stands beside Shibuya Railway Station. The area, like most of central Tokyo, has sprouted skyscrapers aplenty and become very crowded. The statue is much used as a meeting place. For more information go to: https://en.wilkipedia. org/wiki/Hachiko.
Bamse, Norwegian dog with statue in Montrose, Scotland. Bamse was a St. Bernard dog born in Oslo in 1937and was acquired by Captain Erling Hafto to be the family dog at his home in Honningsvag. Following the Nazi invasion of Norway, many Norwegian sailors with their boats escaped to Scotland, as did Captain Hafto with his boat Thorodd and Bamse. Thorodd, with Bamse a member of crew, became a Royal Norwegian Navy 6
minesweeper stationed in Montrose for service in the North Sea. Bamse became popular in the town and well known for helpful acts such as visiting all the pubs in Montrose to ensure that his fellow crew members returned on board by the due time at night. He also saved lives, for example, jumping into the harbour to pull out of the water a man who had fallen in; adding his weight on the side of a sailor who was being possibly mortally attacked. Bamse died in1944, before the war ended. The statue, unveiled in 2006, was commissioned by The Montrose Heritage Trust, sculpted by Alan Beattie Herriot, and with international support from organisations and individuals. It is inscribed, Bamse Life Saving Heroic WWII Norwegian Sea Dog 19371944. For more information go to: https://en.wilkipedia. org/wiki/Bamse_(St.Bernard) or http://www. bamsemontrose.co.uk/.
ROBERT GALLOWAY LRPS
HOW TO .....
Photographing objects on a darkfield ground Reminiscences on archaeological journals, aerial photography and darkfield photography of archaeological finds. ERIC HOULDER LRPS
T
he late Professor Barri Jones FSA (1936-99) was noted for many achievements, but one of his most useful contributions to popularising archaeology was to launch and edit a parallel magazine to Current Archaeology. Entitled Popular Archaeology, it was a news-stand title, occupying a slot below that of Current Archaeology which was subscription only. Being a friend of Andrew and Wendy Selkirk, and a friend of Barri too, I felt no sense of disloyalty in contributing to both. The Selkirk’s magazine tended to appeal more to professionals and the many hundreds of amateur archaeologists who spent their holidays on digs throughout Britain, whilst Barri’s was purchased by those who would like to dig, as well as teachers, and of course many of the readers of Current Archaeology. Following my article on Aerial Photography in Popular Archaeology dated December 1980, Barri had a long ‘phone conversation with me on the latest techniques, which eventually resulted in his Hadrian’s Wall from the Air, a quality booklet with first class monochrome images. As a follow up, he asked me to write and illustrate for Popular Archaeology a comprehensive series of articles on photography in archaeology covering everything from pictures of ruins and ancient monuments to finds photography, via site recording and even Industrial Archaeology. My own strengths in the discipline were always in aerial and site work, particularly the use of colour infrared in the former, and lighting in the latter. However, our Group possessed a real treasure in the shape of Brian Tremain FRPS, who from his base at the National Maritime Museum where he was Chief Photographer, and later at the British Museum where he held the same post, ran courses in which he educated members in the latest studio techniques. Thus it was that I absorbed the methodology of finds photography from the best practitioner in the world. Being a Yorkshireman, I was compelled to adapt more humble and cheaper lighting equipment beginning with photoflood lamps and eventually moving on to small monobloc units whilst keeping to the spirit and, I hope, excellence of Brian’s methods. These units are now
superceded by TTL flash units and LCD arrays.
Pontefract siege shilling, 1648, courtesy Mr S Wroe. Photographed in the ‘80s, using the original darkbox and photoflood lights on Agfachrome Professional 50S with conversion filter. A relic of the last mainland royalist garrison, these coins were cut and stamped from the silver plate donated by royalist sympathisers. I cannot guess at the current value, certainly more than a shilling – 5p.
One of the problems in writing about finds photography was to create diagrams making clear the techniques. I sent in crude sketches, and an artist on the magazine staff re-drew these. I never knew who did it, and so am unable to give credit where it is due. However, by way of thanks I am reproducing the diagram of a darkfield ground set-up with the original labelling. The lights are photofloods, though I eventually moved up to monobloc units. Often, with coins for example, the fill-light can be replaced with a reflector. Sometimes the main light may be fired into a brolly for a slightly 7
The original diagram, courtesy the late Professor Barri Jones FSA, Editor of Popular Archaeology. The entire interior, including the dowel is sprayed in matte black paint. The subject to be photographed is fixed with Blu-Tak, of course.
A Fordhams pipe bowl, courtesy Mr R McNaught. Photographed recently using the same darkbox but with TTL flash on extension, with reflector and Lumix G7 with 14-45 mm lens.
diffused effect. Used without the brolly the set-up gives a hard angular light ideal to show very low relief. A broad lip on the darkbox helps in avoiding illumination of the interior. Currently I use the same rathere battered darkbox (adapted from the box in which my Zorki 4 camera arrived; it’s almost fifty years old, a relic of communism, and has occupied more site huts than many archaeologists!) with a TTL Mecablitz flashgun on an extension cable as a main light from top left, 8
and usually a white reflector on the right. The bellows and/or tubes, and the Rokkor lens are still in use on my Lumix G7, via a £40 adaptor. With both Barri and Brian no longer with us, it is appropriate that their contributions to our discipline are acknowledged and still appreciated. Like all truly great people, neither had an ‘edge’ and both were eager to share their hard-won experience.
ERIC HOULDER LRPS
FEATURES
The Scientific Heritage of Cockcroft and Walton An account of the Nuclear Accelerator made in the mid-20th Century by Philips of Eindhoven based on the work of Cockcroft and Walton at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. ROBERT GALLOWAY LRPS
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n 1951 the Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton “for their pioneering work on the transmutation of atomic particles”, which they had demonstrated by 1932. Their work was carried out at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge and had required devising a substantial and novel scientific instrument. This instrument comprised two principal parts, first the voltage multiplier which produced a constant several hundred thousand Volts from a more modest ac input voltage and second the accelerating column which used the voltage from the multiplier to induce a new category of nuclear reaction.
To meet the desire of many research laboratories to have a Cockcroft and Walton type of instrument, Philips of Eindhoven engineered a version which they could sell “off the shelf” as a complete ready to use instrument. The Cockcroft and Walton original could work up to 600 thousand volts whereas the Philips machine could reach 1.2 million volts. Philips machines were installed, for example, in the Universities of Oxford, Liverpool and Edinburgh and in the U. K. Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell. The Edinburgh machine was installed in 1950 and is still in the city, now in the National Museum of Scotland and it is the subject of what follows. The author used the machine from 1956 until 1970.
An idea of the size of the complete Cockcroft and Walton machine can be gained from the mundane concrete building erected to contain it during its working life. The side of the building shows three large concrete panels, the space behind the right hand panel was occupied by the voltage multiplier, the space behind the left hand panel contained the accelerating column and the space behind the middle panel was empty in order to keep the two columns far enough apart to avoid sparking between them, although it did contain electrical connecting cables between them. 9
The Voltage Multiplier is a clever electrical circuit constructed from capacitors in the brown vertical parts and high voltage rectifiers mounted at an angle between opposite vertical columns. 10
The metal pieces on the Voltage Multiplier, five at each side, which join the capacitors and rectifiers together electrically must be smooth and rounded in order to prevent sparking into the surrounding air. It is the smooth shiny metalwork which makes
the device aesthetically attractive. The large smooth metal piece on top is the terminal carrying the high voltage, colloquially called the “bun” by those who worked with the machine.
The top half of the Accelerating Column comprising three vertical insulating columns supporting the metal “bun” on top with a ceramic pipe in the centre down which the atomic particles wre accelerated by the very high voltage applied to the “bun” by a cable connected to the top of the Voltage Multiplier. 11
FEATURES
Family heirlooms and Aunt Balderston’s Davenport desk. A Davenport desk is a small desk with an inclined lifting desktop attached with hinges to the back of the body. GEORGE BACKSHALL LRPS
Aunt Balderston’s Davenport Desk. Lifting the desktop accesses a large compartment with storage space for paper and other writing implements, and smaller spaces in the forms of small drawers and pigeonholes. This example has drawers to the right with dummy drawer fronts to the left.
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Top of the desk lifted up to show storage space for writing implements and ink.
T
he desk shape is distinctive; its top part resembles an antique school desk while the bottom is like one half of the supports of a pedestal desk turned sideways. The addition of the two legs in front completes the odd effect.
These desks owe their name to a Captain Josiah Davenport 1771-1836 who was the first to commission the design near the end of the 18th century. There are no records indicating if Captain Davenport was in the British Army or the Royal Navy. My example is a late Victorian Ladies Desk and stands 81cm to the lid of the top compartment, variously solid mahogany or veneer on a pine carcass. I understand Victorian ladies were often much shorter than today, as a child I used it but I find it too small for me now. The drawers are constructed with fine dovetail joints and a loose-fitting box wood liner with chamfered sides to fit a groove, held in place at the rear with a single pin so allowing a degree of expansion and movement. This example has a top compartment with a lifting lid holding ink wells, space for pens and stationery. In the family it was referred to as Aunt Balderston’s desk. Her Cart de Visite photographed by Mayall in Brighton shows a well to do plump middle class wealthy young lady and judging by the dress to be dated around 1880. With a slightly chubby face she also appears to be well built around her waist and hips. John Jabez Edwin Mayall 1813-1901) was a nationally famous photographer who had operated a photographic portrait studio in London and then moving to 91 King’s Road, Brighton after 1864. He had photographed the great and the good including Queen Victoria and Lord Tennyson.
Aunt Balderston’s Carte de visite.
Although she was referred to as Aunt Balderston I cannot find any evidence of a blood relation in my family history. I suspect she was friendly with my Grandmothers parents. Granny was born in The Crown, Clerkenwell in 1873, the youngest of eight siblings and died 1951. Her father was a licenced victualler and dying at the age of 49 with an estate 13
Beer Stein. A traditional pre-WWII German Beer Stein, 0.5L capacity. Heavy stoneware with lifting pewter lid it is 14.5cm high. My father acquired it during his army service in WWII in western Europe when he journeyed from Normandy, via Belgium to Germany in 1944 and 1945 in support roles.
Nutcrackers. All steel Victorian nutcrackers with turned handles, 14cm overall length. It shows little obvious signs of wear or tear with the serrated gripping section. It could be used as crackers for nuts or lobster claws. Inherited from maternal Grandmother who was from a middle-class Victorian family. 14
Liqueur Glass. A hand made and hand painted glass standing 7.5cm tall. As a child I remember at set of 5 and this is the only one to have survived breakage. Of unknown heritage, intended use or age. I expect my father acquired this in WWII whilst in Europe. 15
The reverse of Aunt Balderston’s Carte de visite.
Imari Porcelain Plate. This fine plate is 28cm in diameter. Given to us by Granny-in-law about 40 years ago, unknown lineage before then. For years at the back of a cupboard and now on display. The reverse shows the expected blue circles and without any manufacturing mark, I estimate this to date from 1890 – 1900.
of £14,000. At aged 7 granny was in a private girl’s school until father died, the youngest of the family and I expect no inheritance she had to find her way in the world. The Balderston’s seem to come from Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Described as a butcher, retired butcher and then living on his own mean, he moved from London to Hove where he died in March 1901. His wife was born in Clerkenwell in 1834 so it is my assumption that these families lived close and friendly, my Miss Balderston being their daughter. I have researched extensively but not really found much more details. Described in the family as 16
Aunt Balderston she seems to be have been born in 1850 into to a comfortable middle-class family, moving to London and hence Hove. There she was photographed in the 1880’s in her early 30’s and was a friend of Grannie’s parents from Clerkenwell. Granny and Grandad married and moved to Hove in 1902, when and how they obtained the desk I do not know. I have kept looking but never found much more about her, maybe one day I will find out more.
GEORGE BACKSHALL LRPS
FEATURES
Collieries of South Wales. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the valleys of south Wales were no different to many of the rural landscapes in the rest of the country. ROGER LEWIS ARPS FDPS
Merthyr Vale Colliery, Taff Valley.
T
hey comprised of steeply wooded valleys of oak, ash and beech and fast flowing rivers that emptied across the flat coastal plain into the Bristol Channel. The salmon was a frequent visitor to these rivers and wildlife was abundant. The typical Glamorgan industries were leather tanning and leather manufacture together with subsistence farming and lime kiln and fulling mills. The sylvan beauty of these valleys was brutally interrupted with the discovery of iron ore and limestone. The woodlands were cut down by the Sussex ironmasters who realised the potential of the area. Initially the wood supplied the iron works with charcoal for the furnaces and later the discovery of coal led to the sinking of deep mine shafts and drift mines which have scarred the landscape to the present day.
The geology of the area was ideal in providing the raw materials for iron and steel and the plentiful supply of coal not only supplied the iron and steel works but also the ships, railways and houses of Victorian Britain. The industrial transformation of the area relied on a number of factors. The coalfield was a relatively small area, little more than thirty miles from coast to top and approximately fifty miles across. It stretched from Carmarthenshire in the west to the Gwent valleys in the east. It had easy access to the coast, although railways and canals had to be built. There was a plentiful supply of water and the limestone outcropping on the northern flank was easily quarried. That was where the iron and steel foundries were situated.
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Nantgarw Colliery, Taff Valley.
Penallta Colliery, Rhymney Valley.
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Drams
Taff Merthyr Colliery, Taff Valley. 19
Colliery safety signs. 20
Tower Colliery, Cynon Valley.
The coal mines were also situated mainly in the northern part of the coal field as this was the point where the coal seams were nearer the surface. Coal was initially obtained from levels and patches cut into the mountainside but as demand grew deep pits were sunk. Deep pits and shallow seams were worked by hand, pick and shovel, and loaded into drams pulled by pit ponies. Modern machinery increased output and demand increased so much so that Welsh coal was exported as far as South America and Australia. The only thing that was missing was labour. This was easily solved as the population of the rural areas were lacking work and money. A workforce flooded in from rural Wales and across the border from nearby Somerset, Gloucester and Herefordshire. In less than a decade the population increased by thousands. Merthyr Tydfil with its huge iron works of Cyfarthfa and Dowlas and associated coal mines became the largest town in Wales even outstripping Cardiff. However, coal was king and had a much greater impact and legacy. There were approximately 400 collieries in the Coal Field at the end of the Second World War employing thousands of men. The Miners’ Strike of 1921 and the General Strike of 1926 and the Royal Navy relying less on coal had a significant detrimental effect in the long term.
in south Wales were Tower Colliery in 2008 and Aberpergwm in 2011. What is left today to remind us of these vast industrial empire? Not a lot- there are no deep working mines although a few have been kept as museums. There are spoil tips with a surprising amount of diverse and rare flora, lichen and fungi and there are moves afoot to protect these areas. The valleys are once again green and lush, the rivers are clean and the otters and salmon have returned. Cardiff Bay where the coal was exported has now been transformed into a modern barrage complete with a bustling social and administrative centre with only a few remnants of its industrial past. Things appear to have completed full circle and it is unlikely that industry on such a scale will return any time soon. Text and black and white images
ROGER LEWIS ARPS FDPS Colour images
MICHAEL DAVIES ARPS
It wasn’t however until the Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s that coal mining in south Wales declined rapidly and finally finished. The last deep mines to close 21
FEATURES
Vaccination ephemera This feature looks at some of the posters, adverts, newspapers, journals and documents that can tell us about the story of immunization and peoples’ views on vaccination. DAVID BRYSON
W
e may think that vaccinations and antivaccination protests and campaigns for and against are a modern phenomenon. However, activities in both promoting and avoiding the benefits for religious and cultural reasons have a long history.
Smallpox vaccination never got to sufficient coverage in its early years of use as uptake in the late 19th and early 20th centuries only reached about 20% of the population.
place, over which Councillor John Smith presided, being supported Messrs. H. Sanders and G. Smith (Helper), J. H. Bonner (Leicester), H. Miller (\V irksworth), Councillor Potter, W. H. Dowdy, J. Cholerton, C. J. W. Haynes, H. Hardy, A. Feltrup (secretary). C. Harper, F. Cudworth, and many other, whilst amongst the audience were Mr. W. Hall, J.P., and the Kev. G. James, etc.—The Chairman said it might be asked why they should hold a meeting in Derby Market-place on behalf of men who came to their prison from Belper, and his answer was that they had the same law in operation in Derby, and whilst they were helping their neighbours they were helping themselves. They also desired to encourage any Derby parents who might be threatened with similar proceedings and show them what strong public sympathy was with them.
In the 1900s many anti-vaccinators in Derby were goaled after they refused to let their children be vaccinated. The government of the time had enacted laws for vaccination which were so ignored that officials from London were sent to Derby to take over administration.
They were not fighting forlorn battle, because the people were on their side, and though the medical supporters of vaccination were just now making frantic efforts to prop up the vaccination laws believed that the cause the people, which was the cause of right and justice, would triumph.
Smallpox inoculation was around for a long time before its final eradication. Vaccination was first made compulsory in 1852, and the provisions were made more stringent in 1867, 1871, and 1874. See more details for other Acts https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Vaccination_Act.
The Derby Daily Telegraph from Tuesday May 20th 1902 reported:
Anti-vaccination demonstration in Derby. Release of prisoners. On Monday .morning Mr. Abraham Ottowell, of Holbrook Moor, the 18th man who has been imprisoned under the Vaccination Acts in Derby Gaol during the past few months, was released after undergoing seven days’ confinement, and the local Anti-Vaccination League organised a reception welcome him to liberty. At half-past seven a crowd of nearly a thousand people gathered at the prison gates, and when Ottowell made his appearance was greeted with loud cheering and much hand-shaking and congratulation. A few Short speeches were made condemning the Acts and demanding their repeal, after which the “hero” and his friends adjourned to the Friar-gate Coffee House for breakfast. Subsequently, at half-past nine, a further meeting of similar dimensions was held in the Market22
Belper News & Derbyshire Telephone, Friday February 28th 1902. British Newspaper Archive.
At the present time they were paying out of the rates in Derby for vaccination fees a sum equal to between £800 and £900 year, over £16 a week, and as a ratepayer he was strongly against such a state affairs. (Hear, hear).
Poster produced by the The Ministry of Health.
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Matchbox labels Czechoslovakia- Vaccination against tetanus from 1950's.
Councillor Potter moved “ That in the opinion of this meeting so-called vaccination is a dangerous and useless operation, and its compulsory application ought to be abolished. This meeting also views with indignation and alarm the growth of official tyranny now being exercised in the country by the officials the Local Government Board in the shape of their claiming have sole control over vaccination officers. Such action on their part, is nothing less than a usurpation the right representative government, and pledge ourselves only to support candidates for any public body who will undertake to use all constitutional methods to bring about the repeal of such laws. This meeting further desires thank Abraham Ottowell for the courageous part he has played in preferring to go to gaol rather than submit his child to be vaccinated.”
An artistic rendering of Edward Jenner vaccinating eightyear-old James Phipps in 1796, (Image source: Wu, 2018).
Mr. H. Sanders, in supporting, thanked the people of Derby for the hearty welcomes they had from time to time accorded to the 18 men from the Belper district who had been sent to prison cause they loved their children too well allow their pure blood to be tampered with, and who preferred prison to the violation of their conscience at the behest officials, local or central. Mr. J. H. Bonner strongly criticised the action officials in connection with the statistics of London small-pox. In some cases where persons dying of snmll-pox were returned as unvaccianted he had in his possession certificates proving them have been successfully, vaccinated; in fact, out 1,015 deaths which had already occurred, no fewer than 600 were of vaccinated persons, which showed that vaccination neither prevented nor mitigated smallpox. The questioning of statistics and the autonomy of regions is echoed in today’s fight against Covid-19. World Health magazine front cover. 24
International certificate of vaccination against smallpox from 1948.
Modern ephemera, vaccination card for Covid-19.
In May 1980 the World Health Organisation (WHO) delcared smallpox as dead. As Henderson declared in his article:
How much did it cost?
“A victory for all mankind brought about by hundreds of thousands of health workers from all over the world, eradication is a triumph of international cooperation and of preventive medicine. For centuries, variola virus stalked the world with impunity causing unmeasured suffering, death and blindness. Today it is confined to glass vials kept under high security in six laboratories.” (Henderson, 1980 p 3) This issue of the World Health magazine is worth reading for the stories of country’s eradication of the disease but also the cost and numbers of victims and perspectives on global health.
How many victims were there?
Between 1967, when WHO ordered its intensified Smallpox Eradication Programme into action, and 1980, when the Thirty-third World Health Assembly endorsed the final disappearance of this disease from the Earth, the total cost of eradication was $300 million. We are now safe from many diseases even in my own lifetime things have changed. As a child I had Whooping cough, Measles, Chickenpox and Mumps all of which children can now be protected from providing they are vaccinated.
References Wu, K. (2018) The mysterious origins of the Smallpox Vaccine. https://www.smithsonianmag. com/science-nature/mysterious-origins-smallpoxvaccine-180970069/
In the one year 1967, official health statistic returns showed there were 131,697 cases of smallpox. But the figures showed only a tiny fraction of the real suffering. It is estimated that in that year there were over 10 million cases of smallpox in the world.
Henderson D.A. (1980) A victory for all mankind. World Health, May. https://www.who.int/csr/ disease/smallpox/WHO_RAS_SEP_ID0556_ WorldHealth_May1980_ENG.pdf
How many people died?
DAVID BRYSON
It is estimated that, in 1967, the death toll was about two million people.
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Lewis Merthyr Colliery, Rhondda Valley Roger Lewis ARPS. 26