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Statue of Edward Jenner, London

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Coordinates: 51°30′38″N 0°10′30″W / 51.510576°N 0.175121°W / 51.510576; -0.175121
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The statue in 2009

A statue of Edward Jenner, the physician, scientist and pioneer of the world's first vaccine, is located in Kensington Gardens in London. A work of the sculptor William Calder Marshall, the bronze was originally unveiled by Albert, Prince Consort in Trafalgar Square on 17 May 1858, before being moved to its present location in 1862. It is a Grade II listed building.[1][2]

The statue depicts Jenner in a seated position with one hand holding papers and is upon a plinth of Portland stone with Jenner's surname inscribed on a front panel of Aberdeen granite.[2] At the base of the plinth is the inscription 'W. Calder Marshall, R. A. Sculpt. 1858'.[3] A descriptive bronze plaque is set into the ground in front of the statue and it reads:[3]

Edward Jenner, MD, FRS, 1749–1823, country doctor who benefited mankind.

In Jenner's time smallpox was a dreaded disease worldwide and caused many deaths particularly of children. Survivors were left badly scarred and often blinded or deformed. In 1796 Jenner vaccinated James Phipps with cowpox and showed that the boy was then immune to smallpox. He predicted the worldwide eradication of smallpox. This was finally achieved in 1980. Jenner was born, practised and died in Berkeley, Gloucestershire and studied at St. George's Hospital, London.

This statue by William Calder Marshall RA was inaugurated by Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, and was the first to be erected in Kensington Gardens in 1862. The cost was met by international subscription.

In 1853, the year that United Kingdom legislated for compulsory vaccination, the sculptor Calder Marshall gained attention from the medical community for his bust of Jenner which was shown at The Great Exhibition in1851, and a public fund to establish a London memorial was launched.[4][5] International donations were generous, but the British public were less supportive, and Caldwell Marshall was left 'seriously out of pocket'.[6] Despite this, the finished statue, unveiled by Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert, was a 'triumph for the vaccinationist cause'.[4]

The prominent memorial was opposed by anti-vaccinationists, but even more strongly by the military, as Trafalgar Square, in 1858, only included statues of notable military figures.[4] As a newspaper at the time suggested '...the veterans of the Horse Guards and Admiralty were scandalised at the idea of a mere civilian, a doctor, having a place in such distinguished company, and moreover daring to be seated while his betters were standing'.[7]

Despite calls by The Times, and in Parliament, for Jenner's statue to be moved, with royal support it remained in place until two months after the death of the Prince Consort in December, 1861.[5] In 1862, the physician Frederick William Headland compared the military statues to Jenner's, and noted that they remained in Trafalgar Square "because they killed their fellow-creatures, whereas he only saved them".[8][9] A proposal to return the statue to a more prominent location was suggested in a letter to The Times in 1923,[10] and again in 1937.[11] In 2010, the 30th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox that began with Jenner's vaccine, a new campaign to return the statue to Trafalgar Square began.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Historic England. "Statue of Jenner (1275355)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b Gomme, George Laurence (1910). Return of Outdoor Memorials in London: Other Than Statues on the Exterior of Buildings, Memorials in the Nature of Tombstones, Memorial Buildings and Memorial Trees. London County Council. p. 32. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Statue: Jenner statue". London Remembers. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Christine MacLeod (20 December 2007). Heroes of Invention: Technology, Liberalism and British Identity, 1750–1914. Cambridge University Press. pp. 231–232. ISBN 978-0-521-87370-3.
  5. ^ a b Empson, John (September 1996). "Little honoured in his own country: statues in recognition of Edward Jenner MD FRS". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 89 (9): 514–8. doi:10.1177/014107689608900910. PMC 1295916. PMID 8949521.
  6. ^ "SANDWICH ISLANDS". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 9 August 1858. p. 8. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  7. ^ "ENGLISH EXTRACTS". The McIvor Times and Rodney Advertiser (Heathcote, Vic. : 1863–1918). Heathcote, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 24 November 1865. p. 3. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Introductory Lectures". British Medical Journal. 18 October 1862. p. 415. hdl:2027/uiuo.ark:/13960/t7cs3cj79. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  9. ^ "BMJ Supports Campaign To Reinstate Jenner (who Developed Smallpox Vaccine) Statue In Trafalgar Square". Medical News Today. 27 March 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  10. ^ "FATE OF JENNER'S STATUE". The Northern Miner. Charters Towers, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 4 December 1923. p. 3. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  11. ^ "INCREASING ATTENTION TO SOCIAL AMENITIES". The News. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 21 August 1937. p. 4. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  12. ^ "Sign Edward Jenner petition for 30th anniversary". Gloucestershire Citizen. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
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51°30′38″N 0°10′30″W / 51.510576°N 0.175121°W / 51.510576; -0.175121

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