London Society for the Abolition of Compulsory 1880s

The National Anti-Vaccination League (NAVL) was a British

anti-vaccination Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

organization that was formed in 1896 from earlier smaller organizations. Historically, the League had opposed compulsory vaccination, particularly against

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

. It was part of a wider anti-vaccinationist movement, arguing that vaccination did more harm than good.

History

Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League

The National Anti-Vaccination League grew from earlier smaller organizations in London, originally under the title Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League (ACVL) in response to the government making

smallpox vaccination The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox ...

compulsory. The Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League was founded by Richard Butler Gibbs at

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...

in 1866.Durbach, Nadja. (2005). ''Bodily Matters: The Anti-Vaccination Movement in England, 1853–1907''. Duke University Press. p. 38. Members included Richard's brother George Sleight Gibbs and his cousin John Gibbs, author of the first anti-vaccination pamphlet. The Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League had 103 branch leagues and claimed 10,000 members in 1871. In June 1867, the publication "Human Nature" campaigned against "The Vaccination Humbug". It reported that many petitions had been presented to Parliament against Compulsory Vaccination, and many from parents who alleged that their children had died through the operation, and complained that these petitions had not been made public. The journal reported the formation of the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League "To overthrow this huge piece of physiological absurdity and medical tyranny, and quoted Richard Gibbs, who ran the Free Hospital at the same address as stating "I believe we have hundreds of cases here, from being poisoned with vaccination, I deem incurable. One member of a family dating syphilitic symptoms from the time of vaccination, when all the other members of the family have been clear. We strongly advise parents to go to prison, rather than submit to have their helpless offspring inoculated with scrofula, syphilis, and mania." Notable members of the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League were

James Burns James Burns may refer to: Business * James Burns (Australian shipowner) (1846–1923), Australian businessman * James Burns (Canadian businessman) (1921–2019), Canadian businessman * James Burns (merchant), Glasgow-born merchant of the 17th centu ...

George Dornbusch George Dornbusch (1819 – 5 February 1873) was an Austrian merchant and activist for vegetarianism and various other causes including abolitionism, anti-vaccination, temperance, women's suffrage and the peace movement. He was an early proponent o ...

and

Charles Thomas Pearce Charles Thomas Pearce (1815–1883) M.D., M.R.C.S., F.R.S., was an English physician and early opponent of mandatory vaccination. A member of the Royal College of Surgeons, fellow of the Royal Society and a Freemason, Charles was a homoeopath a ...

. After the death of Richard B. Gibbs in 1871, the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League underwent various changes until 1876 when it was revived under the leadership of

Mary Hume-Rothery Mary Hume Rothery or Mary Catherine Hume-Rothery (14 December 1824 – 14 February 1885) was a British writer and campaigner for medical reform. She campaigned against the Contagious Diseases Act and founded the National Anti Compulsory Vaccinati ...

and the Rev. W. Hume-Rothery. The Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League published the ''Occasional Circular'' which later merged into the ''National Anti-Compulsory Vaccination Reporter''.

London Society for the Abolition of Compulsory Vaccination

In 1880,

William Tebb William Tebb (22 October 1830 – 23 January 1917) was a British businessman and wide-ranging Reform movement, social reformer. He was an anti-vaccinationist and author of anti-vaccination books.''Bodily Matters: The Anti-Vaccination Movement in E ...

enlarged and reorganized the League with the formation of the London Society for the Abolition of Compulsory Vaccination, with William Young as secretary. The ''Vaccination Inquirer'', established by Tebb in 1879, was adopted as the official organ of the Society. A series of fourteen "Vaccination Tracts" was begun by Young in 1877 and completed by Garth Wilkinson in 1879. William White was the first editor of the ''Vaccination Inquirer'' and after his death in 1885, he was succeeded by Alfred Milnes.

Frances Hoggan Frances Elizabeth Hoggan (''née'' Morgan; 20 December 1843 – 5 February 1927) was a Welsh doctor and the first British woman to receive a doctorate in medicine from any university in Europe. She was also a pioneering medical practitioner, rese ...

and her husband authored an article for the ''Vaccination Inquirer'' in September 1883 which argued against compulsory vaccination. The London Society focused on lobbying parliamentary support in the 1880s and early 1890s. They gained support from several members of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of which the most prominent was

Peter Alfred Taylor Peter Alfred Taylor (30 July 1819 – 20 December 1891) was a British politician, anti-vaccinationist and radical. Biography Taylor was born in London. He was the son of another Peter Alfred Taylor, a silk merchant, and the nephew of Samuel ...

who was described as the "Mecca of antivaccination".

National Anti-Vaccination League

The movement grew, and as the influence of the London Society overshadowed the Hume-Rotherys and it took the national lead, it was decided in February 1896 to re-form the Society as The National Anti-Vaccination League. Arthur Phelps was elected as President. In 1898, the league took on a school leaver named

Lily Loat Lily Loat (21 January 1880 – 16 August 1958) was a British anti-vaccination activist. She was the Secretary of the National Anti-Vaccination League for nearly 50 years. Life Loat was born in Battersea in about 1880 and her father was John Loat. ...

. By 1909 she was elected as the league's Secretary. In 1906,

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

wrote a supportive letter to the National Anti-Vaccination League, equating methods of vaccination with "rubbing the contents of the dustpan into the wound".Yang, Jennifer. (2014)
"Contemporary debates on vaccination policies have historical parallels in Ransom Center’s collections"
Ransom Center Magazine. Retrieved 20 June 2021. Lily Loat devoted her life to the cause and died still working for the league in 1958. The league's journal ceased to create new issues in 1972.

Publications of The National Anti-Vaccination League

The National Anti-Vaccination League 1921

* 1901, ''An Italian Indictment of Vaccination.'', Carlo Ruata. Public address given at the opening of the session of the University of Perugia, November, 1898. Translated from the Italian. National Anti-Vaccination League: London. * 1901, ''Vaccination a Delusion'',

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural se ...

. Chapter 28 of ''The Wonderful Century'' * 1902, ''Smallpox at Gloucester''. A reply to Dr. Coupland's Report by

Walter Hadwen Walter Robert Hadwen (3 August 1854 – 27 December 1932) was an English general practitioner, pharmaceutical chemist and writer. He was president of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) and an anti-vaccination campaigner ...

. Reprinted from “The Reformer,” National Anti-Vaccination League: Gloucester * 1902, ''Smallpox at Middlesbrough.'' A reply to Dr. Dingle's Reports ... 2nd edition, rev. by Biggs, John Thomas pp. 24. * 1902, ''What about Vaccination'', Milnes, Alfred. With other contributions. (When Doctors Disagree. The Wreck of the Preussen. Vaccination an Error.) National Anti-Vaccination League: Westminster. * 1904, ''The Story of the Vaccination Crusade in Hackney & Stoke Newington, 1902–1904, and what came of it. The cases of John Polley, William Pitt, and others, with an account of the action-at-law Polley v. Fordham.'', Burton, John Francis. Hackney Union Branch of the National Anti-Vaccination League: London. * 1910, ''For and Against Vaccination'' A statement by the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland; (with correspondence thereon, between A. Phelps and T. Percy C. Kirkpatrick). * 1911, ''Smallpox and vaccination in British India''. * 1912, ''Leicester: Sanitation Versus Vaccination'', J. T. Biggs, JP. Book. * 1921, ''Vaccination and the State'',

Arnold Lupton Arnold Lupton (11 September 1846 – 23 May 1930) was a British Liberal Party Member of Parliament, academic, anti-vaccinationist, mining engineer and a managing director (collieries). He was jailed for pacifist activity during the First ...

MP. * 1929, ''National Anti-Vaccination League (London) Thirty-third tc.Annual Report'', etc. * 1936, ''The Case Against Vaccination'', Maurice Beddow Bayly. * 1939, ''The Schick Inoculation Against Diphtheria'', Maurice Beddow Bayly * 1947, ''Smallpox and Vaccination.'', Trolridge, Arthur. * 1952, ''B.C.G. Vaccination'',

Maurice Beddow Bayly Maurice Beddow Bayly (26 March 1887 – 22 June 1961) was an English physician, anti-vivisection activist, and anti-vaccination campaigner. Biography Bayly was born in Woolwich. He was educated at St Dunstan's College, London University and ...

. * 1957, ''Is Mass Vaccination with B.C.G. always warranted in the Scandinavian Countries?'' (booklet).

References

External links

The Vaccination Inquirer and Health Review
{{Authority control Anti-vaccination organizations 1896 establishments in the United Kingdom Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom 1972 disestablishments in the United Kingdom