The vaccination registers: what are they and what can we learn from them?

During the 1870s close to 90 per cent of the infants of England and Wales were seen at least twice by a doctor. In many places the percentage was close to 100. The visits left a record, so that we know quite a lot about these children: their names, when and where they were born, how old they were when the doctor saw them, the name and occupation of their father if they were born within marriage or of their mother if not. Such a remarkable state of affairs came about because, in 1872, compulsory vaccination against smallpox, which had been introduced in 1853, was finally made effective. All children had to be vaccinated before they were three months old or at the next public vaccination after they had reached that age, the process being monitored by a Vaccination Officer. He entered all the above information, and more, into a Vaccination Register which was central to his work. Here I will first of all describe the Vaccination Registers and how they came into existence. I will then examine the extent of vaccination in different parts of the country, as recorded by the Vaccination Registers, from 1872 until 1904 when annual statistics based on the registers ceased. Finally I will show how the registers can be used by historical demographers, especially in the study of infant mortality.