At Stroud in 1897, protesting crowds congregated outside the market hall for three days in an attempt to prevent a public auction of household effects, seized by the authorities in a ‘distraint sale’. These were the belongings of a local family who had refused to let their children be vaccinated against Smallpox as the law required. Distraint sales like this had increasingly become an arena for protest and carnivalesque displays of public outrage and the Stroud riot was no exception. The crowd set fire to heather bushes, acted out pantomimic scenes in fancy dress, and pelted eggs at police constables and auctioneers. They overwhelmed the local police force, as well as the police who had been sent in from neighbouring towns and cities. But why would anybody riot against a vaccination programme set up to combat Smallpox? In this article, Holly John investigates a nineteenth century medical controversy and discovers that despite being the home of Dr Edward Jenner, the ‘Father of immunisation’, the south-west of England was also once home to a fervent anti-vaccination movement.
Tag: Stroud
A ‘Determined Suicide’ at Slad
The village of Slad in Gloucestershire is best known as the childhood home, and final resting place, of the poet and author Laurie Lee (1914-1997). His early years were captured, famously, in Cider with Rosie,a series of evocative tales of village life. Bond focus in this short article, on the mysterious death of a local person, and the series of events which transpired in pursuit of the cause.
The Victoria History of the County of Gloucestershire
In this articles, Smith provides detail on a new volume that was recently published regarding the history of Gloucestershire. It touches upon what form the history was previously recorded, and when these tomes were compiled.
Picture in Focus: Anti-Slavery and the Arch
Anne Mackintosh looks at the archway at Paganhill and considers its links with the anti-slavery movement. Furthermore, the articles also considers the preservation of the arch over time, and how the community it features has persevered to maintain and preserve the history of the anti-slavery movement.