James Phipps (1788-1853) James Phipps, the son of a poor
landless labourer, was the first person to be vaccinated by
Edward Jenner. On 14 May 1796, Jenner cut into the skin of the
8-year-old boy and infected him with matter from a cowpox sore.
Over the following days, James developed a fever, but soon
became well again. When Jenner then injected the boy with the
more dangerous smallpox, James remained healthy. Two other
children who shared a bed with James did not catch smallpox from
him either. Encouraged by his success, Jenner went on to test
his method on various people over the following two years. All
of them were poor - farm labourers and their children, or the
inmates of workhouses. Jenner publicised the case of James
Phipps as a success story to promote his new method of
vaccination. We do not know if James or his father were paid for
the experiment, but later in life Jenner definitely rewarded his
first test subject. When James Phipps was married with children,
Jenner gave him a free lease on a house