Cowpox children. In 1796, British medical practitioner Edward Jenner tested the theory that cowpox could protect someone from being infected by smallpox. Although cowpox originates on the udder of cows, Jenner took his sample from a milkmaid, Sarah Nelmes. Jenner extracted the pus of one of the lesions formed by cowpox on Nelmes to another individual who never had smallpox, James Phipps. He eventually developed a scab and fever that was manageable. Approximately six weeks later, Jenner then introduced an active sample of the smallpox virus into Phipps to test the theory. After being observed for an extended amount of time,
Thomas Jenner bench as a Baron of the Exchequer. With the majority of the judges, Jenner gave judgment in favour of the king's claim to the dispensing power which was raised in the case of Sir Edward Hales. In October 1687 Jenner was appointed one of the three royal commissioners to inquire into the appointment of a president of Magdalen College, Oxford; the other commissioners were Robert Wright and Thomas Cartwright. Jenner's diary of the proceedings survived in the library of Magdalen College. Cartwright sought to have him dismissed from the commission, finding him too moderate if outwardly overbearing to the fellows,