George Pearson (doctor) facts for kids
George Pearson (1751–1828) was an important British doctor and chemist. He was one of the first people to support Edward Jenner's idea of using cowpox to protect people from smallpox, a very dangerous disease.
A friend named Davies Gilbert, who was in charge of the Royal Society (a famous group for scientists), wrote about Dr. Pearson after he died. He said that Pearson was a brilliant doctor and chemist, and a kind but unique person.
George Pearson was born in Rotherham, a town in Yorkshire, England. His father, John, was a chemist who made and sold medicines. His grandfather, Nathaniel, was a vicar (a type of church leader) in a nearby village. His uncle, also named George, was a wine merchant and even became the mayor of Doncaster twice.
Pearson studied to become a doctor in Edinburgh, Scotland, and finished his medical degree in 1771. He then spent a year learning more at St. Thomas's Hospital in London. In 1777, he moved to Doncaster. While living there for six years, he became good friends with a famous actor named John Philip Kemble. Pearson also studied the water at Buxton, a town known for its natural springs, and wrote a two-book series about it.
In 1783, Dr. Pearson moved to Leicester Square in London. He became a licensed doctor with the Royal College of Physicians in 1784 and started giving lectures. On February 23, 1787, he was chosen as the main doctor at St George's Hospital, where he worked for the next forty years. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society (a member of the important science group) in 1791. He even served on the Society's council and gave a special lecture in 1827 about how the lungs absorb charcoal.
Davies Gilbert also said that Dr. Pearson was very good at Greek and Latin. He was a welcoming host, a loyal friend, and a funny person who loved to tell stories. He often told his friends that he planned to keep working until the very end of his life.
Dr. Pearson died at his home in Hanover Square, London on November 9, 1828. His friend Davies said he died after falling down the stairs. He left behind two daughters. One, Frances Priscilla, married Sir John Dodson, a lawyer and politician. The other, Mary-Anne, was still single at the time.
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Joining the Royal Society
The Royal Society is one of the oldest and most respected scientific organizations in the world. It brings together many of the brightest minds in science. George Pearson first tried to join the Royal Society in 1786, but he was not accepted. His neighbor and colleague from St. George's Hospital, John Hunter (surgeon), had supported his application.
For his second attempt in 1791, Dr. Pearson had many well-known people supporting him. These included famous doctors like Sir George Baker, 1st Baronet and William Heberden, as well as other important figures like Andrew Kippis and Thomas Bowdler. This time, he was successfully elected as a Fellow.
Helping with Smallpox Vaccination
George Pearson was one of the first people to strongly support using vaccination to prevent smallpox. He was a big fan of Edward Jenner's work. Just a few months after Jenner published his famous book about cowpox, Pearson also shared his own findings.
In early 1799, Pearson helped start the Original Vaccine Pock Institute in London. This institute began giving out the vaccine. However, some of the vaccine samples they distributed accidentally contained the smallpox virus instead of just the cowpox virus. This caused a big disagreement between Pearson and Jenner. Jenner felt that Pearson was trying to take credit for his work, and Pearson became jealous of Jenner's growing fame.
When Jenner asked the British Parliament for a financial reward in 1802, Pearson published his own detailed story. He wanted to show his part in introducing vaccination. He also argued that Jenner didn't actually "discover" vaccination, pointing to people like farmer Benjamin Jesty who had used similar methods before. When Jenner asked for more money in 1805, Pearson even brought Jesty to London to support his claim. However, by this time, Jenner's role in bringing vaccination to the world was well-known, and Pearson's efforts didn't change much. Even so, Pearson's early role in spreading the smallpox vaccine was studied much later when questions came up about where the vaccinia virus (the active part of the vaccine) originally came from.
Living at Leicester Square
For 20 years, from 1785 to 1805, Dr. Pearson lived at 52 Leicester Square in London. He was between 34 and 54 years old during this time.
Many interesting people had lived in that house before him. These included Sir Paul Rycaut, a traveler and historian, and Jacob Christoph Le Blon, a painter. The house was eventually torn down in the 1840s to make way for a new street called Coventry Street.
Pearson's Family and Tyers Hill
George Pearson married Frances Pearson, who was likely his cousin. Her family owned a small estate called Tyers Hill, near Ardsley, South Yorkshire. Through this marriage, George Pearson became connected to this property.
The Rayney family, Frances's ancestors, had owned Tyers Hill for a long time. One of her ancestors, Henry Rayney, bought Tyers Hill in 1569. The nearby Monk Bretton priory (a type of monastery) had been closed down shortly before that in 1538.
Even into the mid-1900s, the families who inherited from Pearson and the Rayneys were still leasing out coal seams (underground layers of coal) under Tyershill Farm and other land to a mining company.
George Pearson's wife was also a distant cousin of the famous poet William Wordsworth.
When George Pearson died, the Tyers Hill property was inherited by Sir John Dodson (judge), who had married Pearson's oldest daughter, Frances-Priscilla, in 1822. Later, John Dodson's son, John George Dodson, 1st Baron Monk Bretton, owned 181 acres of farmland in Yorkshire, which brought in a good amount of money each year.
The family symbol (coat of arms) for the Pearsons of Tyers Hill had a blue shield with three suns and wavy white lines. Their crest (a symbol above the shield) showed a sun coming out of a cloud.
Family Members
Here are some of George Pearson's wife's great-nephews and a nephew who were also notable:
- Rev. John Edward Jackson (1805–1891) was a historian who studied old things. He was born in Doncaster.
- Charles Jackson (1809–1882) was John Edward Jackson's brother and also a historian.
- Rev. Frederick Watkins (1808–1888) was a clergyman.
His wife's nephew, Henry Bower (died 1842), was an important person in Doncaster. He was educated at famous schools and helped lead Doncaster's Public Library. A portrait of him was painted and placed in the library to honor his work. He also served as an officer in the local military groups.
Selected Works
George Pearson wrote many books and papers during his career. Here are some of them:
- Observations and Experiments for investigating the Chymical History of the Tepid Springs of Buxton (1783) – This two-volume work explored the chemical makeup of the warm springs at Buxton.
- Directions for Impregnating the Buxton Waters with its own and other Gases, and for composing Artificial Buxton Water (1785) – A guide on how to create artificial Buxton water.
- An account of the preparation and uses of the phosphorated soda (1789) – A paper about a chemical compound.
- Experiments and Observations on the Constituent Parts of the Potatoe-Root (1795) – His research on potatoes.
- An Inquiry Concerning the History of the Cow Pox (1798) – His early observations on cowpox and vaccination.
- Circular Letter on the Cow Pox (1799) – A letter about cowpox.
- A Statement of the Progress in the Vaccine Inoculation (1799) – An update on the progress of vaccination.
- An examination of the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons on the claims of remuneration for the vaccine pock inoculation (1802) – His detailed account of his contributions to vaccination.
- Researches to discover the faculties of pulmonary absorption with respect to charcoal (1827) – His lecture to the Royal Society about how lungs absorb charcoal.
Images for kids
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Leicester Square in 1750
