Bejamin Jesty: Dorset's Jesty dynasty

Available for over a year

Benjamin Jesty, who's become known as 'The Grandfather of vaccination', was a Dorset dairy farmer in the 1700s. A man, largely forgotten by history, who actually performed one of the first vaccinations in history. He didn't report his findings, so Edward Jenner got the glory. One of the Jesty family descendants has been investigating the family tree. Jo Jesty used to live in Dorset and ran the family watercress farm in Bere Regis. He's now an expert in blood clots and platelets and moved to the United States in the 1970s. He's told BBC Radio Solent about the wider family, and the years he's spent assembling the large family tree.