Dr. Edward Jenner, a Story

Following up my interest in the Danish Engineer and the talk by local historian David Evans, I was intrigued to discover from David’s book Mr Pedersen – A Man of Genius, that Pedersen’s third wife, Ingeborg, acquired and lived in Coombe Mill here in Wotton in 1915.  Further information in the book reveals a more interesting story and link to Wotton that is one of some mystery and devious dealings.

The story traces memorabilia, letters, and papers of Dr Edward Jenner. Following Jenner’s death in 1823 his lifetime’s collection was in part destroyed as of no particular interest and the rest divided between his son and his nephew the Reverend William Davies. It is the trail of the inheritance of this Reverend Davies which forms the main part of this story. He expanded this collection and on his death, all went to his daughter Sarah who was married to a Dursley born Reverend William Bloxsome. She died in 1891, leaving her estate to her son John who died the following year. John’s will was witnessed by Frederick Mockler, manager of the County of Gloucester Bank here in Wotton.

Here the waters get a little murky as for some unclear reason the collection ended up in the possession of Mrs Mockler!  The Mocklers exhibited the collection in Bristol and London adding to the collection and selling some of it too.  It was at this point that Henry Wellcome, an American/British pharmaceutical entrepreneur, became interested in the collection.  He is remembered for the Wellcome Trust and Medical Collection.

The story moves on as in 1896, the Mocklers were in financial difficulties, and they pawned the collection in London for £200.  It was in 1897 that Mikael Pedersen bought the pawn ticket for £200 and paid Mockler a further £250, all a very considerable sum at the time.  Pedersen added to the collection securing paintings by Sir Peter Lely.  In the meantime, the secretive Henry Wellcome had not lost interest in the collection.

Wellcome used his Museum’s Librarian, C.J. Thompson, as agent to try and secure a deal on the collection from Pedersen making the first approaches in 1903.  Thompson eventually secured ‘the best part of the bargain’ for a number of items from the collection in January 1911 at a cost of £500 (£30,000 today) and collected them from Dursley in March of that year.  There were remaining items not secured in the deal which included Jenner’s books, pamphlets, and papers, some of which were sold by Pedersen at Sotherby’s on 17 November 1918.  The successful bidder was the Wellcome Institute which secured the lots for £200 5s 0d.

 M. Pedersen        

The Pedersen story ends in his return to Denmark in 1923, his family having already left the UK in 1919.  As for the Jenner collection, it can be accessed today either at The Wellcome Museum, 183 Euston Road, London or at the Jenner Museum, The Chantry, Berkeley.                                                                                                                           As a postscript to this article, the County of Gloucester Bank, Wotton Branch was opened in Wotton in 1863 at Killarny House on the High Street.  This is now the Cotswold Book Shop.  There is a photograph of a house interior in David Evans’ book which is believed to be the interior of this building exhibiting the Mockler’s Jenner Collection.  The bank moved to the Vine (now Lloyds bank) in 1897.

What of the Mocklers?  They can be found in the 1901 Census living in Bath where Frederick was the curator of the Holburne Museum!

Bibliography:

Evans, David             Mr Pedersen - A Man of Genius, Tempus Publishing Ltd.,

                                    November 2007 (ISBN 978-0-7524-4505-2)