VACCINATION RECORDS
Vaccination against smallpox was compulsory in Scotland from 1864-1948. The Vaccination Act allowed for each registration district to be equally designated as a vaccination district, with a suitable medical practitioner appointed to administer injections. Once the child’s birth was registered a Notice of the Requirement of Vaccination was handed to the parent or carer, to be filled out and returned within six months.
If a physician could vaccinate the child, the form was returned to the registrar immediately and entered into the local copy of the birth register in the margin beside the birth registration ( but not the copy submitted to the General Register Office – hence why the details are not on ScotlandsPeople). If the child was temporarily unfit for vaccination, a twomonth postponement could be requested, and entered into a separate Register of Postponed Vaccinations, after which the parents had to try again. If the child was considered insusceptible to the vaccine disease, the registrar was also informed.
Defaulters lists were regularly handed by registrars to Parish Councils, which would contact the relevant district medical practitioners with orders to vaccinate the defaulting children within the next ten to 20 days. If vaccination failed to be delayed, a fine of up to 20 shillings or ten days’ imprisonment was applied, though usually only for the first child.
Some vaccination registers may survive in local registry offices and archives, along with parish council records, which may identify defaulters. Cases of prosecution for nonvaccination may be recorded in newspapers, which you can search online at sites such as britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.