Dr. Charles Creighton

A Voice of Reason in a Time of Medical Conformity

It is difficult to conceive what will be the excuse for a century of cow-poxing; but it cannot be doubted that the practice will appear in as absurd a light to the common sense of the twentieth century as blood-letting now does to us. Vaccination differs, however, from all previous errors of the faculty, in being maintained as the law of the land on the warrant of medical authority. That is the reason why the blow to professional credit can hardly help being severe, and why the efforts to ward it off have been, and will continue to be so ingenious.[1]

—Dr. Charles Creighton, MD, 1889

Unfortunately, a belief in the efficacy of vaccination has been so enforced in the education of the medical practitioner that it is hardly probable that the futility of the practice will be generally acknowledged in our generation, though nothing would more redound [contribute] to the credit of the profession and give evidence of the advance in pathology and sanitary science. It is more probable that when, by means of notification and isolation, small-pox is kept under control, vaccination will disappear from practice, and will retain only a historical interest. (1889)[2]

— Professor E. M. Crookshank, MRCS, Professor of Comparative Pathology and Director of the Bacteriological Laboratory, King’s College, London, 1889

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.

― Mark Twain, Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World, 1897

In the late 19th century, Dr. Charles Creighton stood among Britain’s most respected medical minds. A distinguished scholar and prolific author, his two-volume History of Epidemics in Britain earned him widespread acclaim for its rigorous research and historical insight. So respected was his intellect that the editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica entrusted him with the task of writing the entry on vaccination for their 9th edition in 1888.[3]

But Creighton was not content to parrot conventional wisdom. Instead, he delved deeply into the medical literature and historical records. What he uncovered challenged the prevailing narrative. The result was a sharply critical article that departed from the mainstream medical dogma and raised serious doubts about the efficacy and safety of vaccination.

Creighton’s research did not stop there. He went on to publish two searing critiques: Cowpox and Vaccinal Syphilis and Jenner and Vaccination: A Strange Chapter of Medical History. In them, he dismantled the scientific foundation of vaccination and exposed the ethical failings of its champions, especially Edward Jenner, whom he accused of launching a deeply flawed medical crusade under the guise of scientific innovation.

His findings were startling. He documented numerous failures of the smallpox vaccine—including a case in Brunswick in 1801, where 45 of 49 recently vaccinated children contracted smallpox anyway—and exposed the double standards used to “prove” the vaccine’s effectiveness. “It is not easy to understand how so glaring a fallacy was allowed to pass,” he wrote, “but allowed to pass it was.”[4]

Creighton lamented how medicine had come to value conformity over truth. “Vaccination differs… from all previous errors of the faculty,” he observed, “in being maintained as the law of the land on the warrant of medical authority.”[5] To Creighton, this wasn’t just a medical error—it was a failure of scientific integrity, compounded by state enforcement and professional pride.

He foresaw a reckoning, warning that “the longer the compulsory law is maintained, the more marked will the contrast become between public intelligence and professional dogma.”[6] He believed the public would one day look back on vaccination as we now look back on bloodletting: a relic of misguided science and institutional hubris.

Despite the clarity of his critique, Creighton’s voice was gradually silenced. In 1922, the Encyclopædia Britannica replaced his entry with a more flattering view of vaccination titled Vaccine Therapy, proclaiming it a “valuable weapon” in modern medicine’s arsenal.[7] ​This updated article portrayed vaccination much more favorably, with all of Creighton’s detailed criticisms erased. ​

“Bacterial Vaccines.” Bacterial vaccines Parke-Davis advertisement. (The Medical Times, January 1912, p. 5.)

Editorial leadership during this period included Hugh Chisholm, who edited the 11th edition and the supplementary volumes of the 12th edition. After Chisholm's death, J.L. Garvin took over as the London editor for subsequent editions. The rights to the Encyclopædia Britannica were sold to Sears, Roebuck, and Company in 1920, marking its transition to a predominantly American publication.

While the specific individual responsible for the content change in the vaccination article is not definitively identified, the editorial shift reflects a broader trend toward embracing vaccine therapy in the early 20th century. This change underscores the evolving perspectives on vaccination within the medical and publishing communities of that era.​

If you're interested in delving deeper into this topic, exploring the Encyclopædia Britannica’s editorial archives or examining its editors' correspondence during that time might provide further insights.

Creighton’s legacy is not one of contrarianism, but of courage—the kind that dares to follow truth wherever it leads, even when it means standing alone. “When I began this research,” he wrote, “I had no other prepossessions than those which nearly all medical men have in favour of an established doctrine… It was not until I had spent some months among the authorities… that I felt constrained to modify the opinions I had hitherto implicitly accepted.”[8]

Dr. Creighton’s profound awakening brought him to the sobering realization that challenging the deeply ingrained belief in vaccination would come at a great personal cost. Despite his impeccable credentials, intellect, meticulous research, and esteemed professional standing, his comments foreshadowed that both he and his groundbreaking work would ultimately be disregarded and consigned to the forgotten dumpster of medical history.

Creighton was ostracized by the medical profession. He spent his last years in philosophical isolation in a tumble-down cottage at Upper Boddington, turning to Shakespeare for solace. His slender means were amplified by a Civil List pension secured for him by Mr. Asquith, who admired his learning.[9]

His work reminds us that science must remain humble, transparent, and open to revision—or risk becoming a dogma cloaked in authority as it had undoubtedly become and still is today.

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[1] Charles Creighton MD, Jenner and Vaccination. A Strange Chapter of Medical History, 1889, Swan Sonnenschein & Co., p. 354.

[2] Edgar March Crookshank, History and Pathology of Vaccination Volume 1: A Critical Inquiry, 1889, London, pp. 465–466.

[3] https://dissolvingillusions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Britannica-1890.pdf

[4] Dr. Charles Creighton, MD, “Vaccination: A Scientific Inquiry,” The Arena, September 1890, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 434–435.

[5] Charles Creighton MD, Jenner and Vaccination. A Strange Chapter of Medical History, 1889, Swan Sonnenschein & Co., p. 354.

[6] Charles Creighton MD, Jenner and Vaccination. A Strange Chapter of Medical History, 1889, Swan Sonnenschein & Co., p. 354.

[7] https://dissolvingillusions.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Britannica-1922.pdf

[8] Dr. Charles Creighton, MD, “Inaccuracies about vaccination,” The Lancet, January 12, 1889, pp. 96-97.

[9] Dr. Charles Creighton (1847–1927), Nature, 160, 668, November 15, 1947.