Scratch Beneath the Surface

1774

Smallpox is spreading rapidly in rural Dorset.

Farmer Benjamin Jesty is desperate to protect his family from this dreaded disease, only to find that his methods - the forerunners of a branch of modern medicine - make him an outcast in his own community. Overlooked by the medical establishment of the time, how would history come to regard this bold pioneer?

Scratch Beneath the Surface is a work of historical fiction based on careful research into the characters and events the story portrays. While some scenes have been dramatised and some characters invented, the achievements of Benjamin Jesty are very real, and worthy of remembering.