Lily Loat (21 January 1880 – 16 August 1958) was a British anti-vaccination activist. She was the Secretary of the National Anti-Vaccination League for nearly 50 years.

Lily Loat
Born21 January 1880
Died16 August 1958(1958-08-16) (aged 78)
NationalityBritish
OccupationSecretary of the Anti Vaccination League
Known forAnti vaccination activist

Life edit

Loat was born in Battersea in about 1880 and her father was John Loat. She was head pupil at Tiffin Girls' School in Kingston-on-Thames[citation needed]. After leaving school, she took shorthand lessons and gained her a position at the National Anti-Vaccination League. She worked for the league's secretary answering correspondence and during this time she became a strong supporter of the league. When the secretary resigned she was soon confirmed as the replacement secretary at the beginning of 1909.[1]

During 1920s and 1930s, she was on occasion invited to speak internationally.[1]

The League's journal The Vaccination Inquirer and Health Review had been published since 1880.[2] Lote took on the editorship of the journal in 1932.[1] In 1951, Loat published The Truth about Vaccination and Immunization. This was a small book that itemised the arguments against vaccination.[3] Loat was also opposed to vivisection.[4]

Loat died in Kingswood in Surrey in 1958. She was working for the National Anti-Vaccination League whilst in hospital during her final illness.[1]

Selected publications edit

  • 1939, Pasteurization of Milk: The Case Against Compulsion
  • 1951, The Truth About Vaccination and Immunization

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Kramer, Molly Baer (2004). "Loat, Lily (1879/80–1958), anti-vaccination activist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50749. Retrieved 2020-09-14. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ The Vaccination Inquirer and Health Review. 1880.
  3. ^ Nguyen, Trung; Loat, Lily (2018-01-19). The Truth about Vaccination and Immunization. EnCognitive.com. ISBN 978-1-927091-36-4.
  4. ^ Aryan Path. 1956.