Statement of Research Plan This project centers on British vaccination projects in colonial Ceylon in the early nineteenth century. While dominant narratives surrounding the propagation of the smallpox vaccine construe the adoption of this development in celebratory terms of success, other sources tell a different story: one of local resistance and curative uncertainty. Projected back to England where debates raged on between medical practitioners internally and with a dubious public, this history offers insights into medical exportation and experimentation in the imperial context. The first chapter will complicate narratives of Ceylon as the shining standard of the vaccine’s efficacy and aim to answer questions about why medical practitioners so aggressively took up cow-pox’s spread on this island. It will also identify key questions in vaccine discourse at this stage as they were tested in Ceylon. The second chapter will place this story in the broader context of debates about the vaccine back in England where vaccination wouldn’t become widespread for decades. A critical question for this project is not only why Medical Superintendent Thomas Christie was so deeply invested in vaccinating the island of Ceylon, but also how he obtained the swift approval of an overhaul of smallpox policy on that island until that point. This question is especially important considering the monetary rewards involved for those who demonstrated a commitment to the vaccine mission. Legislative records of acts in Ceylon available on online display a gap. While the establishment of smallpox hospitals is denoted in 1800, vaccination is not mentioned until 1820. Some sources make no mention of vaccination at all. Christie, presumably taking commands from higher up, would have had to obtain approval or directions from his superiors in order to carry out his nine-step vaccination plan. Little is available on Christie and Ceylon government orders on online databases. The National Archives; however, contain two collections of particular interest to this project: Colonial Office and Predecessors: Ceylon, Entry Books (1794-1872) and Office of the Commander in Chief: Monthly Returns to the Adjutant General (1754-1866). The Wellcome Collection Library in London also is home to the personal materials of Jenner, the Minutes of the medical Committee of the Royal Jennerian Society, and the Minutes of the Board of Directors of the Royal Jennerian Society.