Stephen James Lake Taylor, Baron Taylor (30 December 1910 – 1 February 1988), also known as S. J. L. Taylor, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

Biography

Born in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, Stephen was the son of John Taylor, a civil engineer, and his wife Beatrice (Lake) Taylor. Educated at

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

and then at St Thomas Hospital Medical School, London, where he qualified in 1934. When war broke out he joined the

RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two Volunteer Reserves (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve (United Kingdom), ...

as a neuropsychiatrist. But in 1941, the government transferred him to the Ministry of Information. He worked on a plan to publish information about health services to the public during wartime. From 1940 to 1944 he was Director of Home Intelligence and the Wartime Social Survey in the Ministry of Information. But by 1944 it appears he was already working for the Labour Party to achieve an electoral victory at the war's end. Elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnet in July 1945, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and

Lord President of the Council The Lord President of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lor ...

from 1947. He was an expert policy advisor on the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

. Taylor also served as a Governor and Vice-Chair of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

while an MP. In 1951 he was invited by the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust to carry out a survey of

general practice General practice is personal, family, and community-orientated comprehensive primary care that includes diagnosis, continues over time and is anticipatory as well as responsive. Definitions A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a consu ...

. He went on to make a significant contribution to the development of general practice, holding a number of positions on medical boards and other organisations, including two stints as a member of Harlow New Town Development Corporation. In 1955 he was appointed medical director to Harlow health Industrial Health Service for a period of nine years. But it appears was in such demand, that two years later resumed his role into retirement. Taylor was instrumental in the creation of Health Centres in Harlow. His model was rolled out to all major city centres across Britain, developing dental and nursing support within group practices. His survey of 1954 entitled ''Good General Practice'' was based on qualitative interviews at practices already identified as performing well by Joseph Collings report, ''General Practice in England : A Reconnaissance'', (1950). NHS GP profession was still in its infancy, requiring much pioneering work to improve its services. Taylor sat on the Central Health Services Council, chaired by Sir Harry Cohen, the boss of Tesco. Local doctors had traditionally worked alone or in pairs, but the report resulted in group practice becoming the norm in Britain.

House of Lords

On 8 August 1958, he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

by letters patent as Baron Taylor, of

Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...

in the County of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

on Gaitskell's recommendation. In 1962, he mediated the end to the Saskatchewan doctors' strike in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. From 1964 he served the Labour government as Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. Lord Taylor objected to Labour's efforts to "abolish private medical practice, to prevent part-time medical work within the NHS and to abolish education...by destroying freedom of choice." He resigned from Labour Party in 1981 to sit with the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

.''The Times,'' 'Peer Leaves Labour', 8 July 1981. Lord Taylor was also President and Vice-Chancellor of

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

from 1967 to 1973. After he retired from this position he became visiting professor of community medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Personal life

Taylor married Charity Clifford, a medical doctor and later Governor of Holloway Prison, in 1939. He died in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

aged 77.

Books

*1949 ''Shadows in the Sun: the Story of the Fight Against Tropical Diseases'' (with Phyllis Gadsden) *''A Natural History of Everyday Life'' *1961 ''First Aid in the Factory and on the Building Site and Farm, in the Shop, Office and Warehouse'' *1964 ''Mental Health and Environment'' (with Sidney Chave)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Stephen Taylor, Baron 1910 births 1988 deaths Fellows of the Royal College of General Practitioners Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs who were granted peerages Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni Social Democratic Party (UK) life peers British general practitioners Canadian university and college chief executives Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 Life peers created by Elizabeth II People educated at Stowe School People from High Wycombe Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Navy sailors Military personnel from Buckinghamshire Governors of the British Film Institute