Project Description

On 30 October 1902, John David Taylor lost consciousness and died the following morning. He was forty-four years old at the time of his death. In his chart, James Thomas Callcott, MD, the Head Officer of the Asylum wrote:

He did not recover consciousness, and died this morning at 7:40 am in the presence of Mrs. W. Parkin, apparently of General Paralysis. 

It was the first time that his affliction was given a name. In the years following, whenever Eliza was asked about her husband, all she would say was “He was a bit of a disappointment, he was.”

The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors presented Barbara J Starmans, PLGCS Third Place in the 2016 Excellence in Writing Competition in the Columns category.

Published on The Social Historian in November 2015