The Taylors of Lancashire

JOHN L. WEST, The Taylors of Lancashire, Manchester, [the author], 1977, 8vo, pp. 134, illus., £1.50 + postage (paperback). (Obtainable from: 11 Half Edge Lane, Eccles, Manchester). An excellent account of a remarkable medical family, based on extensive research into manuscript and printed sources. It extended over six or seven generations, from James Taylor (1708/10-1777) of Whitworth to Herbert Coupland Taylor (18551891), with, in addition, twenty-five members who practised medicine, although not all in Lancashire. The book is well printed, and its illustrations include several portraits. There is, however, no index. In view of the family's contributions to bone-setting, it deserves to be better remembered, and the author has provided the means by which this can now be achieved. It is not only a contribution to the history of British orthopaedics, but also to provincial medicine. It is to be hoped that it may inspire others to investigate similar medical dynasties.