Sedley Taylor, Fellow of Trinity College, musician, and philanthropist was one of the most prominent figures in Victorian and Edwardian Cambridge.
Above – Sedley Taylor. (Note to self, look up source of photo – it’s one of the old books I acquired ages ago).
The Cambridge Independent published a short article on the gift to the city that Sedley Taylor gave. Below, via the British Newspaper Archive.
I’ve transcribed the article as follows:
“I understand that Mr. Sedley Taylor, Senior Fellow of Trinity, has given further proof of his kindly interest in the affairs of the town and the cause of education by generously offering to pay the cost of a year’s dental attendance upon the children of the Council Schools in Cambridge.
“Mr. Taylor, in making the offer to the Hygiene Sub-Committee of the Education Committee [of Cambridge Borough Council], intimates that he is prepared to go up to £500. He regards this matter as of great importance from public point of view. It has long been recognised in Germany, where steps have been taken to see that the health of children is not allowed to suffer through bad teeth, and Mr. Taylor hopes to see something of the sort done here.
“The offer, no doubt, will be heartily welcomed by the local education authorities, for the subject has been under consideration, but at present there is difficulty in the way. It seems that whilst the authority can pay for inspection of the children’s teeth, they have no power to go beyond that and provide dental assistance.
“Now, through Mr. Taylor’s generosity, this can be done for some time. Meanwhile, I am informed, it is intended that if possible a scheme shall be drawn up to meet the difficulty. Mr. Sedley Taylor in other directions has shown his anxiety and desire for the public welfare. His interest in Addenbrooke’s Hospital has been shown on many occasions in practical form. Only the other day he made a further contribution of over £40, making £l68, which he has paid altogether, to cover the cost telephonic communication throughout the Hospital.
“If I remember light, he partly bore the cost of reconstructing the balcony at the Hospital for the open-air treatment, and he was thoughtful enough to provide sunshades for all the women and children on the balcony. Mr. Taylor is a musical enthusiast, and a very clever musical scholar. He recently published a on “The Copyings of Handel,” and, as is well known, he is a great authority on Bach. His lectures on the subject at Cambridge, a few years ago, attracted musicians from all parts of the country. For many years he has been treasurer of the C.U.M.S. [Cambridge University Music Society].”
In the early 1900s, civic hospitals received much of their funding through civic fundraising and charitable donations in cash and kind. Addenbrooke’s published weekly updates on the gifts that it had received and who from. Furthermore, local churches and religious groups would organise frequent fund-raisers to support Addenbrooke’s. That work is continued by the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, with some familiar faces running the trust. One of them, the late Sir Michael Marshall, was the president of the Trust.
Impact of the dental clinic
It’s worth noting that Germany was at this time more progressive in its provision of social services at this point in history than the UK. One of the reasons for this was to placate opposition from the Social Democrats, who had been growing in influence in the latter part of the 1800s. Some of the liberal factions in the UK saw some of the progressive advances in Germany and called for similar improvements to public services in the UK. This was just one such example.
In 1909 Sedley Taylor arranged for the transfer of ownership of the dental clinic to the borough council – what is now Cambridge City Council.
A month earlier, the borough council at a wide-ranging meeting of the full council passed a motion on dental treatment in Cambridge. Their conclusion was striking.
“The Education Committee reported that in April 1907, the Council agreed to a scheme for he inspection of the teeth of the children in the elementary Schools, and, through the generosity of Mr. Taylor, the dentist engaged to carry out this inspection has also been occupied in treating the teeth of the children.
“The work was done for three months by Mr. H. T. Simpson, and since October, 1907, by Mr. A. W Gant; Dr. G. Cunningham has throughout acted as honorary director. The Council paid £50 a year for the inspection, and the Committee learn from Mr. Sedley Taylor that the rest of the expense, including the salary of a surgery maid and the hire of rooms, but exclusive of initial expenditure, had amounted to about £360 a year.
“A full report of the work accomplished in 12 months bad recently been printed and presented to the Council. It was therein stated that nearly 3,000 children were inspected, and more than 1,000 treated; on an average each child treated had three teeth stopped and one tooth extracted; children of from five to nine years of age were specially selected for treatment as being those who would be most benefited.
“The experiment carried out at Mr. Sedley Taylor’s expense is one of great importance for the whole nation. While similar work has been in operation in Germany for several years, nothing of so systematic a character has hitherto been attempted in England, though the teeth of children in Poor Law Schools and reformatories have for some years been well cared for.
“Until the passing of the Education (Administrative Provisions) Act, 1907, it was not legal for local authorities to undertake the dental treatment of children in Elementary Schools, but the subject is now being taken up local authorities, to whom the results in Cambridge will be of great service.
“In a recent report of a Sub-Committee of the London Education Committee the work in Cambridge is referred to at length, although the Cambridge report of the year’s work had not then been issued. When Mr. Sedley Taylor made his original offer he promised to bear the cost of the dental treatment for year, but he had most generously agreed to continue doing so for some eight months longer, until March 31st next, in order that the Council may have before them the printed report of a year’s work, when considering what future course should pursued.
“The Education Committee felt the benefit of the dental treatment to be so great that they were justified in advising the Council that it should be continued. They ventured to quote words from a report of Dr. Kerr, the Medical Officer of tbe Education Committee of the London County Council :
“There is no way of dealing with money in the interests of public health which will return so enormous a gain to the population for the small expense required aa the matter of school dentistry.”
“The following are the chief reasons which have induced the Committee to arrive at its decision:
(1) That inspection shows that dental disease among children is terribly prevalent in Cambridge as elsewhere;
(2) That it is generally agreed that such dental disease is productive of serious and lasting evil to health;
(3) That there is no hope that it can be dealt with by private practitioners;
(4). That the experiment of the year shows that, though the amount of dental disease is more than one dentist can fully cope with, he is able to treat a very large proportion of the children at the age .most critical from a dental point of view;
“The Committee recommended (subject to the consent of the Board of Education :
(1) That Mr. A. W. Gant be appointed school dentist for both inspection and treatment at a salary of £300 per annum from Ist April, 1909, on a tenure similar to that of the School Medical Officer;
(2) That the Education Committee be empowered to make the necessary arrangements for continuing the dental treatment at an estimated cost of £110 per annum.
“In bringing up this report, Alderman Pollock spoke of the indebtedness of the town to Mr. Sedley Taylor in this matter, and quoted eminent medical opinion as to the urgent need of permanent arrangements being made for the carrying on of the work.
“Councillor Black, who seconded the adoption of the report, said that the thanks of every working man in Cambridge were due to the Education Committee and to Mr. Sedley Taylor for what they had done to set that work in operation. The report was unanimously adopted.”
In terms of civic impact alone, Sedley Taylor deserves to be remembered as one of the men who made modern Cambridge.
Lost Cambridge 