A brief reference has been made to the experiences of Dr. Harold M. Taylor, following his arrival in Tavistock on May 15, 1930, to participate in a practice which had been initiated in 1879, by Dr. J.P. Rankin. Harold Merlvyn Taylor was born in Bracebridge in the District of Muskoka, son of Ernest Edward and Letitia Jane Taylor (nee Rusk). His paternal grandfather, William H. Taylor, born in England and his maternal grandfather born in the north of Ireland, were both pioneer settlers on farms beside the Muskoka River. Harold Taylor's boyhood home was on one of these farms and he attended a one-room country public school. He graduated from Bracebridge High School and after attending Normal School in North Bay, taught school for one year, at Colbalt. At the University of Toronto, he obtained a B.A. degree in 1926, and an M.D. degree in 1929, after which he spent a year of internship at St. Joseph's Hospital in Toronto, before coming to Tavistock. One July 9, 1930, he married Wilma Bray, whose home had also been in Muskoka, near the town of Huntsville. They have lived in Tavistock since that time. Dr. Taylor, first learned of a vacancy in the medical field in Tavistock, in a conversation with Dr. Gordon Murray of Toronto, whose boyhood home was in West Zorra. Having practised for a short time in Stratford, he knew this district well and felt that there was a good opportunity for a young doctor in Tavistock. This was near the beginning of a serious economic depression and although there was no great flow of money in those days, Dr. Taylor had no reason to regret that he had located in a village which was the business centre of an excellent general farming area, in which the economy was much more stable than in many other parts of the country. Medical fees were small, but the cost of living was comparatively low. Milk was delivered at 7 cents a quart, the price of eggs was 15 to 20 cents a dozen and 20 cents would buy enough good meat for a meal for two people. In those days a doctor charged $15.00 as an obstetrical fee, including prenatal and postnatal care and he paid 15 cents for a haircut. In 1967 the obstetrical fee is $100.00 and until recently the price of a haircut in Tavistock, was $1.00. The inflationary trend has given us all at least the dubious pleasure of handling more money.

In spite of a growing family practice, Dr. Taylor found time to participate in other activities. He was a playing member of the Tavistock Tennis Club for a number of years, during a time when tennis was a popular sport throughout this area. Following the death of Dr. Cawthorpe in September, 1936, there was a vacancy on the Tavistock School Board. In 1937, Dr. Taylor became a member of the Board and in this capacity he served continuously for a period of twenty years, acting a Chairman from 1941 to 1944. He was a charter member and Past President of the Tavistock Men?s Club and also a charter member and the second President of the Rotary Club of Tavistock. He is a member of Knox United Church and has acted as Clerk of Session since 1954. He has served as President of the Perth County Medical Society and President of the Medical Staff of Stratford General Hospital and is a Past Chairman of the Section on General Practice of the Ontario Medical Association and Past President of the Ontario Chapter of the College of General Practice of Canada.

As the years passed, the demands of an increasing practice caused Dr. Taylor to think about the desirability of securing the help of another doctor. With this idea in mind, he purchased, in 1951, from the Henry Mansz Estate, property on Hope St. W. where, under the supervision of the late Christian L. Erb, a medical office was built. And so the office in the home at the corner of Hope St. W. and Mogk St. was closed, after serving its purposes for more than sixty-six years. For a number of years there had been co-operation in medical practice between Dr. T.C. Kirkpatrick of New Hamburg and Dr. Taylor, who were classmates in Medical School and friends of long standing. In the latter part of 1951 they jointly secured the services of a recent medical graduate in the person of Dr. Robert Kruspe, who assisted with the work in New Hamburg and also in Tavistock. Although Dr. Kruspe left at the end of the year to establish a practice for himself in Brantford, Dr. Taylor had been favourably impressed with the advantages which he felt could be offered by a medical partnership, to both patients and doctors.

He was fortunate in securing the services of Dr. Bruce Halliday, who came to Tavistock in July, 1952, after an internship of one year at Toronto Western Hospital. It soon became apparent that Dr. Halliday possessed, in good measure, the qualifications necessary for successful participation in a medical partnership. In 1953, he and Dr. Taylor formed a partnership which proved to be the nucleus around which developed the Tavistock Medical Group, which now includes four family physicians.

Bruce Halliday was born in Woodstock, Ontario, son of Clarence and Edith Halliday, nee Edith Victoria Phillips. His great, great grandfather, John Halliday, came to Canada from Dumfries-shire, Scotland and located in Lanark County in Ontario in 1816. Bruce had considerable experience in travelling in Canada in his early years, having lived in Oxford County, Ontario and in Alberta, before attending public schools in Saskatchewan and Montreal and high schools in Toronto, Sherbrooke and Ottawa. At the University of Toronto, he learned to follow the old maxim, "Never let our studies interfere with your education." As a result, when he graduated in 1951, with an M.D. degree, he had developed an understanding of people and an attitude toward patients and confreres which contributed greatly to his subsequent success as a family physician.

Early in his practice, Dr. Halliday began to acquire additional experience in anaesthesia. His proficiency in this field was further promoted when he was awarded a scholarship which was used for more training in anaesthesia. He is now a member of the active staff of Stratford General Hospital, with full privileges in the Department of Anaesthesia.

He has been active in medical organizations and is a former Secretary and a Past President of the Ontario Chapter of the College of General Practice of Canada. He is a member of the Ontario Medical Association and of the Canadian Anaesthetists' Society and has participated in the activities of the Ontario Medical Association at District and Provincial levels.

Dr. Halliday has a firm conviction that a physician should take an active part in municipal and community affairs. He is an elder in Knox United Church in Tavistock; Past President of the Rotary Club of Tavistock; member of the Tavistock Men's Club and Board of Trade; member and former Chairman of the Tavistock Public School Board. He is married to the former Janet McGhie of St. Catharines, Ontario.