1938-2025
It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Dr John Douglas Taylor, aged 87, in Perth on 12 November 2025.
John was the consummate gentleman. His gentleness, generosity, kindness, and sense of humour were legendary. He was highly regarded and loved by his patients, nurses, and medical colleagues. John had a strong passion for teaching and nurturing the skills of others. In 2000, with Professor Ian Hammond and Professor Paul McMenamin, he established The Anatomy of Complications Workshop, which has had well over 1000 participants and is still a very popular activity. He was the driving force behind the interdisciplinary involvement of gynaecologists, urologists, and colorectal surgeons in the faculty of the workshop. In 2005, the Taylor-Hammond Research Scholarship was established through the workshop to promote research in gynaecologic surgery or surgical teaching. John spent a considerable amount of time in Papua New Guinea, Malawi, and Sierra Leone. He volunteered with Mercy Ships performing urological, general, gynaecological, and obstetric surgery, as well as teaching surgical trainees. In Sierra Leone, he and colleagues worked on improving the lives of women after failed fistula surgery.
John was an only child. He was born in 1938 in St Kilda to Harold and Isabel Taylor. He spent part of his childhood in Beechworth before returning to Melbourne and attending Gardenvale Primary School. He went on to Melbourne High School, where he excelled at sport and was chosen to serve as school captain. He graduated from the University of Melbourne and completed his training as an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne in 1967.
Shortly after arriving in England in 1968, he changed direction and commenced training first in General Surgery and then Urology in London at St Bartholomew’s and at the North Middlesex Hospital. He returned to Western Australia after six years to the position of honorary urologist at Fremantle Hospital. Subsequently, he held the position of urologist/urogynaecologist at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women in Perth. His higher qualifications included FRCS, FRCS Ed., FRCOG, FRACS, FRANZCOG, and the singular honour of election as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, England. Despite a busy working life involving public and private work, John found time to spend with his three children Isabella, Alexandra, and Tim. He was a devoted father. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2018 for services to Medicine as urologist and urogynaecologist, to medical education, and the community. He was awarded the RANZCOG Excellence in Women’s Health Award in November 2019.
John was extremely active in retirement. He served on the scientific research committee of St John of God Hospital, Subiaco, for four years. He worked as a volunteer guide in Kings Park for 10 years and then continued to search for elusive native orchids in the various national parks and bushlands of Western Australia. He enjoyed physical exercise and played golf at Lake Karrinyup Country Club twice a week, and he would regularly swim or cycle a non-electric bike. He loved to travel overseas and would always look forward to his powder skiing in Japan every February. He regularly attended theatre, opera, and ballet. He was an active Probian and took up bridge when he was in his 80s and received great satisfaction from the game. He will be very much missed by his family, friends, colleagues, and the wider community.
