John Taylor & Sons - Hyder Consulting

John Taylor & sons: water engineering and sanitation, 1869 to 1987
In 1868, John Taylor presented a report on
Gravitational water supply of large towns for
the Chairmen of the London water companies, in
which he pointed out that none of the schemes
supplying the cities of Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool,
Manchester and Newcastle upon Tyne had
achieved their anticipated water supply in a dry
year. Calculations, he argued, should be based on
minimum, not average, rainfall and that there
should be at least one year’s storage capacity.
Taylor was appointed chief engineer of the
New River Company in 1882; the New River is
still an important water source for London. He
resigned due to ill health in 1890 and died the
following year, aged 74. Edward Brough Taylor
became Senior Partner in John Taylor & Sons on
his father’s death and continued in this role for
50 years until he died in 1941 at the age of 84.
Brough had given nearly 70 years of service to
the firm. He travelled to Newfoundland to
advise on water supply, and to Genoa to advise
on a project on regional water supplies. He was
an advisor to the Shanghai Waterworks Company
on their extensive pumping plant for many years
and visited Russia to prepare a scheme for the
augmentation and purification of the existing
supply to St Petersburg from Lake Ladoga.
Shanghai Waterworks Company, original contract
document.
The Shanghai Waterworks Company had
been incorporated in London in 1880 and John
Taylor & Sons became the the Company's
technical advisor and continued in this role until
the 1930s. The firm designed pumping stations,
and fabricated steel units and other mechanical
plant which were inspected and tested before
transportation to China.
For Karachi, India (now Pakistan) Brough
Taylor was responsible for improving the
mechanical plant for the city’s waterworks
including two new pumping stations with steamdriven
three throw well pumps, boilers,
economisers, flues and chimneys at a value of
£70,000.
In the UK, Brough Taylor was an
acknowledged expert on all aspects of water
supply and treatment, particularly relating to
supplies from chalk aquifers. He was responsible
for the extensive works for the Bristol
Waterworks Company. With Sir Wolfe Barry, he
was one of the three engineering experts
involved in the arbitration proceedings arising
out of the establishment of the Metropolitan
Water Board in 1902 -1904.
After specialising in mathematics and
chemistry at King’s College, London,
(Gotfred) Midgley Taylor was articled to
his father in 1880. For John Taylor &
Sons, he was resident engineer for the
Lambeth Company at Surbiton in
charge of construction and erection
of an engine house, pumping
machinery, filter beds and other
works. Midgley specialised in
sewerage and sewage treatment
projects and on his death The
Engineer of June 17th, 1927
stated: “that there were very
few of the large sewage
disposal undertakings with
which he was not directly
or indirectly associated”.
He advised on water and
sewerage schemes in Aden (now Yemen),
Auckland, Bombay (now Mumbai), Port Elizabeth,
St Petersburg and Singapore and was one of the
first British engineers to design a sewage works
using the activated sludge process.
(Gotfred) Midgley Taylor,
1861-1927
Younger son of John Taylor,
articled to his father, Resident
Engineer for Lambeth Waterworks
Company, entered partnership in
1884 forming John Taylor & Sons.
Engaged on water and drainage
schemes for many towns and
cities, and overseas for
Auckland, Singapore, Bombay
and St Petersburg. Became leading
authority on sewage disposal,
designing many systems and
acting as expert witness before
Parliament during passage of Bills.
Founder Chairman of Associaton of
Consulting Engineers, 1913.
Member of Institution of Civil
Engineers, the Chemical Society
and the Royal Sanitary Institute.
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