John Taylor & Sons - Hyder Consulting

John Taylor & sons: water engineering and sanitation, 1869 to 1987
Outside the UK, he visited Cairo in 1935 and
Baghdad in 1947 to advise on sewerage and
sewage disposal problems, and established a
relationship for John Taylor & Sons which led to
major projects later in the century. He had been
invited to Cairo to investigate problems with the
sewerage and sewage treatment systems and to
review extensions which had been proposed by
local officials. His interim report recommended
the immediate construction of a 60in [1.5m]
diameter rising main and a third collector sewer
together with changes to the administration of
the pumping stations. The main report
confirmed the necessity for the urgent works,
reported on corrosion and silting in the collector
sewers, the provision for the unsewered area of
Giza on the west bank and the management of
pumping stations and the sewage farm. As with
so many other projects, work was abandoned
before much progress had been made by the
intervention of the Second World War, but John
Taylor & Sons were to return to Cairo almost 50
years later to undertake one of the world’s largest
public health engineering projects.
Godfrey Taylor succeeded his uncle Brough
Taylor as Senior Partner in 1941 and was involved
in major projects including reservoirs and main
drainage schemes around the UK in the post-war
period. Among these was the Hillfield Park
Reservoir near Bushey, Hertfordshire, for which
an earth dam and a 600 million gallons (2700 ml)
capacity storage reservoir were constructed
between the M1 and Elstree Airport. A large
drainage project, the Rimrose Brook Main
Drainage Scheme, around Bootle in Merseyside,
was carried out to open up land for housing and
industrial development. After service as a Partner
for 54 years, Godfrey Taylor retired in 1965 aged
80, and finally died in 1983 aged 97. The Times of
January 31st, 1983, said in his obituary: “He made
his mark as a witness before parliamentary
committees dealing with private Bills for major
public health engineering projects between the
wars. His commanding appearance and well
modulated voice, coupled with his specialist
skills, were in demand and he contributed to
improvements in public health in many towns
and cities in England and Wales.”
The first half of the 20th century saw major
advances in water and sanitary engineering. In
construction, reinforced concrete was introduced
to replace brickwork and masonry, and steam
engines were replaced by diesel and electric
prime movers. In water engineering, rapid gravity
filtration was introduced and disinfection using
chlorine. Sanitary engineers were required to
meet the higher standards set by the 1915 Report
of the Royal Commission and replaced the old
sewage farms with sewage treatment plants
incorporating trickling filters and activated sludge
processes. The firm carried out a number of large
extensions to UK works in this period.
Godfrey Midgley Chassereau
Taylor, 1885-1983
Son of Gotfred Midgley Taylor,
joined John Taylor & Sons in 1907,
became a Partner in 1912 and
retired in 1965. Advised water
companies and designed drainage
projects throughout England and
became a Director of West Surrey
and Herne Bay Water Companies.
Advised Cairo in 1935 and Baghdad
in 1947 on sewerage systems.
Appointed Senior Partner in 1941.
President of Institution of Sanitary
Engineers in 1934 (later the
Institution of Public Health
Engineers). Chairman of the
Association of Consulting
Engineers 1941. In 1946, President
of the Institution of Water
Engineers (later the Institution of
Water Engineers and Scientists).
Fellow of Institution of Civil
Engineers. Appointed OBE in 1949.
Chatham Waterworks, London.
Hillfield Park Reservoir, Hertfordshire, England.
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