Alfred Swaine Taylor
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Alfred Swaine Taylor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 December 1806 Northfleet, Kent, UK |
| Died | 27 May 1880 (aged 73) London, England |
| Burial place | Highgate Cemetery |
| Occupations | Toxicologist, Surgeon, Chemist, Forensic Scientist, Expert witness, Author |
| Years active | 1831–1870 |
| Spouse |
Caroline Cancellor
(m. 1834; died 1876) |
| Children | 2 |
Alfred Swaine Taylor (11 December 1806 in Northfleet, Kent – 27 May 1880 in London) was an English toxicologist and medical writer, who has been called the "father of British forensic medicine".[1][2] He was also an early experimenter in photography.[3]
Taylor studied medicine at Guy's Hospital and St Thomas's Hospital and was appointed Lecturer in Medical Jurisprudence at Guy's Hospital in 1831. In 1832 he succeeded Alexander Barry as joint Lecturer on Chemistry with Arthur Aitken. He published textbooks on medical jurisprudence and toxicology, contributed to the Dublin Quarterly Journal and medical periodicals, and edited the Medical Gazette. He was the main dissector of Lavinia Edwards's body, a woman who was determined to have been born male, and he wrote extensively about her.[4] He appeared as expert witness in several widely reported murder cases such as that of Thomas Smethurst for the murder of Isabella Bankes. He also developed the use of hyposulphate of lime as a fixing agent for photography.
He is buried at Highgate Cemetery.
