Doctor William Taylor McComb

My mother's grandfather, William Taylor McComb, came from Dublin, Ireland, and was a physician and surgeon in Beccles. He was born about 1851 and died in 1902. He married Evelyn Augusta Kellett Melhado on 2 June 1879 at St. Stephen's Church in the Parish of St. Peter in the City of Dublin. They had one son, Arthur William Evelyn McComb. (Kellett is Evelyn's mother's maiden name.)

There was a marriage of a William McComb and a Maria Taylor in the Parish Church of St. Ann Dublin on 25^th September 1847. These two must have been his parents.

The records of Queen's University Belfast show that he entered the university on 19 October 1869 at age 18. He had been educated at Dundalk Grammar School and lived at 19 Charlemont Place, Dublin, Ireland. His father was William McComb.

His qualification as LRCS & LRCP is in the registers of the RCPE. A handwritten entry, apparently signed by him, for 1878 reads:

	Date	Name of Licentiate	Place of Birth	Signature of Examiner
Double with Coll. of Surgeons	Feby 8	William Taylor McComb	Dublin	George Balfour

He is listed as a Medical and Surgical Practitioner resident in Ireland in the 1879 Thom's Irish Almanac - living at the above address and being L.R.C.P. & S. Edin. In the same directory, his father-in-law Captain Melhado is shown living nearby at 1 Wilton Terrace.

There are entries in Kelly's Suffolk Directory 1900 for Beccles, where he is listed at the Hospital in Fair Close and also under the Commercial section. The latter reads:

McComb, William Taylor, L.R.C.P. & L.R.C.S. Edin., L.A.H. Dub. (firm Crowfoot, McComb & Fox), physician & surgeon, medical officer and public vaccinator, Beccles district of Wangford Union & medical officer of health to the corporation & to the workhouse, Hungate Street.

Crowfoot, William Miller, M.B., F.R.C.S. Eng., L.S.A., J.P.
Fox, George Raymond, F.R.C.S. Eng., L.R.C.P. Lond.

English Medical directories give further details of his residences and qualifications:

The first occurrence is:
1880 - McCOMB, Wm.Taylor 3 Nightingale-pl., Beccles, Suffolk - LRCP Edin. 1878; LRCS Edin. 1878; LAH Dub. 1876; (Qu. Coll. Belf., Carm. Sch. and Richm. &c Hosp. Dub.)

1890 - McCOMB, Wm.Taylor, 2 Esdelle-terr., Beccles, Suffolk - LRCP Edin. 1878; LRCS Edin. 1878; LAH Dub. 1876; (Qu. Coll. Belf., Carm. Sch. and Richm. &c Hosp. Dub.); Surg. Beccles Hosp.

1900 & 1902 - McCOMB, Wm.Taylor, St.Deny's, London Rd., Beccles, Suffolk - LRCP Edin. 1878; LRCS Edin. 1878; LAH Dub. 1876; (Qu. Coll. Belf. and Carm. Sch.); Med. Off. Health Beccles; Med. Off. Wangford Union and Shipmeadow Workh.; Surg. Beccles Hosp.

St. Denys in Hungate Street, Beccles (a modern picture of the house)

In 1880, the directory also lists other doctors including his partners. It seems Wm Crowfoot was one of a medical dynasty!

E B Crowfoot; W E Crowfoot (retired); W M Crowfoot; R I Metcalfe.

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