John Denys Taylor

John Denys Taylor (3 September 1908 – 4 May 1987) was a Christian medical missionary who founded Bonda Mission Hospital within the Nyanga district in Zimbabwe.

Early life and education Taylor was born on 3 September 1908 in Manchester, England, to Isaac and Edith Taylor. In 1935, he married Elsa Moira Hedges (born in 1912), in Fylde, Lancashire.

Taylor was trained at Warminster Theological College from 1938 to 1940.

Career Taylor, with his family, were members of the Church of England. Taylor wished to become a missionary doctor and in 1937, Bishop Paget gave him the opportunity to begin his journey to Bonda in the Inyanga district where he became a reverend recognized by the Church of England.

"We had a trickle of in-patients from the start, but these were mostly unimportant relatives sent in to see what happened to them! When these were found to survive we began to get genuine cases. The foundation of my medical reputation was built mainly on four simple remedies which in these complicated days one is now apt to underestimate. They were Mist, Ammon Chloe Co for the chest, Mist. Alba for the abdomen, Ung. Sulphur and Ung. Had. Ammon Dil for the skin (scabies being then almost universal among the children). These four at least answered the first criterion of treatment in that they never made the patient worse!" — John Denys Taylor

The hospital was reopened in 1937 and Taylor became its first physician; Sister Lorna Page joined shortly after. Its goal was to create a connection between “God’s glory” and mental and physical health. With the shortage of drugs, supplies and trained professionals, many relatives were forced to become anesthetists or took on other roles, which was only short lived. In particular, mothers would die as there was no access to Cesarean sections or blood transfusions, which eventually became a priority for the hospital. The Bonda Mission Hospital also became the inspiration for St Faith's School, Rusape.

In 1947 Bishop Balya visited Taylor at Bonda. By this time, 20 women had begun their nursing training. The Bonda Mission Hospital, in addition to the C.M.S. Hospital in Kampala, was used as the model for St. Francis’ hospital to bring a connection between religious faith and medicine in Africa.

As the medical superintendent, Taylor and Sister Lorna Page’s religious beliefs were able to be implemented into the practices of the hospital with it being a location of medical treatment and a place of worship. The Beit Trust, with the government, funded the creation of a 45 bed block for tuberculosis patients with an X-ray unit and a diesel electric power unit in 1952.

Death Taylor died on 4 May 1987, near the Bonda Region in Harare, Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe.

Legacy Taylor developed the Bonda Mission Hospital as well as a nursing education program. In 1962, the Birmingham Medical School sent a delegation to Nyanga with the intent to establish the Salisbury Medical School.

His four sons and one daughter were born at Bonda Mission Hospital and were delivered by him.