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Doris Irene Taylor

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Doris Irene Taylor MBE (25 July 1901 — 23 May 1968) was an Australian social services activist.

Doris Irene Taylor
MBE
A grainy photograph of an older white woman with white hair, wearing glasses.
Doris Irene Taylor, from a 1951 newspaper.
Born25 July 1901
Norwood, South Australia
Died23 May 1968
Adelaide
OccupationSocial activist
Known forFounded Meals on Wheels in Australia (1953)

Early life and education

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Doris Irene Taylor was born in Norwood, South Australia in 1901, the daughter of Thomas Simpkin Taylor and Angelina Williams Taylor. Her father was a bricklayer.[1] Twice in childhood, she survived falls that caused her a limp and paralysis.[2] In 1925 she was injured in a collision with a car, while her sister Ivy was pushing her wheelchair.[3][4]

Career

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During the 1930s Taylor worked as a secretary and a fundraiser for a mothers' club, and for a soup kitchen.[1] She moved into political work with the Australian Labor Party by the mid-1940s, and directed a survey of housing conditions.[5] Taylor is credited with persuading Don Dunstan to run for the South Australian lower house seat of Norwood in 1952.[2]

Taylor founded Australian Meals on Wheels in South Australia in 1953,[6] and in 1954 the first meal was served from the Port Adelaide kitchen.[2][7] She worked to include other home-based services for seniors in the organization's offerings, including personal care and library access. Her work for healthier aging was praised by the World Health Organization.[2] She also campaigned for accessible recreation and "a wheelchair for every invalid".[8]

Taylor was appointed M.B.E. in 1959.[2]

Personal life

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In addition to the spine and leg injuries that affected her mobility, Taylor had rheumatoid arthritis.[2][5] She enjoyed learning, and taught herself to speak Russian; she also read twice a week to a blind schoolmaster.[5] In 1951 she began using a motorized wheelchair, saying "Heaven help any bureaucrat who gets in my way now."[9] Taylor died in 1968, in Adelaide, aged 66 years. The South Australian Electoral district of Taylor is named after her.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Doris Taylor, MBE". Adelaidia. Retrieved 1 July 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b c d e f Greg Crafter (2002). "Taylor, Doris Irene (1901–1968)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 16. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  3. ^ "A DOUBLE CLAIM". Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931). 30 July 1925. p. 14. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via Trove.
  4. ^ "MOTOR CAR AND INVALID CHAIR". Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929). 29 July 1925. p. 7. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via Trove.
  5. ^ a b c "Busy Worker, Invalid For 26 Years". News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954). 3 April 1944. p. 5. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via Trove.
  6. ^ Burley, Cyril (7 October 1953). ""Let's change our approach to aged"". News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954). p. 12. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via Trove.
  7. ^ Cudmore M., 1996, A Meal a Day, South Australia, Gillingham Printers
  8. ^ ""A WHEEL-CHAIR FOR EVERY INVALID"". Labor Call (Melbourne, Vic. : 1906 - 1953). 24 May 1951. p. 2. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via Trove.
  9. ^ "HER CHAIR HAS A MOTOR". Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954). 12 May 1951. p. 12. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via Trove.
  10. ^ "ABC Election Coverage: 2006 South Australian Election". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 April 2006. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
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