Dr J. Tylor Fox
Dr Tylor Fox, who died on September 20th, 1949, at the age of 64, had been associated with the National Association for Mental Health and its predecessors since 1936 when he and Miss Fox (now Dame Evelyn) and Dr R. H. Crowley met to discuss what might be done to make the return of the colony patient to life in the community a less hazardous step.
Although Superintendent of Lingfield Colony for 30 years, Dr Fox was always firm in his belief that colony life was only essential for a minority of patients, and even for them that it should only be regarded as a period for stabilization and drug adjustment. It was one of his greatest satisfactions that the last 10 or 15 years showed such startling changes in drug therapy. He often said that the number of epileptics whose condition did not improve sufficiently for them to return to normal fife should in future be a very small proportion of colony inhabitants.
But public opinion had not been keeping pace with the advance in medical knowledge, and since his retirement from Lingfield, Dr Fox spent his energies unsparingly in the effort to bring about a change of heart. Although in poor health, he went equally willingly to talk to a few students or to advise a government department, and wherever he went his unmatched knowledge and experience, allied with his deep conviction of the importance of the matter under discussion, helped to bring about the change in attitude towards epileptics which is beginning to be noticeable.
For the last few months, Dr Tylor Fox knew that he should be limiting his activities, but he refused to be treated as an invalid and could not be persuaded to withdraw from anything that might benefit his beloved epileptics. The day before he died he was as full as ever of plans and interests. His humility and keen sense of humour made him an ideal companion, and to those whose privilege it was to know and work with him his loss is irreparable.
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