Robert McLaren Todd

Robert McLaren Todd’s life and work can be divided into four main parts: education and medicine, the Church, music and his other interests, and of course his family.

Education and medicine

Robert was born on the 27 September 1915 at Syston in Leicestershire. He was the elder son of Robert Alexander McLaren Todd, a pharmacist, and Edith Ann Todd (née Walker). Robert attended the local Syston Church of England school (1920 to 1926) before going to Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys (1926 to 1934). He then went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge (1934 to 1937), and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London (1937 to 1940). After graduating he then went on to receive his MA in 1941, his DCH (London) in 1942, and his MRCP (London) in 1945.

In 1946 he received his Cambridge MD and in 1965 his FRCP (London).

After qualification in 1940 he obtained a house surgeon post in ear, nose, and throat and maxillo-facial surgery at Barts followed by a senior house physician post at Barts and St Albans, and this was followed in turn as resident medical officer at Leicester Royal Infirmary and house physician at the Children’s Hospital in Leicester from 1942 to 1945. Later in 1946 he became medical registrar at Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children, London E2.

Then in 1947 he came to Liverpool as the first senior lecturer (and later reader) in the new Department of Child Health, and he ran the Medical Research Council’s trial on the treatment of tuberculous meningitis at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, the first hospital in the country to use this drug.

In 1953 Robert had a short spell at Harvard (USA) as Fulbright scholar, but otherwise he continued as consultant paediatrician at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and also at the Liverpool Maternity Hospital, where he was responsible for creating the first special care baby unit in the Merseyside region.

In 1949 he founded the Liverpool Paediatric Club, and he was its first secretary. He was present at the golden jubilee celebrations in 1999.

He retired in 1979.

His 80 publications in the medical literature included three books or chapters in books on such diverse topics as tuberculosis, Gaucher’s disease, nephrosis, acromegaly, hypophosphatasia, osteomyelitis, islet cell tumour in the newborn, and accidental strangulation by mother’s hair.

Church ministry

On the afternoon of Saturday 15 November 1941, Robert was admitted to the office of reader in the Church of England in the Cathedral of St Martin in Leicester by Guy Vernon Smith, the Lord Bishop of Leicester.

He was licensed to serve in the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, Syston, where he was baptised on the 7 November 1915. He was admitted to the church choir on the 9 December 1923. He was confirmed in that same church on the 17 March 1930.

On the 28 June 1930 he was appointed assistant organist at Syston Parish Church and at the age of only 15 he became a Sunday school teacher.

During the war years from 1941 to 1945, while he was resident medical officer at Leicester Royal Infirmary, he continued to be reader at Syston, but then on Sunday afternoons he took services at various churches in the Leicester diocese—often two services each Sunday.

Towards the end of 1946, when he was appointed registrar at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for children in Hackney, east London, he became reader at St Olave’s Church, Woodbury Down, which was in the Finsbury Park area of London.

His reader ministry there lasted for about 18 months before his medical work brought him to Liverpool.

Since the beginning of July 1948 he has been reader at the Parish Church of St Mary, Wavertree, and during that time he “saw off” no fewer than 10 rectors!

He outlived many of them.

On Sunday 18 November 2001 there was a special morning Eucharist to celebrate his sixty years as a reader. He preached at that service.

At the beginning of 2002 he was appointed reader emeritus to mark his long and distinguished ministry in this church.

During his reader ministry, which lasted for more than 63 years, he preached about 800 sermons.

Robert devised his funeral service.

Music and other interests

Robert was extremely keen on classical music. He played the organ since his schooldays, when he won organ prizes in 1933 and 1934. He was in much demand as a wedding organist when a medical student. He played the organ in this church and gave organ recitals regularly over many years here and elsewhere in Merseyside.

For more than a quarter of a century he and I have attended regularly the midweek evening subscription concerts given by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool.

Robert was keen on doing crosswords (The Daily Telegraph) and also enjoyed watching the Channel 4 television programme Countdown and especially University Challenge on BBC 2, where he was, of course, able to observe Trinity Hall, Cambridge, performing well.

He loved comedy programmes such as the Vicar of Dibley, One Foot in the Grave, Dad’s Army, and Fawlty Towers.

He enjoyed watching snooker—both on the television and as a paying spectator at particular events. For several years he travelled to Sheffield to watch the later stages of the Snooker World Championships at the Crucible theatre.

He supported the football clubs of Aberdeen, Leicester City, and, of course, Liverpool. He enjoyed watching cricket and tennis (Wimbledon) on the television.

He became a good friend of Calday Grange Grammar School on the Wirral and supported their hockey teams whenever they came over to play against Liverpool College.

He was a regular member of the audience at Calday Grange concerts.

He was the guest adjudicator of their annual house music competition in February 1999.

In September 2001, a week before he celebrated 60 years as a reader, he was interviewed on BBC Radio Merseyside for the religious affairs programme “United in Song” by Hazel Bradley.

He enjoyed travelling abroad, particularly to visit his daughter, Rosemary, in Ibiza.

He loved visiting his beloved Scotland, especially Pitlochry in Perthshire, which is the home of the McLaren clan.

He enjoyed eating out, and his favourite restaurants were Linos in Hoylake, the Manor in Greasby, Owens at Childwall Fiveways, as well as the Stag and Rainbow on Queens Drive, to mention just three.

He also enjoyed travelling throughout the length and breadth of England, particularly to Padstow in Cornwall and visiting Connor and Pauline Ward in Teddington and Barbara Miroy in Laleham-on-Thames.

Family

Robert married Eileen Dorothy Gilbert in 1945. The Bishop of Leicester performed the ceremony. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in July 1995 with a whole week of festivities, dinners, and special church services. They had three (“wonderful”) children—namely, Christopher, Hugh, and Rosemary—and, thanks to Hugh and Val, two splendid granddaughters, Laura and Stephanie, of whom Robert was extremely proud, as we all are. He adored them.

He took great pleasure in seeing Laura and Stephanie grow up and always enjoyed their frequent visits to 17 Beauclair Drive, especially in the summer months when obstacle courses were set up in the back garden and both Robert and Eileen joined in. Robert was extremely proud when the girls started their university life. He was overjoyed at being able to watch Laura graduate from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she had followed in his footsteps. At the ceremony he was the talk of the day in his scarlet MD robes, overshadowing all the graduates!

Laura is now a research assistant at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, where Stephanie is in her last year studying to be a social worker, similarly following in her parents’ footsteps.

He was a magnificent husband and father.

He was kind and considerate, generous in every respect and offered wise advice frequently.

A finer tribute could not be paid than to say that he was respected and liked by all who knew him and loved deeply by those who knew him most.