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MD, FRCP (Edin.), FFCM, DPH

Principal Medical Officer (Child Health Service), Edinburgh

Twelfth President of the Society, 1977-79

A founding member of the Society, Dr. Tait was appointed its first Secretary in 1948, and ran and organised its affairs single-handed for the next fifteen years, and as Joint Secretary for a number of years thereafter. 

He was made Honorary President of the Society in 1981 in recognition of the unique contribution he had made to the Society's affairs.

He was a prolific writer on medico-historical topics, and presented several papers to the Society. His unique contribution, however, was the Annual Report of Proceedings. This started in a humble way as an eight-page report covering the first five meetings of the Society, but by 1970 it was a 56-page publication which was distributed to medical history societies and libraries world-wide. Sadly, its publication had to be discontinued for a time thereafter for financial reasons, though a brief report of the Society's Proceedings was published annually in Medical History. 

Dr. Tait recorded the history fo the Edinburgh Health Department from 1862 to 1974 in a book entitled A Doctor and Two Policemen.