Sir Allen Arthur Taylor (13 May 1864 – 30 September 1940) was an Australian businessman and New South Wales state politician who was

Lord Mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...

, Mayor of Annandale and a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

Early years and background

Allen Arthur Bate was born in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

, Colony of New South Wales, on 13 May 1864, the fourth child of John Bate, a bricklayer from

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, England, and his wife Martha Jane King. For unknown reasons, Allen changed his surname from 'Bate' to 'Taylor' sometime between 1890 and 1895. Eventually becoming a contractor, Taylor built up a business in timber supply and shipping, founding the firm of Allen Taylor & Company, of which he was managing director. In the 1890s he also became chairman of directors of the

Illawarra Steam Navigation Company The ''Illawarra Steam Navigation Company'' was a shipping company that serviced the south coast of New South Wales, Australia from 1858 to the early 1950s. It was formed through the amalgamation of the General Steam Navigation Company, the Kiam ...

and the

North Coast Steam Navigation Company The North Coast Steam Navigation Company was a shipping company that operated in Australia, formed as the Grafton Steam Navigation Company in 1855. The company was later renamed the Clarence & Richmond River Steam Navigation Company before being ...

, thus promoting economic development of the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

regions of New South Wales. Expanding his business interests, Taylor also became a local director of the

London Bank of Australia The London Chartered Bank of Australia (from 1893 the London Bank of Australia) was an English-run Australian bank which operated from 1852 to 1921. History It was formed in October 1852, with the issuing of a prospectus and granting of a Roya ...

, a director of the Insurance Office of Australia and a trustee of the

Government Savings Bank of New South Wales A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, Executive (government), e ...

Political career and later years

A prominent member of the Annandale, and indeed Sydney community, in 1895 Taylor stood and was elected as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

on Annandale Municipal Council, which had the year before separated from the Leichhardt Municipality. He eventually rose to become Mayor from 1897 to 1900 and from 1901 to 1903. As mayor, Taylor worked towards the construction of a dedicated

Council Chambers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

and town hall, which was completed during his term as mayor in September 1899. He would remain on the council until 1907 and Taylor Street in Annandale now bears his name. Taylor, while still an alderman for Annandale, was elected to

Sydney City Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

for Pyrmont Ward on 1 December 1902. After its formation in 1920, he was a member of the

Civic Reform Association The Civic Reform Association, variously known as the Civic Reform Movement and the Citizens' Reform Association, was an Australian non-aligned ratepayers' organisation that was formed by approximately seventy people at the Sydney Town Hall on 20 ...

. Taylor was eventually elected to be

for two years from 1905 to 1906 and embarked on an ambitious programme of civic improvement, having acquired special powers from

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for revenue-raising. Among his achievements during his time as Lord Mayor, particularly during his second term from January 1909 to May 1912, was the programme of

slum-clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

around Wexford Street,

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surroun ...

, to create Wentworth Avenue, the widening of

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

, to ease traffic and upgrade tram infrastructure, and the creation of the square that now bears his name at the centre of it in

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...

. On 25 July 1911, he was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

for his service as Lord Mayor, on the occasion of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

's coronation. In early May 1912, Taylor resigned as Lord Mayor owing to the 'strains of office'. Popular while in office, on his resignation the

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

noted that Taylor as Lord Mayor had: "thus proved himself to be a man of fine capacity. His long views have been singularly well balanced by business acumen, as numerous resumption negotiations have shown. His municipal ideals have had for centre and substance the foundation of Sydney as a city worthy of its great future. His retirement is a public loss, but for himself personally is the consolation that he will carry with him into private life the esteem of the whole community." In July 1912 Taylor was given a life appointment to the

. However, with the abolition of life appointments and the introduction of indirect elections to the council in 1933, Taylor was elected as a member on 5 December 1933. Taylor supported successive conservative parties in NSW, sitting in the Legislative Council for the

Liberal Reform Liberal Reform is a group of members of the British Liberal Democrats. Membership of the group is open to any Liberal Democrat party member, and is free of charge. It was launched on 13 February 2012, and describes itself as a broadly centrist g ...

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and United Australia parties respectively during his time on the council. On 1 December 1912, Taylor lost his seat on Sydney City Council and in January 1914 attempted to return via a by-election in Lang Ward caused by the resignation of former Lord Mayor Sir Arthur Cocks, but was unsuccessful against flour mill director, John Spencer Brunton. He eventually returned, however, when he was elected on 1 December 1915 to serve on Bourke Ward. He served on council until he resigned on 30 November 1924. Following the death of Lady Taylor in May 1924, Taylor remarried on 29 December 1926 to Linda Turner Hawkes, née Carter. Taylor also served the community as a director of the

Benevolent Society of New South Wales The Benevolent Society, founded by Edward Smith Hall in 1813, is Australia's first and oldest charity. The society is an independent, not-for-profit organization whose main goals include helping families, older Australians and people with disabili ...

from 1909 to 1913 and of the

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...

from 1916 to 1936. On 30 September 1940, survived by his second wife and son, Taylor died at his home in Lang Road, Centennial Park and was buried in

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Allen 1864 births 1940 deaths Australian businesspeople Australian Anglicans Australian people of English descent Civic Reform Association politicians Australian Knights Bachelor Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney Mayors of Annandale Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales People from Wagga Wagga United Australia Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Politicians awarded knighthoods