Austin Taylor (1858 – 27 April 1955) was a

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, later

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, politician in the

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Early life

Taylor was born in Everton in 1858, the son of Rev. William Taylor, a vicar and later

Archdeacon of Liverpool The archdeacons in the Diocese of Liverpool are senior ecclesiastical officers in the Church of England in a highly irregular area surrounding the city of Liverpool. They are the archdeacons of Liverpool, of St Helens and Warrington, of Knows ...

. His brother W. F. Taylor was a KC in the Northern Circuit and Recorder of Bolton and his brother

Gerald Kyffin-Taylor Brigadier-General Gerald Kyffin-Taylor (9 March 1863 – 11 December 1949) was a British soldier and politician. Kyffin-Taylor was educated at Liverpool College.''Who Was Who'', Published by A&C Black Limited. Online edition, 2020 His brothe ...

was MP for Liverpool Kirkdale from 1910 to 1915. He was educated at

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' Conference (HMC). History Liverpool College was the first of many public schools founded in the Victorian ...

and at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he took his BA degree in 1880. Joining the steamship and merchants company ''Messrs. Hugh Evans and Co.'', he succeeded as head of the firm on the death of his uncle Hugh Evans in 1891.

Political career

Taylor was a magistrate and prominent member of the Liverpool City Council. In 1892 he was elected municipal representative of the large and populous Everton Ward, but in 1895 declined re-election due to business commitments. At the following election in 1900, however, he again stood for election, this time for Dingle Ward, and after election he became chairman of the Housing Committee of the council. Taylor was president of the Liverpool Philomathic Society, and among the creators and later Chairman of the Liverpool Laymen's League. He was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Liverpool East Toxteth at a by-election in November 1902 following the

resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

of the Conservative MP

Augustus Frederick Warr Augustus Frederick Warr (September 1847 – 24 March 1908) was an English solicitor from Liverpool and a Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1895 to 1902. Early life Warr was the third son of Rev George Winter War ...

. He was re-elected unopposed in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

. He was a Unionist Free Trader and resigned from the Conservative Party in February 1906, crossing the floor to join the Liberal Party. He stood down from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at the January 1910 general election. In June 1918, the Liberal MP for

Buckrose Buckrose was a wapentake of the historic East Riding of Yorkshire, England consisting of the north-west part of the county; its territory is now partly in the modern East Riding and partly in North Yorkshire. Established in medieval times, it ...

became ill and was looking to retire. The local Liberal Association selected Taylor as their candidate to succeed him. Due to the war-time electoral truce, Taylor expected to be elected in a by-election unopposed. However, the by-election was not called and a General Election was called for December instead. A Labour candidate was chosen to contest the seat. Taylor hoped to receive endorsement from the Coalition government, but at the eleventh hour, that endorsement was given to a latecomer to the contest, who stood as a Coalition Liberal and was elected instead.

Family

Taylor married in 1886 Lucia Whitaker, daughter of Edward Whitaker, of Liverpool, and had four children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Austin 1858 births 1955 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Liverpool constituencies UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 People educated at Liverpool College Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge