Sir Henry Milton Taylor (4 November 1903 – 14 February 1994) was the fourth

governor-general of the Bahamas The governor-general of the Bahamas is the vice-regal representative of the Bahamian monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prim ...

, serving from February 28, 1991 to January 2, 1992.

Biography

Sir Henry, the adopted son of Joseph J. Taylor and Evelyn Taylor, was born on 4 November 1903, at

Clarence Town Clarence Town is a town in the Bahamas. It is located on Long Island. Clarence Town is the capital of Long Island and has a population of 86 people as of 2010.Acklins Acklins is an island and district of the Bahamas. It is one of a group of islands arranged along a large, shallow lagoon called the Bight of Acklins, of which the largest are Crooked Island () in the north and Acklins () in the southeast, and ...

, from 1925 to 1926; and in Clarence Town, Long Island, from 1933 to 1934.

Career

Taylor became a

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 of ...

in the

Parliament of the Bahamas The Parliament of the Bahamas is the bicameral national parliament of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The parliament is formally made up of the sovereign (represented by the governor-general), an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Assem ...

in 1949 when he successfully contested the election for the

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

and Ragged Island seat. In November 1953, he co-founded and organized the

Progressive Liberal Party The Progressive Liberal Party (abbreviated PLP) is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party. History The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, and Henry Milton Tay ...

(PLP), the country’s first organised political party. In 1956, Taylor led the first citizen's delegation to London from the Bahamas, accompanied by

Lynden Pindling Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, NH, KCMG, PC, JP (22 March 193026 August 2000) was a Bahamian politician who is regarded as the "Father of the Nation" of the Bahamas, having led it to majority rule on 10 January 1967 and to independence on 10 Jul ...

and

Milo Butler Sir Milo Boughton Butler (11 August 190622 January 1979) was a Bahamian politician who served as the second governor-general of the Bahamas from 1973 to 1979. He died in office aged 72. Early life and family Butler was born in Nassau, The Bah ...

, to discuss political conditions in the then colony. In 1960, he led another delegation to London to champion the right of women to vote in Bahamian elections. He was accompanied by Dr. Doris Johnson and Eugenia Lockhart. Shortly after their return, the right to vote was extended to woman and exercised for the first time in the 1962 general election. Between 1968 and 1978, Sir Henry resided in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

where he began work on his memoirs. At the PLP's silver jubilee convention in November 1978, he was honoured for co-founding the party. He was appointed by the Bahamas government to the post of editor of the ''

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...

'' in February 1979. Taylor served as Deputy to the Governor-General on several occasions between 1981 and 1988 when the Governor-General, Sir Gerald Cash, was out of the country. On 25 June 1988, Taylor was appointed Acting Governor-General following Cash’s retirement and sworn in on 26 June. On 28 February 1991, Taylor was sworn in as Governor-General of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, becoming the third Bahamian to hold this post. He held the post until his retirement on 1 January 1992."Past Governor Generals"
BahamiansOnline.

Awards and recognition

At the PLP's silver jubilee convention in November 1978, Taylor was honoured for co-founding the party. Taylor was knighted by the Queen on 23 July 1980, which conferred on him the title of "Sir".

Death and legacy

Sir Henry died on 14 February 1994 at the age of 90.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Henry Milton 1903 births 1994 deaths Governors-General of the Bahamas Knights Bachelor Members of the House of Assembly of the Bahamas Progressive Liberal Party politicians People from Long Island, Bahamas