John Howard Taylor (30 June 1861,

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

- 1 October 1925, Melbourne) also known as J. Howard Taylor and Howard Taylor, was a Western Australian stockbroker, politician and Olympic sailor.John Howard Taylor
on the Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia

Life

Taylor was born in 1861 in

, to John and Mary Jane Cash. He worked in stockbroker's office in London and in 1880s he emigrated to South Africa and than to Western Australia in early 1890 following the Ashburton rush. In January 1891, he settled in Southern Cross, where he worked as a merchant and stockbroker. Three years later, he moved his operations at Coolgardie, where a promising gold field had been just discovered. Alfred Chandler,
Men I Remember: Howard Taylor, a Spectacular Speculator
, '' The Sunday Times'', 11 July 1937, p. 21 Sitting at the town council, he was elected on 3 August 1896 one of the three members of the Western Australian Legislative Council for the East Province. He was one of the ten Western Australia representatives at the 1897-1898 Australasian Federal Convention, which prepared the federation. He left the council in 1899 to focus on speculative developments. He made estimated 250,000 pounds in speculating in Australia, before moving back to Europe to speculate on London Stock Exchange. In late 1890s, Tylor bought from Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi a racing cutter ''Bona Fide'' (or just ''Bona''), build for the duke in 1897. Taylor began competing in sailing races in Mediterranean winning Queen's Cup at Royal Cork Regatta in 1899 and 16 races in 25 starts in 1900 season. That year he also participated in

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 1 ...

sailing competitions in Paris, France. Taylor missed the first race of the Olympic regattas, as he was delayed obtaining clearance by French Customs, but he arrived at Meulan in time for the second race which he won by a margin of more than five minutes, taking the gold in the 3 to 10 ton class. After the Olympic, Taylor sold his winning yacht. Taylor's speculations on London Stock Exchange were initially successful, but in few years left him broke. He returned to Australia and lived until death in Melbourne where he regularly played bridge. He was one-time member Coolgardie Masonic Lodge and

Royal Yacht Club The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to we ...

. He gave name to Howard Street in Perth.

Death

Taylor died in 1925 in Melbourne and was buried in

Melbourne General Cemetery The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large (43 hectare) necropolis located north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North. The cemetery is notably the resting place of four Prime Ministers of Australia, more than any other nec ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, John Howard Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council 1861 births 1925 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians British male sailors (sport) Sailors at the 1900 Summer Olympics – 3 to 10 ton Olympic sailors of Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain