Richard Molesworth Taylor (1835 – 26 August 1919), also known as Sydenham Taylor, was a three-term New Zealand

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 ...

. Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1835, he moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

on the ''Heather Bell'' in 1846. He travelled to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 1851, and later to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and participated in the gold rush before returning to Auckland in 1857. There he briefly joined the militia, serving in the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...

, before becoming a government contractor. In 1869 he moved to Canterbury, working as a general contractor until becoming a Member of Parliament in 1886.

Member of Parliament

William White resigned his Sydenham seat in Parliament in March 1886 on medical advice. Taylor successfully contested the subsequent by-election on 12 May, gaining 438 votes against John Lee Scott (418), Samuel Paull Andrews (230) and S. G. Jolly (2). At the 1887 general election, Taylor contested the electorate against

John Crewes John Crewes (15 July 1847 – 29 December 1925) was a New Zealand Bible Christian minister, social worker and journalist. He was born in Grampound, Cornwall, England on 15 July 1847. Early life Crewes was born in Grampound, Cornwall, in 1847 ...

. They received 766 and 392 votes respectively, so Taylor entered the

10th New Zealand Parliament The 10th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Elections for this term were held in 4 Māori electorates and 91 European electorates on 7 and 26 September 1887, respectively. A total of 95 MPs were elected. Parliame ...

. The Sydenham electorate was abolished in

1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship ...

so Taylor contested the City of Christchurch electorate instead, winning the third highest number of votes in the three-member electorate. He unsuccessfully contested the

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

and

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

general elections, and the 1896 by-election.

Private life

Taylor was married in 1887 to Laura Augusta Gray (born ca. 1832), a daughter of S. F. Gray of London. She died on 21 December 1903 at their home in Waltham Road, Sydenham, aged 69. Taylor died in Wellington on 26 August 1919, and was buried at

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is New Zealand's second largest cemetery, located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it received New Zealand's first cremato ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Richard Molesworth 1835 births 1919 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives People of the New Zealand Wars New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates English emigrants to New Zealand Independent MPs of New Zealand Unsuccessful candidates in the 1893 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1896 New Zealand general election Burials at Karori Cemetery 19th-century New Zealand politicians