William Francis Kyffin Taylor, 1st Baron Maenan (9 July 1854 – 22 September 1951), was a prominent English barrister and judge. He was a

Railway and Canal Commission {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Railway and Canal Commission was a British court of record, established by the Railway and Canal Traffic Act 1888 and abolished by the Railway and Canal Commission (Abolition) Act 1949. The Regulation of Railwa ...

er from 1930 to its abolition in 1949, and was its last member.

Background and education

Taylor was the son of the Venerable William Francis Taylor,

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 ...

. He was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, 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 E ...

(of which he became vice-president in 1927) and later attended

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

, where he graduated as BA in 1877. He studied law at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

and became barrister in 1879. Two of his brothers were politicians: Brigadier-General

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 ...

, member of parliament for Kirkdale, and Austin Kyffin Taylor, member for East Toxteth.thepeerage.com William Francis Kyffin Taylor, 1st and last Baron Maenan
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Legal and judicial career

Taylor's legal career was one of prestige, becoming a

Q.C. QC may refer to: * Queen's Counsel, the title of a King's Counsel, a type of lawyer in Commonwealth countries, during the reign of a queen * Quality control, the process of meeting products and services to consumer expectations Places * Quebec, ...

in 1895 and holding the office of Presiding Judge of the Court of Passage between 1903 and 1948. Other offices he held included

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Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

in 1901–03,

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

of the

in 1905,

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

(1916), Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire (1931), Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for Shropshire, Judge of Appeal for the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

between 1918 and 1921, Vice-President of the War Compensation Court between 1920 and 1928 and Treasurer of the Inner Temple in 1926. He was also a Commissioner of the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

in 1928. He retired from the bench in April 1948, at 93 years and 9 months and only three years before his death, making him then the oldest serving judge in Great Britain. Taylor was invested as a Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(KBE) in 1918 and promoted to Knight Grand Cross (GBE) in 1929. For his services to the judiciary he was raised to the peerage as Baron Maenan, of Ellesmere in the

County of Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to t ...

, on 29 June 1948, then aged 93 and the oldest person ever to be made a peer.

Family

Taylor married Mary, a daughter of Robert Crooks, in 1883. In later life he had a country home in Shropshire at Gadlas Hall in

Dudleston Heath Dudleston Heath (also referred to as Criftins) is a village in north-west Shropshire, England. It is located on the B5068 road between Ellesmere and St Martin's and is part of Ellesmere Rural civil parish. The Wales-England border is just to t ...

, which he rented out to

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

's family during their exile in England in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He died in September 1951, aged 97. His title became extinct on his death, as he had no male heir. The

Francis Taylor Building Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...

(built in 1957) in the Inner Temple is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maenan, Francis Taylor, 1st Baron 1854 births 1951 deaths People educated at Liverpool College Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire English barristers 20th-century King's Counsel 20th-century English judges Members of the Inner Temple Barons created by George VI Lawyers from Liverpool