T. E. Taylor

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For the British politician see Thomas Edward Taylor

Thomas Edward (Tommy) Taylor (16 June 1862 – 27 July 1911) was a Christchurch Mayor, New Zealand Member of Parliament, businessman and prohibitionist (advocate of temperance).

Contents

[edit] Member of Parliament

Tommy Taylor was a Member of Parliament for the City of Christchurch from 1896 to 1899 and from 1902 to 1905, then for Christchurch North from 1908 to 1911 when he died, shortly after being elected Mayor of Christchurch.

He lost his seat in 1899 from his opposition to the Boer War, and in 1905 when Francis Fisher unwisely precipitated a slander case, the "voucher incident", involving Richard Seddon's son.

He was an Independent and from 1902 was associated with the "New Liberals". In 1905 he became the leader of the New Liberal Party, but the group was defunct by 1908. He opposed the Premier Richard Seddon of the Liberal Party over government corruption, and over Seddon’s support for the Licensed Trade (ie the Liquor Industry) and for the Boer War in South Africa.

Other Independent MPs associated with Tommy Taylor were George Laurenson, Leonard Isitt, Harry Bedford and Francis Fisher. The New Liberals group never formed a coherent party in 1902, and was wrecked when both Taylor and Bedford lost their seats in the 1905 general election.

Taylor was a successful importer and estate agent in Christchurch. He married Elizabeth Best Ellison in 1892. They had five daughters and one son.

Tommy Taylor died of a perforated gastric ulcer at Christchurch on 27 July 1911. Such was the respect he commanded that 50,000 people lined the streets of the city for his funeral procession. [1]

[edit] Fact vs Fiction

  • Taylor was an advocate of Municipal Socialism and was endorsed by the NZ Labour Party in his campaign for the Christchurch Mayoralty in 1911, but he never joined any Labour organisation (Gustafson, p.4).

[edit] Further Reading

  • The Fighting Man: a Study of the Life and Times of T.E. Taylor by Nellie F.H. MacLeod (1964, Dunbar and Summers, Christchurch)
  • The New Liberal Party 1905 by G.F. Whitcher (1966, MA(Hons) Thesis-University of Canterbury, Christchurch)
  • The Advent of the NZ Labour Party 1910-1919 by Barry S. Gustafson (1961, MA Thesis-University of Auckland, Auckland)

[edit] External Links

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