Hugh Taylor (Australian politician)

Hugh Taylor (19 March 1823 – 13 December 1897) was an Australian politician.

He was born at Parramatta to ex-convict Hugh Taylor, then a general agent, and Elizabeth O'Farrel. He was educated at The King's School, Parramatta, and became a butcher, although he also worked as a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald. On 29 December 1846, he married Frances Eliza Connor, with whom he had six children; he converted to Roman Catholicism on his marriage. In 1865 he became a Parramatta alderman, a position he held until his death in 1897; he was mayor from 1871 to 1873. Initially a supporter of James Byrnes, he opposed Byrnes for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Parramatta in 1869.[1] Unsuccessful on that occasion, he won election in 1872.[2] Taylor immediately resigned as he had received conflicting legal advice as to whether his contract to supply articles to a destitute institution disqualified him from office. He was elected unopposed at the May 1872 by-election.[3] He was re-elected in 1874,[4] but resigned in 1876 after he was referred to the Committee of Elections and Qualification as to whether he had a contract with the government.[5] He was re-elected at the April 1876 by-election.[6] He was reelected in 1877,[7] defeated in 1880 when the electorate was reduced to a single member,[8] but he was re-elected in 1882,[9] becoming associated with the Free Trade Party. He held the seat until he was defeated again in 1894.[10] Taylor died at Parramatta in 1897.[11]