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. Unsuccessful on that occasion, he won election in 1872. He held the seat until he was defeated in 1880, but he was re-elected in 1882, becoming associated with the Free Trade Party. He held the seat until he was defeated again in 1894. Taylor died at Parramatta in 1897.^[1]

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