Robert Lindsay Taylor

Brief description

PER-132

Full description

Robert Lindsay Taylor was born on 20 December 1908 at Essendon, Melbourne, Victoria, the son of Charles Joseph Taylor and his wife Elizabeth Horsfall nee Hinchliff. He was educated at Hay War Memorial High School and the Wesley College, University of Sydney (BA 1930, LLB 1933). In 1928 and 1929 he won the Walter Kippax Scholarship at Wesley College and in 1928 he was second year representative to the Sydney University Arts Society. (1)

Taylor was admitted as a solicitor on 26 May 1933 and to the New South Wales Bar on 23 August 1935. He practised mainly in the common law and commercial jurisdictions, and also prosecuted on behalf of the Commonwealth government on several occasions. In 1946/47 he was Assistant Honorary Secretary to the New South Wales Bar Association. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1953. (2)

Taylor enlisted in the Australian Army on 22 October 1942. At the time of discharge on 30 September 1945 he was a gunner with the 7 Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps on part-time duty.(3)

Taylor was made a Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 10 October 1961. He was an Additional Judge of Appeal in the Court of Appeal on a number of occasions: 19 November 1970 to 1 October 1971, 8 February to 7 August 1972, and 1 February 1975 to 19 December 1978. In January 1975 he was made the Chief Judge of the Common Law Division. He retired on 19 December 1978. (4)

Taylor was involved with a number of Royal Commissions. He was Commissioner at the Commonwealth Royal Commission on alleged improper practices and improper refusal to co-operate with the Victorian Police Force on the part of persons employed in the Postmaster-General's Department in Victoria in relation to illegal gambling. This commission commenced on 23 May 1962 and reported on 20 March 1963. He was Chairman of the New Zealand Royal Commission to inquire into the circumstances of the convictions of Arthur Allan Thomas for the murders of David Harvey Crewe and Jeanette Lenore Crew, which commenced on 24 April 1980 and reported on 11 November 1980. (5)

Taylor died on 27 October 1994, late of Middle Cove. He married Enid Nillera Daish at Burwood on 14 April 1936 and they had two sons. (6)

Endnotes
1. Who's Who in Australia, Melbourne, The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, 1959, p.782; 1962, p.835; 1980, p.807; 1983, p.833; 1985, p.828; Victoria birth certificate Robert Lindsay Taylor, 1909-2953, 'Taylor, Robert Lindsay', Department of Veterans Affairs World War 2 Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/script/veteran.asp?ServiceID=A&VeteranID=534546 (cited 24 June 2008); University of Sydney Calendar 1927, p.513, 726; 1928, pp.531, 810, 925; 1930, p.575; 1931, p.775; 1933, pp.643, 654, 798; 1934, p.842; http://calendararchive.usyd.edu.au/index.php (cited 12 and 27 May 2008).
2. Barrister and Solicitors Admission Boards; NRS 13667, Roll of Solicitors, 17 February 1927 to 20 November 1936; Reel 2147, p.27; Barrister and Solicitors Admission Boards; NRS 13665, Roll of Barristers, 17 February 1927 - 10 June 1955; Reel 2147, p.10; Australian Law Journal Vol.27, p.248, Australian Law Journal, Vol.35, p.257 (26 October 1961), New South Wales Law Almanac for 1947, Sydney, NSW Government Printer, 1947, p.55.
3. 'Taylor, Robert Lindsay', Department of Veterans Affairs World War 2 Nominal Roll, op.cit..
4. New South Wales Law Almanac for 1980, Sydney, NSW Government Printer, 1980, pp.56, 63; Australian Law Journal, Vol.35, p.257 (26 October 1961); Vol. 53, p.107 (February 1979).
5. D H Borchardt, Checklist of Royal Commissions Select Committees of Parliament and Boards of Inquiry, Commonwealth, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria, 1960-1980 and South Australia, 1970-1980, Bundoora, Borchardt Library, La Trobe University, 1986, p.23; 'New Zealand Thomas Commission Reports - Royal Commission Arthur Allan Thomas...', Networked Knowledge, http://netk.net.au/New Zealand/Thomas5.asp (cited 23 June 2008).
6. Sydney Morning Herald, death notice, 29 October 1994; Who's Who in Australia, op.cit.

Notes

Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, 10/10/1961 - 19/12/1978
Additional Judge of Appeal, Court of Appeal New South Wales, 18/11/1970 - 08/02/1971, 09/02/1971 - 01/10/1971, 08/02/1972 - 07/08/1972, 01/02/1975 - 19/12/1978.
Chief Judge of the Common Law Division, Supreme Court of New South Wales, 01/01/1975 - 19/12/1978