Sir Robert Taylor died at his residence in London on April 4th, 1921, at the age of 65.
Until the date of his retirement from active work in 1920 he was senior partner in the well-known firm of John Taylor & Sons, having succeeded to the premier position through the retirement of his eldest brother, the late Mr. John Taylor, in 1903. He was a grandson of the original John Taylor who founded the firm in 1799, and was one of seven sons of the second John Taylor, of whom only the youngest two survive, Mr. Edgar Taylor (now senior partner) and Mr. Sydney Taylor. Sir Robert entered the firm in 1874 and became a partner ten years later, the members of the firm then being his father (Mr. John Taylor), his uncle (Mr. Richard Taylor) and his eldest brother John, who predeceased him by about eight months.
Sir Robert was throughout his career connected with the administrative rather than with the technical side of the business, and brought to bear on his conduct of the firm’s affairs not only a trained business instinct but a rare courtesy and consideration for others’ points of view, which not only materially enhanced the reputation of the firm but created a most warm personal regard on the part of the firm’s employees. This was demonstrated most unmistakably on the occasion, shortly before his retirement, when Sir Robert received the honour of knighthood which he always regarded not so much as a personal tribute as a mark of appreciation of the firm’s services to the Empire, and again on his retirement, when the staff accompanied the presentation of a handsome piece of furniture with a letter which Sir Robert would value still more, in which the sentiments of their esteem and respect were warmly expressed.
His business acumen was perhaps most strikingly displayed in connection with the formation of the Mysore Gold Mining Co. in 1880. In the initial stages there were periods of disappointment and great anxiety, but, due largely to Sir Robert’s foresight and confidence, the adventure was continued until rich discoveries of ore rewarded his persistence and opened up the since realized prospect of a big gold-mining business in India. On his retirement, he still retained his directorship of many of the important companies with which he had been actively concerned in the past, in India, Australia, Brazil and Egypt.
Sir Robert Taylor was an Original Member of the Institution (1892).
Vol. 31, Trans IMM 1921-23, pp.584-5
