TAYLOR, HENRY (1845-1927), historian and antiquary;
b. at Wigan, son of Henry Taylor, colliery owner. Qualifying as a solicitor in 1864, he became senior partner in the firm of Boydell and Taylor, solicitors, Chester, in 1873; from 1874 to 1906 he was town clerk of Flint. He m. a Miss Venables, of Whitchurch, Salop; there were four daughters of the marriage. Taylor is best-known, as far as Wales is concerned, as the author of Historic Notices … of the Borough and County-Town of Flint, 1883. In his time he was one of the best informed persons on the history and antiquities of north-east Wales and Cheshire. He can be regarded as the founder of the Flintshire Historical Society to the journal of which he contributed. He also wrote to similar journals published elsewhere, particularly those of Cheshire. He collected much record material together with printed books and prints relating to Flintshire and transferred it to the National Library of Wales, of which he was a governor and a member of the council, to form the nucleus of a ‘Flintshire Historical Collection.’ The Henry Taylor manuscripts, now N.L.W. MSS. 6267-6331, show the wide range of his interests; of particular interest are the numerous letters from Welsh and other historians and antiquaries which he had preserved. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and was awarded the degree of M.A. (honoris causa) by the University of Manchester. He d. 3 Jan. 1927.
Bibliography:
- N.L.W. Handlist of MSS. ii, 164-9;
- obituary notices in Flintshire Observer, 8 Jan. 1927 and in the Cheshire Observer, 8 Jan. 1927.
Author:
Sir William Llewelyn Davies, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. (1887-1952), Aberystwyth
