He was born in Waitara and was educated at Waitara District High School. He worked as a slaughterman and was a farmer of pigs and drystock. He was a member of the New Plymouth District Council and Community Board. From 1980-86 he was a member of the Waitara Borough Council and from 1986-89 was a member of the North Taranaki District Council. He chaired the Manukohiri Pah Trustees and Puketapu Hapu Reserve. He was a trustee of the North Taranaki Development Trust. He was awarded MBE in 1988 for services to the community.
Biographical sources
- New Zealand Who’s Who Aotearoa. 1998 ed. Auckland, N.Z.: New Zealand Who’s Who Publications Limited, 1998. 843.
Poetry
- "Think Big Projects in Taranaki - A Taranaki Tribal View." Waiora, Waimāori, Waikino, Waimate, Waitai. Papers Given to Seminar on Water and the Environment. Hamilton, N.Z.: Centre for Māori Studies, U of Waikato, 1984. 19-26. Discussion: 26-30.
- Taylor discusses Te Ati Awa and Taranaki’s battles to preserve their water rights and counter the discharge of pollutants into tribal waters along the water front by New Plymouth airport, along the Waitara River and at Motunui. He reports on the tribes’ initially successful Waitangi Tribunal hearing at Manukorihi marae which was later dismissed by the Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon. Taylor includes in his paper an outlining of a seven-point plan that a delegation from Taranaki submitted to Muldoon. And the text concludes with notes from a discussion following the presentation of the paper