Reverend Richard Taylor - Journals, 1833 - 1873

1833-1873

Parent

Provenance: Originals from the estate of Dr R.M.S. [Richard Morris Stovin] Taylor.
Bound typescripts. Volumes 1 - 14. Part of Johannes Andersen Collection purchased by the Auckland Museum in 1949. [see Enid Evans' comments in "Auckland Institute & Museum Library Shelf List of the Manuscript Collection", No.1 - 527, (1967), page 37]
Bound typescript (Vol. 12a) created by Auckland Museum from the original lent by Dr R.M.S. Taylor, of Papatoetoe, in 1962.
The journals were dispersed amongst various family members after Taylor's death (some of the volumes have the names Harper, Medley and Hugh Taylor added in), and 12 of the volumes ( [1] - [12] ) appeared to have been in the possession of the Harper Family. At least two volumes ( [13] and [14] were owned by the Medley family. According to Dr R.M.S. Taylor's note, dated 25 March 1956, these two volumes were at one time on loan to the Auckland Public Library and were later handed back to Mrs Medley (Richard Taylor's daughter). The bulk of the journals were lent to the Alexander Turnbull Library by Miss Harper [?] for typed transcripts to be made. Johannes Andersen, the Turnbull Librarian, had an extra set of typescripts made for his own private collection and this was acquired by the Auckland Museum when some of his collection was purchased in 1949. Through the efforts and personal interest of Dr R.M.S. Taylor, the original journals were acquired from various family members and, as the direct male descendant of Richard Taylor, Dr Taylor assumed guardianship of them from about 1966 until his death in 1993.
Taylor's sketchbook and the crest album were gifted to the museum library by Miss M. [Mary] McFarland, his great granddaughter. In her covering letter to the museum, dated 9 March 1961, both items were formerly in the possession of her late aunts, the Misses Taylor, of Mount Eden.

Richard Taylor was born at Letwell, Yorkshire, England, on 21 March 1805 and died in Whanganui on 10 October 1873. After his appointment to be a missionary in New Zealand for the Church Missionary Society, he and his family set sail aboard the 'Prince Regent', arriving in Sydney, Australia, in June, 1836. They were detained there for three years before arriving at the Bay of Islands in September, 1839. Taylor spent the next four years at Waimate North in charge of the Mission School before being transferred to Whanganui in 1843, where, apart from two trips back to England (1855-56, 1867-71), he was to spend the rest of his life as a missionary. (For further biographical details, see Dictionary of NZ Biography. Vol 1.)

12 Dec 2023