Sir Alan Russell Taylor KBE QC (25 November 1901 – 3 August 1969) was an Australian judge who served as a Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1952 until his death in 1969.
Brought up in an Anglican family, Taylor initially wanted to join the church, but obtained a job as a public servant while waiting to study to be a priest, and was eventually employed in the office of the Solicitor-General of Australia, where he developed an interest in law.
[1] Taylor studied at Fort Street Boys' High School and the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree, with honours, in 1926.
At the invitation of the Lord Chancellor, Baron Gardiner, Taylor spent three months in 1967 in London hearing Privy Council appeals.
In a tribute published in the Commonwealth Law Reports, Barwick said of Taylor that he was: "...wise in conference, confident and practical in decision and gentle in dissent... [what] is uppermost in our minds is the warmth of his friendship, his unfailing good humour, and his ready turn of wit and phrase on all occasions, making our daily association with him pleasant and memorable...