John Taylor (1821-1890), son of an Oxford carpenter, was a settler to York, Western Australia who arrived in 1841, was indentured to Thomas Brown, leased and then purchased Yangedine,[a] used progressive machinery, and built a farming estate.
[1] He grew up poor, "earning half a crown a week by cutting turnips for sheep, and how, in the winter, his feet were so covered with chilblains that he could scarcely pull on his boots in the morning, or do anything but 'hobble and cry' for the first quarter of a mile after starting to go to work".
[1] Before leaving, he visited his old master, "who gave him sixpence as a parting present, accompanied by the time honoured advice 'to keep it always in his pocket, so that he might never want money'".
"When he when he sowed his first bit of land his wife did the bird-scaring with a decrepit gun, of which the cock was missing, so that she had to hit the cap with a hammer each time she fired.
[8] In mid 1850, a "poor" Irish immigrant was denied rations normally allowed to immigrants because he refused offers of employment by Taylor: After being made aware of the consequences of a refusal to accept work, this 'poor Irishman' received the following, what most people would consider, and what we certainly do consider, very liberal offer from Mr John Taylor, of Beverley, - viz, 2s6d per diem, with a house and garden rent free, his wife to wash for the family, and receive payment according to the usual colonial rate, one of his children to be clothed and fed in exchange for his services as a childsmaid, and moreover the man to be at liberty to look about and make more satisfactory terms for himself elsewhere if he thought he could better himself.
He was consequently considered not a fit object for public sympathy or charity, and it was deemed unjust that the colony, which was put to much expense by the support of these men, should be further burdened with his maintenance.
[9]At the meeting of the York Agricultural Society in July 1851, Taylor responded to a toast to the yeoman of Western Australia.
"He said that he was proud to call himself one of that class; he came to Western Australia with no other capital than his hands, but by sticking to work, he had succeeded in getting a little stock around him.
"[10][j] On 15 July 1854, Taylor's son, George,[12] died from burns, as reported in the Perth Gazette: A melancholy accident happened on Saturday last at Yangedine near York.
Some men clearing for Mr Taylor, had a large fire burning up the rubbish, round which Mr Taylor's little boy was playing heedless of repeated warnings not to go near it, unfortunately the fire caught the little fellows frock and he running towards home was soon enveloped in flames, which completely burnt the whole of his clothes, leaving nothing but his waistband and wrist bands, and so much injuring him that he died in a few hours afterwards.
The servants were therefore in a position to share in the advantages of the artificial life which was breathed into Swan River by the introduction of convicts in 1850, when a sheep, which but a short time before had been worth only eighteenpence, rose suddenly in price to a guinea, and every other description of farm produce acquired a fictitious value.In October 1855, Taylor announced he was selling his "magnificent, thorough-bred" horse Flos Collium because he was about to leave the Colony for England.
[16][l] Taylor was "amongst the individuals who profited most by the colony becoming a penal settlement, and, on finding himself a rich man, he visited England for the purpose of assisting his relations at home".
[25] In 1859, A ticket of leave man called John Cooper passed a cheque in his name for £15 and was prosecuted and Taylor gave evidence.
'"[v] He was soon operating on a large scale, employing 15 reapers for his 1866 harvest, and nine years later advertised for a team to shear his flock of 15,000 sheep.
"In December 1866 he called for tenders for ten miles of fencing on his estate, and specified that it was to be built from 'Jam trees cut down and laid at rights angles to the boundaries of the land: to be filled up sufficiently close to keep in sheep.
[44] After spending a total of £10,000 in improvements, he sold Yangedine to the Darlot brothers, and went to reside in a home in York called The Retreat.
His foot became infected and he became seriously ill. As he was fading, he made a new will leaving specific assets to family members including his widow Rebecca.
To avoid another trial, the disputing sides of the family worked out a deal and settled the matter, with four fifths of the residuary estate going to the widow and the balance going to his children.