During World War II, Newcastle was subject to bombing raids and Taylor was evacuated to Penrith where he lived in a house without either running water or mains electricity.
Taylor also took on John Ryman, a fellow Barrister and Labour Member of Parliament for Blyth Valley who was found to have submitted fraudulent election expenses.
Although all involved were acquitted, most observers put this down to the summing-up of the trial judge and the malpractice of the prosecution witnesses; Taylor won praise for his handling of the case.
His opening address is frequently quoted; Taylor's style of oratory was deliberately concise and straightforward but he had a talent for a punning literary allusion.
After serving as Chairman of the Bar Council for 1979–80, he was made a full High Court judge in the Queen's Bench Division, receiving the customary knighthood.
In 1987 he stated that he did not accept that a judge could not inquire further when a minister raised a justification of 'national security' for their actions (the case concerned the telephone tapping of Joan Ruddock).
The Taylor Report he produced led to the introduction of all-seater stadia at all top English football clubs, and the removal of fences around fans sitting areas.
Not only did he start his tenure by holding an unprecedented press conference, he appeared as a guest on BBC television's Question Time and as a castaway on Desert Island Discs.
Taylor differed from his immediate predecessor in considering this an immensely serious issue, and knew from his own experience of prosecuting Judith Ward and Stefan Kiszko that many more cases could come to light.
Taylor was with the grain of public opinion in supporting stronger sentences on drunk drivers who killed, and he also extended the range of defences available to domestic violence victims who fought back.
He stepped down in 1996, although did not go quietly: in a series of speeches in the House of Lords over the next year he strongly attacked proposals from the then Home Secretary, Michael Howard, to introduce mandatory sentencing, which he said "must involve a denial of justice".