He was born at Bay of Biscay in Victoria to merchant James Taylor and Elizabeth Park.
Educated at Ballarat, he left school at fourteen and entered the product merchandise trade.
He married Elizabeth Laverick at Ballarat around 1884; they had two daughters.
He moved to Sydney in 1884, where he opened a branch of the firm he worked for, John Gray and Sons.
In 1908 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the Liberal member for St George, serving until his retirement in 1913.