Archibald Taylor was born on the 19 July 1839 in Edinburgh, the youngest of eight children born to Lt Colonel John Taylor and Sarah Falconar Graham. He died on 14 April 1889 from the effects of dysentery.
It is believed that he travelled to Dunedin, New Zealand with his mother and siblings in 1850. It is unclear when he settled to Fiji.
He married Mary Charlotte Pickering on 4 June 1873 at Dela Ni Vanua, Tailevu. They had three children: George, who was born in 1880 and drowned just over a year later in a tragic boating mishap; Sybil, who was born on 24 June 1881 in Taveuni, Cakaudrove, and married Arthur Baynes Edwards in Taveuni. They had four children – Reginald Rex (born 1902), Stella Edwards (born 1909), Geoffrey Lennox Elliot Edwards (born 1 October 1910) and Oliver Graham Roger Edwards (born 7 January 1917). Finally, there was John Graham Falconer Taylor who was born on 25 January 1877.
It is believed that Archibald and Charlotte settled on land owned by Charlotte Pickering.
The marriage was Charlotte’s second. Her first marriage was to an Inspector Morton from New Zealand.
Archibald Taylor was a Stipendiary Magistrate for Yasawa, Ba, Nadroga & Taveuni and a Commissioner of the Supreme Court.
He was appointed to the Civil Service on 14 September 1875. He was reputed to be fair and compassionate. This did not necessarily go down well in some quarters in the colony. In The History of Fiji by R.A.Derrick, it is alleged that some settlers were against him for sentencing an overseer for assaulting a native. Letters were sent to Archibald ‘refusing all social intercourse’.
This article was written by Clive Underwood and originally appeared in The Taylor Gazette published for the 2014 Reunion.
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