William Francis Kyffin Taylor, 1st Baron Maenan (9 July 1854 – 22 September 1951) was a prominent English barrister and judge. He was a

Railway and Canal Commission The Railway and Canal Commission was a British court of record A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal. A court clerk or a court rep ...

er from 1930 to its abolition in 1949, and was its last member.

Background and education

Taylor was the son of the Venerable William Francis Taylor,

Archdeacon of Liverpool The archdeacons in the Diocese of Liverpool are senior ecclesiastical officers in the Church of England in a highly irregular area surrounding the city of Liverpool. They are the archdeacons of Liverpool, of St Helens and Warrington, of Knows ...

. He was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, educated at

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a coeducational day and boarding school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, Headmasters' Conference. History Liverpool Coll ...

(of which he became vice-president in 1927) and later attended

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, where he graduated as BA in 1877. He studied law at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

and became barrister in 1879. Two of his brothers were politicians: Brigadier-General Gerald Kyffin-Taylor, member of parliament for Kirkdale, and Austin Kyffin Taylor, member for East Toxteth.thepeerage.com William Francis Kyffin Taylor, 1st and last Baron Maenan
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Legal and judicial career

Taylor's legal career was one of prestige, becoming a

Q.C. QC may refer to: Places * Quebec, a Canadian province ** Quebec City, its capital * Quezon City, Philippines * The Quad Cities, an American metropolitan area along the Mississippi River * QualiEd College, a Hong Kong high school Arts and entert ...

in 1895 and holding the office of Presiding Judge of the Court of Passage between 1903 and 1948. Other offices he held included

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

in 1901–03,

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

of the

in 1905, Justice of the Peace for

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

(1916), Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire (1931), Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for Shropshire, Judge of Appeal for the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

between 1918 and 1921, Vice-President of the War Compensation Court between 1920 and 1928 and Treasurer of the Inner Temple in 1926. He was also a Commissioner of the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

in 1928. He retired from the bench in April 1948, at 93 years and 9 months and only three years before his death, making him then the oldest serving judge in Great Britain. Taylor was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(KBE) in 1918 and promoted to Knight Grand Cross (GBE) in 1929. For his services to the judiciary he was raised to the peerage as Baron Maenan, of Ellesmere in the County of Shropshire, on 29 June 1948, then aged 93 and the oldest person ever to be made a peer.

Family

Taylor married Mary, a daughter of Robert Crooks, in 1883. In later life he had a country home in Shropshire at Gadlas Hall in

Dudleston Heath Dudleston Heath (also referred to as Criftins) is a village in north-west Shropshire, England. It is located on the B5068 road between Ellesmere and St Martin's and is part of Ellesmere Rural civil parish. The Wales-England border is just t ...

, which he rented out to

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

's family during their exile in England in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He died in September 1951, aged 97. His title became extinct on his death, as he had no male heir. The

Francis Taylor Building Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie29 ...

(built in 1957) in the Inner Temple is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maenan, Francis Taylor, 1st Baron 1854 births 1951 deaths People educated at Liverpool College Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire English barristers 20th-century King's Counsel 20th-century English judges Members of the Inner Temple Barons created by George VI Lawyers from Liverpool