John Parkin Taylor

John Parkin Taylor
John Parkin Taylor in 1860
2nd Superintendent of Southland Province
In office 13 March 1865 – 7 September 1869
Preceded by	James Alexander Robertson Menzies
Succeeded by	William Wood
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Dunedin Country
In office 16 June 1858 – 5 November 1860
Preceded by	John Cargill
Succeeded by	electorate abolished
Personal details
Born	1812 Treeton, England
Died	12 August 1875 (aged 63) Riverton, New Zealand
Resting place	Riverton Cemetery
Spouse(s)	Ismene Taylor
Residence	Waldeck, Riverton
Occupation	runholder, politician

John Parkin Taylor (1812 – 12 August 1875) was a 19th-century New Zealand , and a politician in Otago and Southland. In his early life, Taylor lived in various countries and studied languages in Germany. He worked as a merchant and got married when he returned to England. Taylor's family emigrated to New Zealand in 1849 and he was a sheep farmer in various parts of the South Island before finally settling on a run near Riverton in Southland, where he had his homestead 'Waldeck' built. He entered the House of Representatives for the Dunedin Country electorate through a by-election in 1858 but fell out with many of his constituents over a broken election promise, as he helped the Southland Province to break away from the Otago Province. He eventually became Southland's second Superintendent and served from 1865 to 1869, and also represented an electorate on the Southland Provincial Council for a few months. In 1865, he was appointed to the New Zealand Legislative Council and with one break in membership due to non-attendance, he remained a member until his death. He served for one year as mayor of Riverton (1872–73) but did not stand again due to poor health. Taylor had a painful illness and died in 1875.

Taylor was born in Treeton near Rotherham, England in 1812. After his education, he worked as a merchant in Liverpool (England), Havana (Cuba), and then Germany. In the latter country, he studied languages and gained an appreciation of German literature. He went back to England, settled in Rotherham, went into business there, and got married to Ismene De Chapte.