George Taylor

     George Taylor was born on 5 March 1877 at 29 St Martin's Place, Brighton, Sussex, England.¹ He was the son of Moses Taylor and Harriet Terry.
George Taylor was working in domestic service in Portslade where he met Annie Wadey his future wife.
George Taylor was a groom on 3 January 1897.
George Taylor married Annie Mary Wadey, daughter of Henry Wadey and Mary Packham, on 3 January 1897 at St Nicholas Church, Portslade, Sussex, England.²
Circa 1897 George Taylor started a career as a cab driver when he bought a Landau cab with horses for 75 pounds, eventually owning a fleet of 6 cabs.
On 6 February 1899 George Taylor and Annie Mary Wadey lived at 47 Elm Grove, Brighton, Sussex, England.
George Taylor was a cab proprietor with own horses and stables. on 6 February 1899.
George Taylor was a hackney carriage proprietor in 1901.
In 1901 George Taylor and Annie Mary Wadey lived at 11 London St, Brighton West, Sussex, England.
Circa 1908 George and Annie separated, but never got divorced.
Circa 1908 George Taylor and Sarah Gurr, daughter of Alfred Gurr and Emily Turner, lived together but never married.
George had met Sarah Langridge (maiden name Gurr, born Pilt Down, Sussex) at the hotel that she and her husband operated. They both left their spouses and lived together but never married. Sarah's son Jack came to live with them (she had two daughters May and Ann also). They first lived in Essex Rd near Queens Park and George had several cabs and men driving for him. They had a daughter Florence Minnie (called Minnie), born 1.11.1908 in Kemptown. They had another daughter Lillian about 1913/14 but she died soon after birth. Jack lived with them until he was 16 years old (about 1910/11) when he left to go to Canada with his father and family.³
On 2 April 1911 George Taylor and Sarah Gurr lived at 18 Lavender St, Brighton, Sussex, England.
George & Sarah operated a pub for 2 years called "The Flowing Stream" in Newhaven St. They sold this just before WW1.
In 1914 the government took all George's good horses for the War although he ran his cab for another two years. He volunteered for WW I (1916 ?) rather than wait to be called up and drove trucks in France although he hated being in the army. His mother Harriet died in 1918 while he was away and he was unable to get leave to come home. George was very close to his mother.
When he came back from WW I George could not make a living with the horse and cab as the motor car was now popular. He bought his first car, a Star, in 1919 in partnership with a friend for 300 pounds. They had a lot of mechanical problems with it and he eventually bought out his partner. Sometime during or soon after WW I he was Secretary of the Brighton Branch of the London and Provincial Vehicular Association.
George and Sarah operated another pub for about 4 years called the Rose and Crown mostly run by Sarah while George operated the taxi.
During WW II Arthur's son Ron would often find George at the taxi rank outside the Brighton station when he was home on leave. George would give him a few shillings to buy a drink. The licence number of his taxi at this time was FCD 628 (from a photograph).
Sarah died on 13.10.1942 and George then lived with his married daughter Minnie for 26 years until he died in 1968. According to Minnie, George began visiting Annie after Sarah died but he never talked about it.³
George visited Arthur and Ada at 23 Hartington Rd just before they left for Australia in 1948 but only the children were home. He left them 100 pounds wrapped up in newspaper. Last contact with him was when R.L. and F.A. Barber left for Australia in 1950. He was living in Bevendean (an outer estate of Brighton) with his daughter Minnie who was running a newsagents and tobacconists shop.
In 1957 George Taylor lived at 66 Reigate Rd, Brighton, Sussex, England.
George Taylor retired in 1959. George drove his taxi until he was 82 years old when the Hackney Carriage Inspector suggested that he retire. His daughter Minnie says that he retired most reluctantly as he was the type of man who would work all the hours there were. His taxi had been part of the Streamline fleet (Streamline Supply Co., Ltd.). According to a newspaper article he never had an accident during his career but preferred the horse and cab to the modern day taxi.³
Contact was lost with George, Annie and the rest of the Taylor family when Arthur and Ada moved to Australia. However, it was learnt in 1988 that the family in Brighton had seen Arthur's death notice which Freda Barber had placed in the Brighton Evening Argus in 1966.³
In 1968 George Taylor lived at 122 Cuckmere Way, Brighton, Sussex, England.
George Taylor died on 25 March 1968 at Brighton, Sussex, England, at age 91.⁴
His body was cremated at Extra Mural Cemetery, Bear Rd, Brighton, Sussex, England.
George Taylor had made a will on 10 February 1957. He left his estate to his daughter Florence Minnie Topping (nee Taylor). On his death the estate was valued at 5,159 pounds.