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John Taylor
JUDGE John Taylor, who has died after a long illness at the age of 65, was considered a man ahead of his generation and an inspiration to many who followed him.
Respected for his professional competence, courtesy and compassion he had not followed the traditional educational and career path on to the Circuit Bench, proving that hard work and talent could still bring the same rewards.
John Ashley Taylor was born in 1946 in Leeds and grew up in the city. After failing his 11 plus his parents decided to send him to Leeds City High where he passed his O levels before leaving school at 18.
He then went to work as a court clerk in Batley attending Park Lane College in Leeds in the evenings to do his A levels.
At the age of 21 his talent was recognised and he was promoted, moving to Bradford Magistrates’ Court where local solicitors soon realised his abilities.
Two of the partners at Lee and Priestley, Brian Walker and John Waite invited him to go to their firm and he did his articles there with John Priestley, working in Bradford and Pudsey.
He began practising criminal and family law and was often on night duty at the local police stations. He qualified as a solicitor in 1980 at the age of 34, staying with the firm and eventually becoming an equity partner in 1991, and when the decision was taken to open an office in Leeds he headed the team.
It was in family law that he built up his real reputation recognising the expanding area of that work in the 1980s particularly in care proceedings as a result of the Children Act in 1989 and he was regularly instructed on behalf not only of parents but also the children’s guardians.
He was chairman for two years of the West and North Yorkshire Solicitors’ Family Law Association, now known as Resolution, and was actively involved in building relationships with the Bar.
The joint training of family law barristers and solicitors, begun in part through his efforts, still continues today.
In 1992 he was appointed a deputy district judge and five years later as an assistant recorder, not daunted as a family lawyer on the occasions he then sat on crime cases in Crown Courts.
As junior colleagues came in to the practice at Lee and Priestley they found him a supportive mentor who gave them wise counsel as they developed as young lawyers, until he left the firm on his appointment to the district bench in 1998. He became a recorder two years later.
Sailing was a passion of his with family holidays often taken at St Mawes in Cornwall, where he sailed dinghies.
He also progressed to yachts and once on a boat where the rest of the crew were all rather assertive doctors, three of whom thought they were the skipper, and all of whom were shouting out instructions he turned to them with characteristic and calm good humour saying “I can do anything on this boat, but only one thing at once.”
He was on a sailing trip with colleagues when he told them he was “jumping ship” because of an unavoidable appointment with the Lord Chancellor at the House of Lords where he was sworn in as a circuit judge in 2006.
He sat mainly in Leeds and also in Bradford but sadly his career on the bench was all too short, in the autumn of that year being diagnosed with cancer, although that did not stop him working while having treatment.
During his days as a judge he enhanced the opinion of both staff and those appearing in front of him as a courteous, highly competent professional and colleagues from all sections of the legal community packed a Leeds courtroom for his eulogy.
In his early working years John Taylor and his brother Philip would enjoy camping in Dalby Forest so they could watch the annual RAC rally. He was also a runner and regularly rose early for a jog before work.
Later in life he also took up cycling and for many years did the Great Yorkshire Bike ride from Wetherby to Filey, always wanting to beat his previous times.
He also had a tandem with his wife Anne.
A devoted family man he met her when he was 15 and she 12.
At 18 he plucked up courage to ask her out and they married four years later. He saw his family life throughout as his safe harbour.
They had four children, sadly daughter Hannah dying when just a few days old.
He is survived by Anne, son Nick and daughters Victoria and Alex.
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