Lyra Veronica Esmeralda Taylor OBE (11 July 1894 – 1979) was a New Zealand lawyer and social worker. She spent much of her career in Australia.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Lyra_Taylor.png/220px-Lyra_Taylor.png)
Taylor was born on 11 July 1894 in Stratford, New Zealand. She was one of four children of Robert Taylor, a farmer from England, and his New Zealand-born wife Mary, née Morrison. One of her siblings was Clara Taylor, who became a science teacher in England.[1][2] Another sister, Portia, became a doctor in England, and Taylor's only brother became a barrister.[3][4]
Taylor studied law at the Victoria University of Wellington, and was "called to the bar" in 1918,[5] the first woman to be a barrister in Wellington.[1] In 1919, Taylor was made partner at a law firm which duly renamed itself as Kirk, Wilson, and Taylor.[6]
In early 1940 Taylor was appointed general secretary of the Y.W.C.A. in New South Wales.[7] In 1944 she started work with the Australian Department of Social Services.[8] Taylor was sent on a 10 month study tour of England, Canada and the United States sponsored by the Carnegie Trust.[9][10]
Taylor was a founding member of the Australian Association of Social Workers.[1]
In the 1959 Queen's Birthday Honours, Taylor was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.[11][12]
References
edit- ^ a b c Bundock, Anthea. "Taylor, Lyra Veronica Esmeralda (1894–1979)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ^ "Women's World: New Zealand author". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "Current Topics". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "Wedding in England". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ "Auckland Star – Personal – 1 April 1918". Auckland Star. 1 April 1918. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ "Evening Post Vol XCVIII Issue 105 31 October 2019 pg 6: Legal". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- ^ "Y.W.C.A. SECRETARY". Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954). 11 January 1940. p. 19. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
- ^ Quentin Bryce (8 July 2009). "Opening the National Australian Social Policy Conference – 8 July 2009". Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ^ "Youth Clubs Tell World Of Democracy". Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954). 14 January 1949. p. 7. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
- ^ "MISS LYRA TAYLOR RETURNS". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 33, 351. New South Wales, Australia. 14 November 1944. p. 5. Retrieved 30 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Obituary – Miss Lyra Taylor, O.B.E., M.A., LL.B.". Australian Social Work. 32 (3): 49–50. September 1979. doi:10.1080/03124077908549568.
- ^ "Supplement to The London Gazette, 13th June 1959". The London Gazette. Government of the United Kingdom. 5 June 1959. p. 3737. Retrieved 19 November 2014.