Theodore Cooke Taylor

Who was Theodore Cooke Taylor?

Theodore Cooke Taylor was a British businessman and Liberal politician. He was best known for pioneering profit-sharing in his business activities and for leading a movement against the opium trade. Taylor also stands as the longest-lived member of the British Parliament, living to age 102.

Taylor was born in Carlinghow, Batley, Yorkshire and was the eldest son of Joshua Taylor and his wife Alice née Cooke. Both sides of the family were involved in the textile industry: the Taylors had been making cloth since the eighteenth century in Batley, while Alice Cooke's father had established a carpet manufacturing business at Liversedge.

Following education at Batley Grammar School and Silcoates School near Wakefield, Theodore joined the family business of J T & J Taylor Limited in 1866. In 1891 he became head of Taylor's and in the following year bought out the other partners to become its sole proprietor. His object in taking control was to institute a system of profit-sharing, and in 1896 he transformed the business into a private limited company. The new company, after paying five percent on capital, distributed the remaining profits to all workers employed for a year or more. Eventually the majority of the share ownership passed to the workforce, and at Taylor's death in 1952 more than 75% of the company's capital was shared between 2,000 workers.