CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Gordon Taylor (aviator)

Australian writer (1896–1966)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ1231047 ↗
Source-derived summary

Sir Patrick Gordon Taylor, (21 October 1896 – 15 December 1966), commonly known as Bill Taylor, was an Australian aviator and author. He was born in Mosman, Sydney, and died in Honolulu.

Taylor attended The Armidale School in northern New South Wales. At the beginning of the First World War he applied to join the Australian Flying Corps but was rejected. He subsequently went to Britain and was commissioned into the Royal Flying Corps in 1916, joining No. 66 Squadron, based at RAF Filton. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917 and promoted to captain, also serving with Nos. 94 and 88 Squadrons.

Following the war, he returned to Australia and embarked on a career in civil aviation, working as a private pilot for de Havilland Aircraft Company in the 1920s. He flew as a captain with Australian National Airways 1930–31.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Gordon Taylor (aviator)” as australian writer (1896–1966). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gordon, Taylor and aviator.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1896, 1966, 1916, 1917—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1896-10-21. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Gordon, Taylor and aviator providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Gordon Taylor (aviator)”, the useful work is to connect “australian writer (1896–1966)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1231047. VIAF identifies the subject as 78911125. The Library of Congress control number is no2009015200. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1896, 1966, 1916 and 1917.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Gordon Taylor (aviator)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Gordon Taylor (aviator) primary sources, Gordon Taylor (aviator) archive and Gordon research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gordon Taylor (aviator)”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Gordon Taylor (aviator)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.