On Tuesday, members of the Taylors Wines family visited the original homestead and property of their ancestor Henry Taylor near Kalaru, which is still a functioning dairy farm today. 

“It was quite emotional,” managing director and winemaker Mitchell Taylor said. 

“We felt very grateful about the heritage and the way the Taylors came from the north of England and set up an enterprising dairy business and kept the tradition alive.” 

With his 81-year-old father Bill, as well as his brother Justin and sister Victoria, he visited the farm that is owned by his second cousin Vincent Taylor.

There is a tragedy behind the first member of the family to settle in the district, Mitchell’s great-great-grandfather Henry. 

He emigrated from Chesterfield in England and settled near Bega in the 1860s. Mitchell said when Henry was 29, he was returning home on the bullock train when he fell off and died when the bullocks ran over him, leaving behind his wife Ann and four young children.

“They would have had a hard existence growing up on the farm under those conditions,” Mitchell said. 

There is a lasting memorial to the man, as Henry Taylor Rd in Jellat Jellat is named after him. 

Henry’s son John stayed in the Bega Valley, and is who Vincent is descended from, while his other son William set up a farm near Bodalla. 

That was where the son of William, Mitchell’s grandfather Wilbred who was known as “Big Bill”, grew up before moving to Sydney and eventually starting Taylors Wines in the Clare Valley, a highly-regarded company that has now won over 5500 medals including 69 trophies. 

Due to the Taylors’ family connections to the Bega Valley, would they consider staring a winery in the area?

“I’ve thought about it, and I would love to. I think there’d be some challenges, but one of the great foods that go with wine is cheese!” Mitchell said.

He plans on visiting England to discover why Henry left the country originally.