Who Taylor was and when he made his mistake remains unclear. The name was current from at least 1853, and is commonly held to refer to a ship's captain who mistook the bay for Lyttelton Harbor. The prime candidate is the Gwalior, which was shepherded to Lyttelton bay in 1853 by the first mate Mr Taylor after Captain Davidson had thrown himself overboard in an alcoholic fit.
Taylor’s mistake is a small bay Southeast of Christchurch in New Zealand.
Around Taylor bay you can , go to Sapodilla Bay, you can rent a jet ski at Sapodilla Bay, You can go on a TCI Safari Tour, go to Anna’s Art Gallery and go on a Heritage tour while horseback riding.
On 16 December 1885, at Taylor’s Mistake, a bay already clouded in mystery and maritime drama, a hand was found by two men fishing off the rocks. Identified by a ring still on it, the hand was claimed by a Mrs Sarah Howard as being that of her husband. Mr Arthur Howard’s clothing had been found on Sumner beach on 11 October the same year. Mr Howard, who was a mechanic had life insurance to the value of ₤2,400 - a considerable amount of money for this time. The sum Mrs Howard stood to gain from her husband’s demise, as well as several other aspects of the case, raised police suspicions. This led to the two fishermen and Mrs Howard being arrested for conspiracy to defraud an insurance company. Mr Howard was later tracked down in Petone, at a YMCA picnic (both hands intact) and was arrested.