Chapter Taylor to Tennyson of T by Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

Taylor to Tennyson

Taylor, John (1580-1653).—Known as the “Water Poet,” born at Gloucester of humble parentage, was apprenticed to a London waterman, and pressed for the navy. Thereafter he returned to London and resumed his occupation on the Thames, afterwards keeping inns first at Oxford, then in London. He had a talent for writing rollicking verses, enjoyed the acquaintance of Ben Jonson, and other famous men, superintended the water pageant at the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth 1613, and composed the “triumphs” at the Lord Mayor’s shows. He made a journey on foot from London as far as to Braemar, of which he wrote an account, The Pennyless Pilgrimage…of John Taylor, the King’s Majesty’s Water Poet (1618). He visited the Queen of Bohemia at Prague in 1620, and made other journeys, each of which was commemorated in a book. His writings are of little literary value, but have considerable historical and antiquarian interest.

Taylor, Philip Meadows (1808-1876).—Novelist, born at Liverpool, son of a merchant there. When still a boy went out to a mercantile situation in Calcutta, but in 1826 got a commission in the army of the Nizam of Hyderabad. From this he rose to a high civil position in the service of the Nizam, and entirely reorganised his government. He wrote several striking novels dealing with Indian life, including Confessions of a Thug (1639), Tara, and A Noble Queen. He left an autobiography, The Story of my Life, edited by his daughter

Taylor, Thomas (1758-1835).—Translator, born in London and ed. at St. Paul’s School, devoted himself to the study of the classics and of mathematics. After being a bank clerk he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Society for the encouragement of Arts, etc., in which capacity he made many influential friends, who furnished the means for publishing his various translations, which include works of Plato, Aristotle, Proclus, Porphyry, Apuleius, etc. His aim indeed was the translation of all the untranslated writings of the ancient Greek philosophers.

Taylor, Tom (1817-1880).—Dramatist, born at Sunderland, educated at Glasgow and Cambridge, and was Professor of English Literature in London University from 1845-47. In 1846 he was called to the Bar, and from 1854-71 he was Sec. to the Local Government Board. He was the author of about 100 dramatic pieces, original and adapted, including Still Waters run Deep, The Overland Route, and Joan of Arc. He was likewise a large contributor to Punch, of which he was editor 1874-80, and he edited the autobiographies of Haydon and Leslie, the painters, and wrote Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Taylor, William (1765-1836).—Translator, etc., son of a merchant, travelled on the Continent, learned German, and became an enthusiastic student of German literature, which he was one of the first to introduce to his fellow-countrymen. His articles on the subject were College and published as Historic Survey of German Poetry (1828-30). He translated Buürger’s Lenore, Lessing’s Nathan, and Goethe’s Iphigenia. He also wrote Tales of Yore (1810) and English Synonyms Described (1813).

Temple, Sir William (1628-1699).—Statesman and essayist, son of Sir John Temple, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, was born in London, and ed. at Cambridge He travelled on the Continent, was for some time a member of the Irish Parliament, employed on various diplomatic missions, and negotiated the marriage of the Prince of Orange and the Princess Mary. On his return he was much consulted by Charles II., but disapproving of the courses adopted, retired to his house at Sheen, which he afterwards left and purchased Moor Park, where Swift was for a time his secretrayHe took no part in the Revolution, but acquiesced in the new régime, and was offered, but refused, the Secretaryship of State. His works consist for the most part of short essays College under the title of Miscellanea, but longer pieces are Observations upon the United Provinces, and Essay on the Original and Nature of Government. Apart from their immediate interest they mark a transition to the simpler, more concise, and more carefully arranged sentences of modern composition.

Tennant, William (1784-1848).—Poet and scholar, a cripple from his birth, was born at Anstruther (commonly called Anster) in Fife. As a youth he was clerk to his brother, a corn-merchant, but devoted his leisure to the study of languages, and the literature of various countries. In 1813 he became parish schoolmaster of Lasswade, near Edinburgh, thereafter classical master at Dollar Academy, and in 1835