Author: Taylor, Ann
Biography:
TAYLOR, Ann, later GILBERT (1782-1886: ODNB)
She was born in London, the eldest child of Isaac Taylor (q.v.) and his wife Ann Martin: of the eleven children born to them, three girls and three boys grew to adulthood. The Taylors were committed dissenters who took charge of the education of their children. They lived first in London, moved to Lavenham to be in the countryside, then to Colchester when Isaac Taylor accepted a call to be the minister of the Independent chapel there in 1796, and finally to Ongar. Both parents and four of the children became published authors. All the boys were formally apprenticed to their father, who was an engraver by profession, but the girls also learnt the trade and assisted in the workroom. With her younger sister Jane (q.v.), Ann played at making up stories and writing verses, games that led to their fruitful authorial collaboration. It was Ann who set them on the path with contributions to an annual, The Minors' Pocket Book, which led in 1803 to an open invitation from the Quaker publishers Darton and Harvey for members of the family to submit verses for children. Ann also took on, for a time, the editorship of the Pocket Book. Between 1804 and 1818, the family earned over £1000 from their agreement with the firm, which also employed them as engravers (Darton xxvi). In 1813 Ann Taylor married a childless widower, Joseph Gilbert (1779-1852), a Congregationalist minister, and went to live with him in the northern cities where he worked (Rotherham, Hull, Nottingham); they had seven children. In her married life she continued writing occasionally as a reviewer and supporter of good causes. After her death, her son Josiah Gilbert published her Autobiography and Other Memorials (1874). She is buried in the Nottingham General Cemetery. ("Taylor [née Martin], Ann," "Taylor, Isaac," "Taylor, Jane," ODNB 12 Nov. 2020; Darton; Todd 2; Orlando)
Other Names:
- Ann Gilbert
- Mrs. Gilbert