Author: TAYLOR, John
Biography:
TAYLOR, John (1750-1826: ODNB)
Born in Norwich, he was one of eight children of Margaret (Meadows) and Richard Taylor, a manufacturer in Colegate, Norfolk. His grandfather was John Taylor (1694-1761: ODNB), a Presbyterian minister and writer. John was educated by Mr. Akers at Hindolveston but his schooling ended in 1762 when his father died and John was required to help with the family business. From 1765 he served an apprenticeship in a firm of Norwich manufacturers before going to London where he worked as a bank clerk for two years. On his return to Norwich in 1773, he and a brother established a yarn factory. In 1777 he married Susanna Cook; they had seven children. For fifty years he served as the deacon of the Octagon Presbyterian Unitarian Chapel. He composed many hymns and verses which were widely used in Unitarian services. His other writings include History of the Octagon Chapel, Norwich (1848); it was completed and published after his death by his son, Edward, who in 1863 issued a new edition of Hymns and Miscellaneous Poems with a memoir of his father. John died at the home of another son, Richard, in Halesowen, Shropshire, following a fall. He was interred in the Unitarian burial grounds in Birmingham. His wife, Susanna, had predeceased him in 1823; a gifted woman who educated her daughters and held literary gatherings, she was a close friend of Anna Laetitia Barbauld (q.v.) and other writers. Several of the Taylors’ children have entries in the ODNB. (ODNB 13 Nov. 2020; Hymns and Miscellaneous Poems [1863])