Author: Taylor, Nugent
Biography:
TAYLOR, Nugent, later TAILLEFER (1815-93: ancestry.co.uk)
He was born on 24 Sept. 1815 and baptised as George Nugent Taylor at St. Bride’s Fleet Street, London, on 8 Nov., the son of Josiah Taylor (1768-1850) and Mary Ann Parsons (1777-1843), who had married at St. Clement Danes in 1796. Nothing is known of his education. As Nugent Taylor he published three volumes of poems, Santa Maura (1833), Ianthe (1839), and Rhymes (1847). He also edited the Court Gazette in 1833 and contributed to Arnold’s Magazine of the Fine Arts in 1834, the Musical Gazette in 1835, and other periodicals. At some point between 1847 and 1851 he began to use the surname Taillefer--possibly inspired by the minstrel who sang the Song of Roland before the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He seems to have thought of himself as an army poet in later years, publishing The British Cavalry Songs (1854), Rondeaus of the British Army (1871), The Dear Old Regiment (1879), and similar volumes. (He may have served briefly in the 77th Regiment of Foot but in the censuses always listed his occupation as “Author.” He married Mary Jenner (1820-65) at Lambeth in 1844. They had four children; three sons served in the armed forces. After her death (as Mary Taillefer) on 8 Apr. 1865, he married Mary Anne Wood (1829-81) at St. Pancras Old Church on 24 Oct. 1865. Following her death in 1881 (as Mary Anne Taillefer), he married Maria Nott (1842-1913) at Lambeth later that year. There does not appear to have been further issue from the second and third marriages. The 1851 and 1861 Censuses locate him with his family in Gravesend, Kent. After his first wife’s death he seems to have moved back to London and from 1871 until his death he is recorded at various cottages in Hounslow. The failure of his publisher, Lamborn, Cook and Co. of Bond Street, resulted in having to sell his furniture and clothing to buy food and applying to the RLF for assistance. Between 1872 and 1874 he made several applications (as Nugent Taillefer) and was given one award of £25. He died on 26 Nov. 1893, aged 78, and was buried at Hounslow cemetery. (RLF 1901; ancestry.co.uk 27 May 2023; findmypast.co.uk 27 May 2023) AA