Author: Taylor, P.
Biography:
TAYLOR, P. (fl 1814)
Miscellaneous Metricals was published in Birmingham by subscription in 1814; for the present purposes of this headnote, without a digital copy of the book and its list of subscribers no precise identification of the author is possible. There is a good deal of information on the title-page, however, and some inferences can be made. The writer had been a customs officer (“late Deputy Customer Inwards”) at the port of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and a member of the relatively new (from 1793) Literary and Philosophical Society, which met monthly to discuss matters of scientific, historical, and literary interest. Members were instructed to avoid the subjects of religion and politics. In 1799 a category of Reading Members was introduced: this group had no voting rights but it could include women. Assuming that he was a native of Newcastle, his name was probably Peter since all the P. Taylors baptised between 1770 and 1790 were Peters. His “sadly imperfect verses” had at least one hostile review which pointed out that “the praise of a country town is no passport to fame.” Taylor does not appear to have ventured into print again. (ancestry.com 4 Aug. 2024; findmypast.com 4 Aug. 2024; MR 74 [1814] 431-2) HJ