John Ellor Taylor (1837,

Levenshulme Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish; it is approximately halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6. Levenshulme is predominantly re ...

, England–1895,

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, England) was an English popular science writer, journalist and museum curator.

Early life

The eldest son of William Taylor (died 1864), foreman in a Lancashire cotton-factory, and his wife Maria (born Ellor), he was born at

, near Manchester, on 21 September 1837. He received no education except some desultory instruction at a school held in the Wesleyan chapel, which he supplemented by private study. About 1850 he obtained a situation as store-boy at the locomotive works of the London and North-Western Railway at

Longsight Longsight is an inner city suburb of Manchester, England, located south of the city centre. It is bounded by Ardwick and West Gorton to the north; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park and Fallowfield to the west ...

. Two years later he was bound apprentice as a fitter and turner at the same works. Encouraged by the locomotive superintendent, John Ramsbottom, Taylor applied himself to Latin, Greek, and the natural sciences, and when seventeen began to attend evening classes at the

Manchester Mechanics' Institute The Mechanics' Institute, 103 Princess Street, Manchester, is notable as the building in which three significant British institutions were founded: the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) and the University of ...

. A year later he became lay preacher for the

Wesleyans Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

, but on account of his scientific opinions he had to abandon his notion of becoming a minister.

Career

After a brief stay in the engineer draughtsman's office at the LNWR

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

works, he obtained in 1863 a position as sub-editor on the ''

Norwich Mercury Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

'' under Richard Noverre Bacon. Subsequently he became editor of the '' Norwich People's Journal,'' or ''People's Weekly Journal'', an offshoot of the ''Mercury,'' and under him the ''Journal'' became a success. Norwich Mercury 1869

From 1858 onwards Taylor was a popular lecturer on science. In conjunction with John Gunn he established the Norwich Geological Society in 1864. In 1869 Taylor was elected to the Geological Society and also founded the Ipswich Science Gossip Society. The following year he founded a second Science Gossip Society in Norwich. In 1872 he was appointed by

Ipswich Corporation The Ipswich Corporation was a historic local government that owned property and governed in Ipswich, Suffolk. Since its foundation in 1200, the corporation has kept often highly detailed accounts of their operation. A great deal of these survive t ...

as curator of the

Ipswich Museum Ipswich Museum is a registered museum of culture, history and natural heritage located on High Street in Ipswich, the county town of Suffolk. It was historically the leading regional museum in Suffolk, housing collections drawn from both the fo ...

. Fellowship of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

was granted in June 1873. The duties of this post included the delivery of lectures. He also lectured in many parts of the country, and went on a lecturing tour in Australia during 1885. With failing health, Taylor found himself in financial difficulties and was compelled to resign his post in 1893. He died in Ipswich on 28 September 1895. He married on 22 January 1867, at Stoke Holy Cross,England, Marriages, 1538–1973. Salt Lake City, Utah. Sarah Harriet, youngest daughter of William Bellamy, headmaster of the boys' model school, Norwich.

Works

Taylor was author of works on scientific subjects of a popular character. They include: * ''Geological Essays, and Sketch of the Geology of Manchester,'' London, 1864. * ''Half-hours at the Seaside,'' London, 1872; other editions in 1878 and 1890. * ''Half-hours in the Green Lanes,'' London, 1872; 7th edit. 1890. * ''Mountain and Moor,'' for the series entitled ''Natural History Rambles,'' London, 1879. * ''The Aquarium: its Inhabitants,'' London, 1876; 2nd edit. 1881. * ''Our Island Continent: a Naturalist's Holiday in Australia,'' London, 1886. *
In and About Ancient Ipswich
' London: Jarrold & Sons, 1888 He was also editor of '' Hardwicke's Science Gossip,'' to which he contributed, from 1872 to 1893, and wrote some twelve papers, mostly on geological subjects, that appeared in scientific journals between 1865 and 1883. He frequently sent articles to the ''Australasian'' and other periodicals. ;Attribution: *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, John Ellor 1837 births 1895 deaths English science writers Fellows of the Geological Society of London Fellows of the Linnean Society of London