John Taylor (1775–1848) was a Scottish seaman who served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, and later helped settle

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

(now

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Life

Taylor was born in Scotland in 1775. His service during the

Mediterranean campaign of 1798 The Mediterranean campaign of 1798 was a series of major naval operations surrounding a French expeditionary force sent to Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Republic sought to capture Egypt as the fi ...

earned him a lifetime pension. His ship, , had captured an enemy ship, carrying important despatches. When the enemy captain tried to prevent the British from capturing those despatches, Taylor and another seaman dove into the sea after them. Both men were awarded lifetime pensions of 20 pounds a year. In his account of the incident

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

quoted the captain of Taylor's ship:

On the 22nd of August, the ''Alcmene'' captured ''La Legére'', French Gun-Boat off Alexandria. 'We could not,' says Captain Hope in his official Letter, 'prevent the despatches for Bonaparte from being thrown overboard, which was perceived, however, by John Taylor and James Harding, of the ''Alcmene'', who, at the risk of their lives (the ship then going between 5 and 6 knots) dashed overboard, and saved the whole of them. Both men were fortunately picked up, by the Boat that was sent after them, and I conceive it my duty to make known the very spirited conduct they showed on this occasion for the good of the service.'

Taylor later emigrated to Canada, where he was one of the original settlers in Guelph. Accounts differ as to when he arrived—either in 1828 or 1834. The region of Guelph which Taylor and others from Scotland settled was known as the "Paisley Block".

Legacy

According to Graeme Mercer Adam's 1891 book ''Toronto, Old and New...'' in addition to his lifetime pension, Taylor's heroism earned him a picture in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

. Taylor's grandson,

Josiah Bruce Josiah Bruce was a Canadian known for creating notable photographs of historic value, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Bruce's maternal grandfather, John Taylor, was a naval hero, who served under Horatio Nelson, who had his p ...

, was a prominent photographer in 19th-century Canada. In 2018 Ed Butts, profiling Taylor for the ''

Guelph Mercury The ''Guelph Mercury'' was an English language daily newspaper published in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It published a mix of community, national and international news and is owned by the Torstar Corporation. The newspaper, in many incarnations, w ...

'', repeated a poem Taylor wrote which became the lyrics to a song popular among Scottish settlers in the Guelph area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, John 1775 births 1848 deaths Royal Navy sailors Immigrants to Upper Canada