Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

in the 1840s, after which he practised law and became a civil servant. At the same time he became a journalist, most prominently as a contributor to, and eventually editor of ''Punch''. In addition to these vocations, Taylor began a theatre career and became best known as a playwright, with up to 100 plays staged during his career. Many were adaptations of French plays, but these and his original works cover a range from

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exce ...

. Most fell into neglect after Taylor's death, but '' Our American Cousin'' (1858), which achieved great success in the 19th century, remains famous as the piece that was being performed in the presence of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

when he was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

in 1865.

Life and career

Early years

Taylor was born into a newly wealthy family at Bishopwearmouth, a suburb of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, in north-east England. He was the second son of Thomas Taylor (1769–1843) and his wife, Maria Josephina, ''née'' Arnold (1784–1858).Howes, Craig
"Taylor, Tom"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 3 January 2008 His father had begun as a labourer on a small farm in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

and had risen to become co-owner of a flourishing brewery in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

. After attending the Grange School in Sunderland, and studying for two sessions at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, Taylor became a student of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

in 1837, was elected to a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

in 1838, and graduated with a BA in both classics and mathematics.Profile of Taylor at the Turney site.
He was elected a fellow of the college in 1842 and received his MA degree the following year. Taylor left Cambridge in late 1844 and moved to London, where for the next two years he pursued three careers simultaneously. He was professor of English language and literature at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

, while at the same time studying to become a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

, and beginning his life's work as a writer."Taylor, Tom''
''Dictionary of National Biography'' archive, accessed 1 October 2018 Taylor was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

in November 1846. He resigned his university post, and practised on the northern legal circuit until he was appointed assistant secretary of the

Board of Health Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

in 1850. On the reconstruction of the board in 1854 he was made secretary, and on its abolition in 1858 his services were transferred to a department of the Home Office, retiring on a pension in 1876.

Writer

Taylor owed his fame and most of his income not to his academic, legal or government work, but to his writing. Soon after moving to London, he obtained remunerative work as a leader writer for the ''

Morning Chronicle ''The Morning Chronicle'' was a newspaper founded in 1769 in London. It was notable for having been the first steady employer of essayist William Hazlitt as a political reporter and the first steady employer of Charles Dickens as a journalist. I ...

'' and the '' Daily News''. He was also art critic for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' and ''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. Thomas's brother Lewis Samuel Thomas was a co-founder. The premature death of the latt ...

'' for many years. He edited the ''Autobiography of B. R. Haydon'' (1853), the ''Autobiography and Correspondence of C. R. Leslie, R.A.'' (1860) and ''Pen Sketches from a Vanished Hand'', selected from papers of

Mortimer Collins Edward James Mortimer Collins (29 June 1827 – 28 July 1876) was an English novelist, journalist and poet. Some of his lyrics, with their "light grace, their sparkling wit and their airy philosophy", were described in the 1911 ''Encyclopædia B ...

, and wrote ''Life and Times of Sir

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

'' (1865). With his first contribution to ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

'', on 19 October 1844, Taylor began a thirty-six year association with the magazine, which ended only with his death. During the 1840s he wrote on average three columns a month; in the 1850s and 1860s this output doubled. His biographer Craig Howes writes that Taylor's articles were generally humorous commentary or comic verses on politics, civic news, and the manners of the day. In 1874 he succeeded Charles William Shirley Brooks as editor. Taylor also established himself as a playwright and eventually produced about 100 plays."Tom Taylor", ''The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21)'' (Volume XIII. ''The Victorian Age'', Part One. VIII. Nineteenth-Century Drama, § 10
/ref> Between 1844 and 1846, the Lyceum Theatre staged at least seven of his plays, including extravanzas written with Albert Smith or

Charles Kenney Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

, and his first major success, the 1846

''To Parents and Guardians''. '' The Morning Post'' said of that piece, "The writing is admirable throughout – neat, natural and epigrammatic". It was as a dramatist that Taylor made the most impression – his biographer in the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' (''DNB'') wrote that in writing plays Taylor found his true vocation. In thirty-five years he wrote more than seventy plays for the principal London theatres. Ticket of leave man - Weir Collection

A substantial portion of Taylor's prolific output consisted of adaptations from the French or collaborations with other playwrights, notably

Charles Reade Charles Reade (8 June 1814 – 11 April 1884) was a British novelist and dramatist, best known for '' The Cloister and the Hearth''. Life Charles Reade was born at Ipsden, Oxfordshire, to John Reade and Anne Marie Scott-Waring, and had at lea ...

. Some of his plots were adapted from the novels of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

or others. Many of Taylor's plays were extremely popular, such as ''

Masks and Faces ''Masks and Faces'' is a 1917 British silent biographical film directed by Fred Paul and starring Johnston Forbes-Robertson, Irene Vanbrugh and Henry S. Irving. The film depicts episodes from the life of the eighteenth-century Irish actress ...

'', an extravaganza written in collaboration with Reade, produced at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in ...

in November 1852. It was followed by the almost equally successful ''To Oblige Benson'' (

Olympic Theatre The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout ...

, 1854), an adaptation from a French vaudeville. Others mentioned by the ''DNB'' are ''Plot and Passion'' (1853), ''Still Waters Run Deep'' (1855) and '' The Ticket-of-Leave Man'' (based on ''Le Retour de Melun'' by Édouard Brisebarre and Eugène Nus), a

produced at the Olympic in 1863. Taylor also wrote a series of historical dramas (many in

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and Pa ...

), including ''The Fool’s Revenge'' (1869), an adaption of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's '' Le roi s'amuse'' (also adapted by

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the ...

as ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had co ...

''), Twixt Axe and Crown'' (1870), ''Jeanne d'arc'' (1871), ''Lady Clancarty'' (1874) and ''Anne Boleyn'' (1875). The last of these, produced at the Haymarket in 1875, was Taylor's penultimate piece and only complete failure. In 1871 Taylor supplied the words to

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

's dramatic

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning o ...

, '' On Shore and Sea''. Like his colleague W. S. Gilbert, Taylor believed that plays should be readable as well as actable; he followed Gilbert in having copies of his plays printed for public sale. Both authors did so at some risk, because it made matters easy for American pirates of their works in the days before international copyright protection. Taylor wrote, "I have no wish to screen myself from literary criticism behind the plea that my plays were meant to be acted. It seems to me that every drama submitted to the judgment of audiences should be prepared to encounter that of readers". Many of Taylor's plays were extremely popular, and several survived into the 20th century, although most are largely forgotten today. His '' Our American Cousin'' (1858) is now remembered chiefly as the play

was attending when he was assassinated, but it was revived many times during the 19th century with great success. It became celebrated as a vehicle for the popular comic actor Edward Sothern, and after his death, his sons, Lytton and

E. H. Sothern Edward Hugh Sothern (December 6, 1859 – October 28, 1933) was an American actor who specialized in dashing, romantic leading roles and particularly in Shakespeare roles. Biography Sothern was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of English ...

, took over the part in revivals."Our American Cousin", ''The Era'', 24 October 24, 1885, p. 8; and "Mr. E. H. Sothern", ''The Times'', 30 October 1933, p. 17

Personal life and relationships

Howes records that Taylor was described as "of middle height, bearded itha pugilistic jaw and eyes which glittered like steel". He was known for his remarkable energy. He was a keen swimmer and rower, and rose daily at five or six and wrote for three hours before taking an hour's brisk walk from his house in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

to his

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

office. In 1855 Taylor married Laura Barker (d. 1905), the daughter of a clergyman. She was an accomplished musical performer and composer, and contributed music to at least one of his plays. Some, like

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

, praised Taylor's kindness and generosity; others, including

F. C. Burnand Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (29 November 1836 – 21 April 1917), usually known as F. C. Burnand, was an English comic writer and prolific playwright, best known today as the librettist of Arthur Sullivan's opera '' Cox and Box''. The son of ...

, found him obstinate and unforgiving. Terry wrote of Taylor in her memoirs: Terry's frequent stage partner,

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ...

said that Taylor was an exception to the general rule that it was helpful, even though not essential, to be an actor to understand the techniques of stagecraft: "There is no dramatic author who more thoroughly understands his business".''Quoted'' in Richards, p. 6 Taylor died suddenly at his home in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batt ...

, London, in 1880 at the age of 62 and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

Selected bibliography

*''Valentine and Orson'', 1844 *''Whittington and his Cat'', 1844 *''Cinderella'', 1844 *''A Trip to Kissingen'', 1844 *''To Parents and Guardians'', 1845 *''Diogenes and his Lantern'', 1849 *''The Vicar of Wakefield'', 1850 *''The Philosopher's Stone'', 1850 *''Prince Dorus'', 1850 *''Our Clerks'', 1852 *''Wittikind and his Brothers'', 1852 *''Plot and Passion'', 1853 *''A Nice Firm'', 1853 *''Masks and Faces'', 1854 *''To Oblige Benson'', 1854 *''Two Loves and a Life'', 1854 *''Still Waters Run Deep'', 1855 *''The King's Rival'', 1855 *''Helping Hands'', 1855 *''Retribution'', 1856 *''Victims'', 1857 *''A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing'', 1857 *''An Unequal Match'', 1857 *''Our American Cousin'', 1858 *''Going to the Bad'', 1858 *''New Men and Old Acres'', 1859 *''A Tale of Two Cities'', 1859 *''Barefaced Impostors'', 1859 *''The Contested Election'', 1859 *''Nine Points of the Law'', 1859 *''The Overland Route'', 1860 *''Up at the Hills'', 1860 *''The Babes in the Wood'', 1860 *''The Ticket-of-leave Man'', 1863 *''Sense and Sensation'', 1864 *''Henry Dunbar'', 1865 *''The Sister's Penance'', 1866 *''The Fool's Revenge'', 1869 *''Mary Warner'' (1869) *''Twixt Axe and Crown'', 1870 *''The Hidden Hand'', 1870 *''Joan of Arc'', 1871 *''Arkwright’s Wife'', 1873 *''Lady Clancarty'', 1874 *''Anne Boleyn'', 1875 *''Settling Day'', 1877 :Source: ''Dictionary of National Biography''.

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

* * * * *
Lacy's Acting Edition of Victorian Plays

* The ttp://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb71-thm/223 Tom Taylor Collectionat the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Tom 1817 births 1880 deaths 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century British male writers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Burials at Brompton Cemetery English male dramatists and playwrights People from Sunderland People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan Punch (magazine) people