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436:, 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".
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253:, on 19 October 1844, Taylor began a thirty-six year association with the weekly humour and satire 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
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509:, and a distinguished Civil Servant, but to us he was more than this. He was an institution! I simply cannot remember when I did not know him. It is the Tom Taylors of the world who give children on the stage their splendid education. We never had any education in the strict sense of the word yet through the Taylors and others, we
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Howes records that Taylor was described as "of middle height, bearded a pugilistic jaw and eyes which glittered like steel". Known for his remarkable energy, he was a keen swimmer and rower, who rose daily at five or six and wrote for three hours before taking an hour's brisk walk from his house in
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said that Taylor was an exception to the general rule that it was helpful, even though not essential, for a dramatist to be an actor to understand the techniques of stagecraft: "There is no dramatic author who more thoroughly understands his business".
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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
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157:
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
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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
53:
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,
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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
189:
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
537:(1865). There were two children: the artist John Wycliffe Taylor (1859–1925) and Laura Lucy Arnold Taylor (1863–1940). Taylor and his family lived at 84 Lavender Sweep,
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415:(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
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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
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299:) 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.
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in
November 1846. He resigned his university post, and practised on the northern legal circuit until he was appointed assistant secretary of the
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A substantial portion of Taylor's prolific output consisted of adaptations from the French or collaborations with other playwrights, notably
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Many of Taylor's plays were extremely popular, and several survived into the 20th century, although most are largely forgotten today. His
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75:(1858), which achieved great success in the 19th century, remains famous as the piece that was being performed in the presence of
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Most people know that Tom Taylor was one of the leading playwrights of the 'sixties as well as the dramatic critic of
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Taylor also established himself as a playwright and eventually produced about 100 plays. Between 1844 and 1846, the
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magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of
English literature and language at
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in both classics and mathematics. He was elected a fellow of the college in 1842 and received his
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529:(1819–1905). She contributed music to at least one of his plays, an overture and entr'acte to
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produced at the
Olympic in 1863. Taylor also wrote a series of historical dramas (many in
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1065:, 2 May 1871, reprinted at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 5 August 2017
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The
Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21)
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Taylor died suddenly at his home in 1880 at the age of 62 and is buried in
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Arnold (1784–1858). His father had begun as a labourer on a small farm in
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This article is about the dramatist and editor. For other uses, see
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in
November 1852. It was followed by the almost equally successful
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or others. Many of Taylor's plays were extremely popular, such as
1076:"Play Publication, Readers, and the 'Decline' of Victorian Drama"
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and had risen to become co-owner of a flourishing brewery in
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1176:, Coleshill in Buckinghamshire, accessed 20 February 2023
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In 1855 Taylor married the composer, musician and artist
165:, and beginning his life's work as a writer. Taylor was
1095:, 24 October 24, 1885, p. 8; and "Mr. E. H. Sothern",
39:(19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English
319:. Some of his plots were adapted from the novels of
43:, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of
69:. Most fell into neglect after Taylor's death, but
1188:, Royal Academy of Arts, accessed 19 February 2023
572:, Buckinghamshire, where she died on 22 May 1905.
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1033:, Part One. VIII. Nineteenth-Century Drama, § 10
1393:19th-century English dramatists and playwrights
96:Taylor was born into a newly wealthy family at
1345:. Vol. 55. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
533:(1871), and harmonisations to his translation
264:staged at least seven of his plays, including
161:, while at the same time studying to become a
1131:International Encyclopedia of Women Composers
457:(1858) is now remembered chiefly as the play
32:Tom Taylor (photograph by Lock and Whitfield)
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247:(1865). With his first contribution to
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1329:Kent, William Charles Mark (1898).
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1186:"Laura Wilson Barker (1819–1905)"
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234:Pen Sketches from a Vanished Hand
181:, retiring on a pension in 1876.
1342:Dictionary of National Biography
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1082:, Vol. 2 (1999), pp. 181 and 182
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872:Dictionary of National Biography
517:Terry's frequent stage partner,
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16:English playwright (1817–1880)
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1161:Ballads and Songs of Brittany
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205:. He was also art critic for
120:, Taylor became a student of
1408:Burials at Brompton Cemetery
1305:Works by or about Tom Taylor
922:UK public library membership
7:
1320:(public domain audiobooks)
1205:, accessed 18 February 2019
940:A Cambridge Alumni Database
559:William Makepeace Thackeray
136:degree the following year.
21:Tom Taylor (disambiguation)
10:
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1368:Victoria and Albert Museum
1236:Richards, Jeffrey (2007).
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1158:Taylor, Tom (translator).
942:. University of Cambridge.
709:A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing
643:Wittikind and his Brothers
236:, selected from papers of
159:University College, London
124:in 1837, was elected to a
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51:University College, London
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1164:(1865), Internet Archive
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958:18 February 2008 at the
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613:Diogenes and his Lantern
607:To Parents and Guardians
281:To Parents and Guardians
143:Caricature of Taylor by
1428:Punch (magazine) people
1418:Writers from Sunderland
1259:. Woodbridge: Boydell.
1091:"Our American Cousin",
995:(subscription required)
936:"Taylor, Tom (TLR836T)"
781:The Ticket-of-leave Man
625:The Philosopher's Stone
589:Whittington and his Cat
379:(1869), an adaption of
356:The Ticket-of-Leave Man
309:The Ticket-of-Leave Man
1255:Terry, Ellen (1982) .
1149:, Vol. 4 (1881), p. 68
757:Nine Points of the Law
751:The Contested Election
619:The Vicar of Wakefield
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242:Life and Times of Sir
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1364:Tom Taylor Collection
1240:. London: A C Black.
1214:Stratton, Stephen S.
1199:"Laura Wilson Barker"
817:The Babes in the Wood
775:The Babes in the Wood
733:New Men and Old Acres
679:Still Waters Run Deep
576:Selected bibliography
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1257:The Story of My Life
1012:, 8 April 1850, p. 6
799:The Sister's Penance
739:A Tale of Two Cities
673:Two Loves and a Life
1332:"Taylor, Tom"
1314:Works by Tom Taylor
1296:Works by Tom Taylor
1147:The Magazine of Art
1006:"Tom Taylor Esq.",
823:Twixt Axe and Crown
787:Sense and Sensation
745:Barefaced Impostors
721:Our American Cousin
601:A Trip to Kissingen
583:Valentine and Orson
527:Laura Wilson Barker
454:Our American Cousin
432:Like his colleague
401:Twixt Axe and Crown
367:and Eugène Nus), a
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1197:Rathbone, Jeanne.
1043:"Lyceum Theatre",
805:The Fool's Revenge
763:The Overland Route
557:, Ellen Terry and
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377:The Fool’s Revenge
365:Édouard Brisebarre
361:Le Retour de Melun
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1266:978-0-85115-204-2
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1120:in Richards, p. 6
1074:Barrett, Daniel.
1031:The Victorian Age
920:(subscription or
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219:Autobiography of
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59:
54:
45:
36:
35:
25:
1388:1880 deaths
1383:1817 births
1337:Lee, Sidney
853:Anne Boleyn
835:Joan of Arc
811:Mary Warner
697:Retribution
655:A Nice Firm
531:Joan of Arc
491:Ellen Terry
489:Some, like
413:Anne Boleyn
411:(1874) and
381:Victor Hugo
373:blank verse
353:(1855) and
266:extravanzas
257:as editor.
232:(1860) and
214:The Graphic
179:Home Office
150:Vanity Fair
126:scholarship
92:Early years
1377:Categories
1291:Wikisource
1287:Tom Taylor
637:Our Clerks
595:Cinderella
480:Wandsworth
443:Taylor by
359:(based on
202:Daily News
110:Cumberland
102:Sunderland
37:Tom Taylor
1097:The Times
1062:The Times
924:required)
570:Coleshill
539:Battersea
513:educated.
503:The Times
486:office.
484:Whitehall
396:Rigoletto
369:melodrama
208:The Times
163:barrister
83:in 1865.
67:melodrama
41:dramatist
1358:obituary
1318:LibriVox
1203:Damesnet
956:Archived
407:(1871),
403:(1870),
349:(1853),
199:and the
193:for the
1366:at the
1339:(ed.).
1307:at the
1230:Sources
1093:The Era
703:Victims
482:to his
421:cantata
169:of the
1263:
1244:
1222:(2022)
1118:Quoted
868:Source
861:, 1877
855:, 1875
849:, 1874
843:, 1873
837:, 1871
831:, 1870
825:, 1870
819:, 1870
813:, 1869
807:, 1869
801:, 1866
795:, 1865
789:, 1864
783:, 1863
777:, 1860
771:, 1860
765:, 1860
759:, 1859
753:, 1859
747:, 1859
741:, 1859
735:, 1859
729:, 1858
723:, 1858
717:, 1857
711:, 1857
705:, 1857
699:, 1856
693:, 1855
687:, 1855
681:, 1855
675:, 1854
669:, 1854
663:, 1854
657:, 1853
651:, 1853
645:, 1852
639:, 1852
633:, 1850
627:, 1850
621:, 1850
615:, 1849
609:, 1845
603:, 1844
597:, 1844
591:, 1844
585:, 1844
447:, 1863
230:, R.A.
185:Writer
153:, 1876
114:Durham
1335:. In
879:Notes
507:Punch
391:Verdi
278:farce
250:Punch
145:"Spy"
63:farce
55:Punch
46:Punch
1362:The
1261:ISBN
1242:ISBN
511:were
399:), '
345:are
211:and
1316:at
1298:at
1289:at
561:.
393:as
383:'s
363:by
343:DNB
297:DNB
272:or
147:in
106:née
65:to
1379::
1201:,
1145:,
1078:,
1059:,
1017:^
989:,
966:^
938:.
914:,
887:^
870::
553:,
545:,
429:.
423:,
283:.
134:MA
130:BA
1269:.
1250:.
1220:"
1216:"
874:.
337:(
295:(
23:.
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