Taylor, Ann and Jane

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Taylor, Ann and Jane

English writers.

Taylor, Ann (1782–1866). Name variations: Ann Gilbert; Mrs. Gilbert. Born on January 30, 1782, in London; died on December 20, 1866, in Nottingham; daughter of Reverend Isaac Taylor and Ann Martin Taylor (1757–1830, a writer); married Reverend Joseph Gilbert, in 1813; children: eight, including Josiah (b. 1814) and Joseph (b. 1817).

Taylor, Jane (1783–1824). Born on September 23, 1783, in London; died on April 12, 1824, in Ongar; daughter of Reverend Isaac Taylor and Ann Martin Taylor (1757–1830, a writer); never married; no children.

Sisters Ann and Jane Taylor were two of the most popular English writers for children of the early 19th century. Indeed, they shaped the way children's literature has been written ever since. Born in London, they were the eldest of five surviving children of Isaac Taylor, an engraver and later a Congregational minister, and Ann Martin Taylor , later a published writer herself. The family was poor but the children were well educated at home by their parents in literature, art, mathematics, and the sciences. Between 1786 and 1811, the Taylors moved several times for economic reasons, finally settling in Ongar in 1811. Since he could not provide them with dowries, Isaac was determined that his daughters be able to support themselves, so they were apprenticed to him as engravers.

Despite long working hours, the sisters found time for writing poetry, short stories, plays, and word games, some of which were submitted to an annual Quaker journal, Minor's Pocket Book. In 1804, the publisher asked them to write a volume of children's verses, published in 1805 as Original Poems for Infant Minds. It became immensely popular in England, remaining in print continuously into the 1880s, and was translated and published abroad as well. The critical and commercial success of Original Poems stemmed from its fresh, often humorous verses which spoke to the experiences of children yet always conveyed a moral lesson. The most famous contribution was Ann's poem "My Mother," its sentimental view of middle-class motherhood making it one of the most reprinted and imitated poems of the century. The sisters' approach to moral teaching differed drastically from previous literature aimed at children, which was formal and prescriptive rather than engaging the young reader's imagination.

The success of their first volume led to additional books of poetry and reading primers, produced both individually and jointly, with occasional contributions from their father and brothers. The books often included Ann and Jane's engravings as illustrations. The bestselling Rhymes for the Nursery, published in 1806, included Jane's verse "Twinkle, twinkle, little star," still one of the best-known verses in English. The more somber Hymns for Infant Minds, published in 1811, found widespread acceptance in English Sunday schools as a teaching aid.

Ann Taylor married the Nonconformist Reverend Joseph Gilbert in 1813 and moved to Nottingham. The demands of marriage and motherhood—she had eight children—left Ann little time for writing, but she still contributed essays and reviews periodically to Christian journals, and published hymns. She composed a short biography on her husband after his death in 1853, and in her widowhood became a social activist, involved in the abolition movement and in the rehabilitation of former prostitutes. After Ann's death in 1866 at age 84, her son Joseph published her autobiography and some shorter religious essays.

Jane Taylor never married and remained a prolific author throughout her life. In 1812, she left her parents' home in Ongar and settled in Devon with her brother Isaac, who like their father was ordained a minister. In 1815, the critical success of her first novel, Display, established her reputation as an independent writer. Her works became more evangelical after a spiritual crisis in 1817, following her return to Ongar. Her health began to fail that year when she contracted cancer, but she continued to write

and contributed essays on various moral themes to Youth's Magazine until 1822. Jane died at age 41 in 1824. Her brother Isaac edited a posthumous collection of her works as Memoirs and Poetical Remains of the late Jane Taylor, published in 1825.