Sir John Taylor, 1st Baronet

John Taylor
Born 1745
Jamaica
Died 8 May 1786
Residence Lysson Hall
Nationality British

Sir John Taylor FRS (1745 – 8 May 1786) was a fellow of the Royal Society who was created a baronet of Lysson Hall in Jamaica. He lived in London but he died in Jamaica.

Venus with a Satyr and Cupids by Annibale Carracci Raphael, Madonna della Sedia (Madonna of the Chair), c.1514 Guido Reni, Charity, 1607 Raphael, St John the Baptist Reni, Madonna Madonna della seggiola Correggio, Madonna and Child Justus Sustermans, Galileo Raphael, Madonna of the Goldfinch Franciabigio - Madonna of the Well Guido Reni, Cleopatra, 1635–40 Holy Family, then attributed to Perugino Rubens, Justus Lipsius with his Pupils, c.1615 Portrait of Leo X with two Cardinals by Raphael Tribute Money? by Carravagio? Rubens, Justus Lipsius with his Pupils, c.1615 Raphael, Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi, 1518 Niccolini-Cowper Madonna by Raphael Large central painting Holbein, Sir Richard Southwell, 1536 Cristofano Allori, Miracle of St Julian Holy Family, attributed to Niccolò Soggi ummm Raphael, Niccolini-Cowper Madonna, 1508, then in Lord Cowper’s possession, having bought it from Zoffany, now National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538 Cupid and Psyche, Roman copy of a Greek original of the 1st or 2nd century BC The ‘Arrotino’ (Knife-Grinder), a Pergamene original of 2nd or 3rd century BC Dancing Faun, marble replica of a bronze of the circle of Praxiteles, 4th century BC The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents The Wrestlers, marble copy of a bronze Permamene original, 2nd or 3rd century BC Chimera - Etruscan art 8 Oil lamps Egyptian ptahmose, 18th dynasty Greek bronze torso Bust of Julius Caeser Roman silver shield Head of Antinous South Italian crater Etruscan jug Octagonal table with pietra dura top made for the Tribuna, designed by Jacopo Ligozzi and Bernardino Poccetti. Charles Loraine Smith (1751–1835) Richard Edgcumbe, later 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe (1764–1839) George, 3rd Earl Cowper (1738–89) Sir John Dick (1720–1804), British Consul at Leghorn Other Windsor, 6th Earl of Plymouth (1751–99) Johann Zoffany George Legge, Lord Lewisham, later 3rd Earl of Dartmouth (1755–1810) unknown young man Mr Gordon Hon. Felton Hervey (1712–73) Thomas Patch (1725-82), Painter Sir John Taylor Bt., (d. 1786) Sir Horace Mann (1706–86), British Consul in Florence George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea prob. Roger Wilbraham (1743-1829) Mr Watts Mr Doughty, travelling with Charles Loraine Smith Probably Thomas Wilbraham (b. 1751), brother of Roger The Medici Venus, Roman copy of a Greek original of the 2nd century BC James Bruce (1730–94), African explorer
Tribuna of the Uffizi by Johann Zoffany. Place cursor over artworks or persons to identify them.

Life

Taylor was born in Jamaica in 1745 to Patrick and Martha Taylor. His Scottish father had been born with the surname Tailzour in Borrowfield, but he took his wife's name when they married. His eldest brother became a Jamaican attorney who represented the large number of absentee plantation owners and he was reputedly the richest person in Jamaica. Simon Taylor who owned his own plantations also served in the Jamaican assembly.[1]

John Taylor was captured in a painting by Johann Zoffany of the Tribuna of the Uffizi in Florence in the 1770s. He appears to the right of the painting with Thomas Patch and Sir Horace Mann, 1st Baronet.[2]

Taylor became a baronet on 1 September 1778. In the same year he married an heiress, Elizabeth Godden Houghton.[3] They eventually had six children.

In 1813 Simon Taylor died and left his vast fortune to John Taylor's son, He died in 1813 and left his estates to John's son Simon and not to his own large illegitimate family, who were occasionally included.[4] John Taylor's son only lived until 1815 which was the end of the baronetcy.[5] The fortune was inherited by John Taylor's daughter, Anna. Anna Susannah Watson Taylor had married but her husband George Watson had taken her surname.[1]

Taylor was on a visit to the Lyssons plantation in Jamaica when he died in 1786[6] and his title was taken by his son. The year before he died he and his family were sketched in pastels by Daniel Gardner. The group consisted of Taylor, his wife Elizabeth, his brother Simon Taylor, and four of his children; Simon Richard Brisset, Anna Susanna, Elizabeth and Maria. Simon became the second and last baronet of Lysson Hall.

Legacy

In addition to the paintings, Taylor is also a key figure in correspondence that is now preserved as a record of life in Jamaica.[1] The letters are from Simon to John and they record world events, the state of the plantations and complaints from Simon that he is doing all the work and John is spending all the money.[7]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sir John Taylor, 1st Baronet.
  1. 1 2 3 Taylor family of Jamaica (1770–1835), Casbah.ac.uk, retrieved 23 October 2014
  2. A key to the people shown, oneonta.edu, retrieved 17 October 2014
  3. Sir John Taylor, British Museum, retrieved 22 October 2014
  4. Extended Families: Mixed-Race Children and Scottish Experience, 1770–1820, Daniel Livesay, International Journal of Scottish Literature, Spring/Summer 2008
  5. A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage. p. 211. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  6. "Plantation Life in the Caribbean Part 1". Adam Matthew Publications. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  7. Simon Taylors papers, retrieved 25 October 2014
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