Ann Taylor
Ann Taylor was a notable English poet and children's author, born into a family deeply engaged in literary and creative activities. Together with her siblings, particularly her sister Jane, she contributed to children's literature in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Ann's early creative environment, fostered by her parents—both of whom were literate and supportive of their children's artistic pursuits—encouraged her to begin writing at a young age. Her first poem was published when she was just ten years old, and she went on to win a literary contest shortly thereafter.
Throughout her life, Taylor collaborated with her sister on several influential collections of poetry, including *Original Poems for Infant Minds* and *Rhymes for the Nursery*, which aimed to impart moral lessons and entertain young readers. Among their works, the poem "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is one of the most recognized, although authorship between the sisters is often unclear. Despite marrying Joseph Gilbert and raising eight children, which limited her literary output in later years, Taylor continued to publish poetry into her senior years. Her contributions to children's literature remain significant, with her works translated into multiple languages and still appreciated today. Ann Taylor passed away in 1866, leaving behind a legacy that continues to influence children's poetry.
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Ann Taylor
- Born: January 30, 1782
- Birthplace: Islington, London, England
- Died: December 20, 1866
Biography
Ann Taylor came from a family whose lives revolved around literary and creative pursuits. Ann, her sister Jane, and her brothers Isaac and Jefferys all contributed to writing books for children, and the poetry that the two sisters wrote in their collaborations contains some of the most familiar verses for children in English literature. The life of the family encouraged creative endeavors. The children were primarily taught by their parents, Isaac and Ann Martin. Taylor’s mother, also an author, read aloud to the family at breakfast and at tea, and the parents encouraged the children to write and to create amateur theatricals.
In her Autobiography, and Other Memorials of Mrs. Gilbert, Ann recalled beginning to write at the age of ten. Her first poem was published in 1797, and she won a literary contest in the Minor’s Pocket Book in 1798. She continued, along with her sister Jane, to contribute verses to various magazines. She found the compensation she received to be a help to her family.
Taylor’s family moved several times in her childhood. Her father was an engraver and printer who was also a minister. The family lived first in London, where Taylor was born, and then moved to the more remote Lavenham in Suffolk before moving again to Colchester, where Isaac Taylor was called upon to be the minister of a Nonconformist congregation. Finally, the family moved to Ongar in Essex in 1810.
All of the Taylor children helped their father in the printing and engraving business. Ann continued to help with the family business until 1813, when she married Joseph Gilbert, a Congregationalist minister. She and her husband lived primarily in Nottingham, where they had eight children.
Although Taylor’s life as the wife of a minister and as the mother of eight children curtailed her literary career, she is remembered for her early collections of verse for children. The three collaborations with her sister, Original Poems for Infant Minds, Rhymes for the Nursery, and Hymns for Infant Minds, were influential collections of children’s poetry. The best-known poem from Rhymes for the Nursery, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” is usually attributed to Jane Taylor, but often the poems are unattributed, so it is difficult to determine which sister wrote any individual poem. The poems are notable for their nineteenth century concern with conveying moral messages and the rather unusual practice for the time of writing poetry aimed directly at a child audience. Their works have been translated into German, Dutch, and Russian.
Although Jane Taylor died at the age of forty, her sister Ann Taylor lived a long life, publishing intermittently until her death in 1866.