65-589: Our American Cousin is a three-act play by English playwright Tom Taylor . It is a farce featuring awkward, boorish American Asa Trenchard, who is introduced to his aristocratic English relatives when he goes to England to claim the family estate. The play premiered with great success at Laura Keene's Theatre in New York City in 1858, with Laura Keene in the cast, the title character played by Joseph Jefferson , and Edward Askew Sothern playing Lord Dundreary . The play's long-running London production in 1861
130-467: A Confederate sympathizer who attempted to time the sound of his gunshot with the audience's laughter on a particularly famous line. Among Our American Cousin' s cast was British actor Edward Askew Sothern , playing Lord Dundreary , a good natured but brainless English aristocrat. Sothern had already achieved fame on the New York stage in the play Camille in 1856, and had been reluctant to take on
195-888: A Member of the Dramatic Authors' Society by 1860. At the same time, he continued writing for the Strand, the Adelphi, the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane , the Haymarket Theatre and the Princess's, among other London theatres. Among Byron's dozens of plays in the early 1860s, his early successes were mostly burlesques, such as Bluebeard from a New Point of Hue (1860); Cinderella (1860); Aladdin, or, The Wonderful Scamp (1861); and Esmeralda, or, The Sensation Goat (1861), all in rhymed couplets. Another success
260-522: A branch of the family that had immigrated to America two centuries earlier. They relay to Ned that great-uncle Mark Trenchard had, after angrily disinheriting his children and leaving England years ago, found these cousins in Brattleboro, Vermont . He had moved in with them and eventually made Asa, one of the sons, heir to his property in England. Asa is now sailing to England to claim the estate. Asa
325-584: A department of the Home Office , retiring on a pension in 1876. 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 and the Daily News . He was also art critic for The Times and The Graphic for many years. He edited
390-435: A fictionalized version of the night of Lincoln's assassination from the point of view of the actors in the cast of Taylor's play. Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist , 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 in
455-404: A horse he had left waiting in the alley. That night, the remainder of the play was suspended. Another performance eight days later, for the benefit of the investigation into the killing, was the last performance of any play at Ford's Theatre for 103 years. Since reopening, the theatre has not restaged Our American Cousin , and has said that it never will. In 1862 Charles Kingsley wrote a parody,
520-558: A play about Dundreary's brother. In the drawing room at Trenchard Manor, the servants remark on their employer's poor financial circumstances. Florence Trenchard, an aristocratic young beauty, loves Lieutenant Harry Vernon of the Royal Navy , but she is unable to marry him until he progresses to a higher rank. She receives a letter from her brother Ned, who is currently in the United States. Ned has met some rustic cousins from
585-487: A provincial actor and aspiring playwright in the 1850s. Returning to London and beginning to study for the bar , he finally found playwriting success in burlesques and other punny plays. In the 1860s, he became an editor of humorous magazines and a noted man-about-town, while continuing to build his playwriting reputation, notably as co-manager, with Marie Wilton , of the Prince of Wales's Theatre . In 1869, he returned to
650-414: A range from farce to melodrama . 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 when he was assassinated in 1865. Taylor was born into a newly wealthy family at Bishopwearmouth , a suburb of Sunderland , in north-east England. He
715-485: A series of historical dramas (many in blank verse ), including The Fool’s Revenge (1869), an adaption of Victor Hugo 's Le roi s'amuse (also adapted by Verdi as Rigoletto ), ' 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
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#1732780652544780-415: Is a true hero, and he loves you, you little rogue." Meanwhile, Mrs. Mountchessington still hopes that Asa will propose to Augusta. When Asa tells them that Mark Trenchard had left Mary his fortune, Augusta and Mrs. Mountchessington are quite rude, but Asa stands up for himself. Asa proposes to Mary and is happily accepted. He then sneaks into Coyle's office with Murcott and retrieves the paper that shows that
845-464: Is courting an imbecilic nobleman named Dundreary by pretending to be ill. Florence's old tutor, the unhappy alcoholic Abel Murcott, warns her that Coyle intends to marry her. Asa overhears this and offers Florence his help. Murcott is Coyle's clerk and has found proof that Florence's late grandfather paid off the loan to Coyle. Florence and Asa visit her cousin, Mary Meredith. Mary is the granddaughter of old Mark Trenchard, who left his estate to Asa. Mary
910-454: Is noisy, coarse, and vulgar, but honestly forthright and colourful. The English Trenchards are alternately amused and appalled by this Vermont cousin. Richard Coyle, agent of the estate, meets with Sir Edward Trenchard (Florence's father) and tells the baronet that the family faces bankruptcy unless they can repay a debt to Coyle. Coyle is concealing the evidence that the loan had been repaid long ago by Sir Edward's late father. Coyle suggests that
975-423: Is seldom otherwise than neat, pointed and amusing. He fires verbal shots in such rapid succession that one laugh has scarcely died away when another is raised. In the delineation of character, too, he is often extremely happy". By 1874, he was showing symptoms of tuberculosis , which caused his retirement in 1882. His first wife died in 1876 at the age of 45, and the same year he remarried Eleanor Mary née Joy,
1040-432: Is very poor and has been raised as a humble dairy maid. Asa does not care about her social status and is attracted to her. Florence has not been able to bring herself to tell Mary that her grandfather's fortune had been left to Asa. Florence tells Asa that she loves Harry, who needs a good assignment to a ship. Asa uses his country wile to persuade Dundreary to help Harry get a ship. Meanwhile, Coyle has been up to no good, and
1105-512: 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 , and wrote Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1865). With his first contribution to Punch , 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
1170-967: The Haymarket Theatre in London. He returned to acting, making his London acting début, in 1869, achieving much greater success than in his early attempts, as Sir Simon Simple in his comedy Not Such a Fool as He Looks . He followed this with successful outings as Fitzaltamont in The Prompter's Box: A Story of the Footlights and the Fireside (1870), The Prompter's Box (1870, revived in 1875 and often thereafter, and later renamed The Crushed Tragedian ), Captain Craven in Daisy Farm (1871) and Lionel Leveret in Old Soldiers (1873). Byron's acting
1235-597: The Haymarket Theatre in November 1852. It was followed by the almost equally successful To Oblige Benson ( Olympic Theatre , 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 melodrama produced at the Olympic in 1863. Taylor also wrote
1300-683: The Lyceum Theatre staged at least seven of his plays, including extravanzas written with Albert Smith or Charles Kenney , and his first major success, the 1846 farce 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 ( DNB ) wrote that in writing plays Taylor found his true vocation. In thirty-five years he wrote more than seventy plays for
1365-469: The Middle Temple as a student briefly in 1858, but he had already begun writing for the stage and soon returned to that vocation. Byron joined several provincial companies as an actor from 1853–57, sometimes in his own plays and sometimes in those of T. W. Robertson (with whom he acted and starved) or others, but had little success. He described his early attempts at acting, and the hardships of
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#17327806525441430-571: The " Great Hippocampus Question ", in the style of Lord Dundreary, and incorporated parts of this in The Water-Babies published in 1863. Our American Cousin was adapted for the radio anthology program On Stage in 1953. In a move that earned him a rebuke from CBS management, director, producer, and actor Elliott Lewis aired it in the same hour as his show Crime Classics ' episode "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln". Eric W. Sawyer 's 2008 opera Our American Cousin presents
1495-439: 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. Between 1844 and 1846,
1560-428: 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 , a humour magazine. 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
1625-418: The 1880s, has been attributed to Byron on stylistic grounds. Byron is described by Jim Davis in the introduction to his 1984 collection, Plays by H. J. Byron , as the most prolific playwright of the mid-Victorian period, as he produced over 150 dramatic pieces. The Times called Byron a master of "genial wit and humour". It also commented that "The secret of his success... lay chiefly in his dialogue, which
1690-597: The English language the word dundrearies . In his autobiography, writer George Robert Sims recalled that "we went Dundreary mad in '61. The shop windows were filled with Dundreary scarves, and Brother Sam scarves, and there were Dundreary collars and Dundreary shirts, and Dundrearyisms were on every lip." It was not long before the success of this play inspired an imitation, Charles Gayler's Our Female American Cousin , which opened in New York City in January 1859. None of
1755-602: The King of the Caribee Islands! Byron also wrote for periodicals, and in 1861, he became the first editor of Fun magazine, where he showcased the comic talents of the then-unknown W. S. Gilbert . He became editor of Comic News in 1863. He also founded the short-lived Comic Trials and wrote a three-volume novel , Paid in Full , in 1865. In 1867, he became the editor of Wag , another humour magazine, and in 1877,
1820-501: The Knife (a success in 1865) and A Hundred Thousand Pounds (1866). They also staged one of T. W. Robertson's biggest successes, Society , in 1865. Upon his severing the partnership and starting theatre management on his own account in the provinces, he lost money, ending up in bankruptcy court in 1868. However, he produced many of his plays at these theatres while continuing to write for London theatres. One successful provincial work
1885-615: The Pirate and the Pearl , also at the Strand, which later played in New York. This was so well received that Byron abandoned the law to concentrate full-time on theatre. Another successful Strand burlesque in 1858 was The Maid and the Magpie; or, The Fatal Spoon an early play to include a dance at the end of a song. This starred Marie Wilton as Pippo and was also revived in New York. In 1859, he wrote another successful burlesque, The Babes in
1950-704: The Taylors and others, we were educated. Terry's frequent stage partner, Henry Irving 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". In 1855 Taylor married the composer, musician and artist Laura Wilson Barker (1819–1905). She contributed music to at least one of his plays, an overture and entr'acte to Joan of Arc (1871), and harmonisations to his translation Ballads and Songs of Brittany (1865). There were two children:
2015-489: The United States and England. Sothern gradually expanded the role, adding gags and business until it became the central figure of the play. The most famous scene involved Dundreary reading a letter from his even sillier brother. The play ran for 150 nights, which was very successful for a New York run at the time. Sothern made his London debut when the play opened at the Haymarket Theatre on 11 November 1861. Reviews were mixed. The Morning Post praised Sothern, but said that
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2080-824: The Wood and the Good Little Fairy Birds . He soon wrote other burlesques for the Strand, the Olympic Theatre , and the Adelphi Theatre , as well as a sequence of Christmas pantomimes for the Princess's Theatre , beginning in 1859 with Jack the Giant Killer, or, Harlequin, King Arthur, and ye Knights of ye Round Table and followed the next year by Robinson Crusoe, or Harlequin Friday and
2145-482: The age of 62 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery . After his death, his widow retired to Coleshill , Buckinghamshire, where she died on 22 May 1905. Henry James Byron Henry James Byron (8 January 1835 – 11 April 1884) was a prolific English dramatist, as well as an editor, journalist, director, theatre manager, novelist and actor. After an abortive start at a medical career, Byron struggled as
2210-405: The artist John Wycliffe Taylor (1859–1925) and Laura Lucy Arnold Taylor (1863–1940). Taylor and his family lived at 84 Lavender Sweep, Battersea , where they held Sunday musical soirees. Celebrities who attended included Lewis Carroll , Charles Dickens , Henry Irving, Charles Reade , Alfred Tennyson , Ellen Terry and William Makepeace Thackeray . Taylor died suddenly at his home in 1880 at
2275-467: The bailiffs arrive at Trenchard Manor. At her dairy farm, Asa tells Mary about her grandfather in America, but he fibs about the end of the tale: He says that old Mark Trenchard changed his mind about disinheriting his English children and burned his will. Asa promptly burns the will himself, under the pretext of lighting a cigar. Florence discovers this and points it out to Mary, saying: "It means that he
2340-671: The characters from the original play appeared in this comedy. A number of sequel plays to Our American Cousin were written, all featuring several characters from the original, and focusing on the Lord Dundreary character. The first was Gayler's Our American Cousin at Home, or, Lord Dundreary Abroad , which premiered in Buffalo, New York, in November 1860, and had its New York City debut the following May. Later sequels included Henry James Byron 's Dundreary Married and Done For , and John Oxenford 's Brother Sam (1862; revived in 1865),
2405-493: The debt was paid. Asa confronts Coyle and insists that Coyle must pay off Sir Edward's other debts, with his doubtless ill-gotten gains, and also apologize to Florence for trying to force her into marriage. He also demands Coyle's resignation as the steward of Trenchard Manor, making Murcott steward instead. Murcott is so pleased that he vows to stop drinking. Coyle has no choice but to do all this. Florence marries Harry, Dundreary marries Georgina, and Augusta marries an old beau. Even
2470-406: The ensuing laughter, Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer who was not part of the play's cast, entered Lincoln's box and fatally shot him in the back of the head. Familiar with the play, Booth had chosen that moment so that the audience's laughter would mask the sound of his gunshot. Booth then leapt from Lincoln's box onto the stage and made his escape through the back of the theater to
2535-442: The humour magazine Mirth . In 1878, he co-wrote a highly successful charity pantomime, The Forty Thieves , together with Robert Reece , W. S. Gilbert and F. C. Burnand . In 1880, four volumes of his plays were published, with fourteen plays in each book. After 1880, as his health greatly declined, so did Byron's playwriting output. The popular three-act comedy The Guv'nor , credited to "E. G. Lankester" and first performed in
2600-559: The journeyman touring actor, in an 1873 essay for The Era Almanack and Annual called "Eighteen Parts a Week". He began writing burlesques of melodramas and extravaganzas in the mid-1850s. In 1857, his burlesque of Richard of the Lion Heart premièred at the Royal Strand Theatre . His successful works in 1858 included The Lady of Lyons, or, Twopenny Pride and Pennytence and Fra Diavolo Travestie; or, The Prince,
2665-469: The leading playwrights of the 'sixties as well as the dramatic critic of The Times , editor of Punch , 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
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2730-448: The loan would be satisfied if he may marry Florence, who detests him. Meanwhile, Asa and the butler, Binny, try to understand each other's unfamiliar ways, as Asa tries to understand what the purpose of a shower might be, dousing himself while fully clothed. Mrs. Mountchessington is staying at Trenchard Manor. She advises Augusta, her daughter, to be attentive to the presumably wealthy Vermont "savage". Meanwhile, her other daughter Georgina
2795-543: The only one that wants to escape the draft" – was delivered instead as, "The draft has already been stopped by order of the President!" Halfway through Act III, Scene 2, the character of Asa Trenchard, played that night by Harry Hawk , utters this line, considered one of the play's funniest, to Mrs. Mountchessington: Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal – you sockdologizing old man-trap! During
2860-547: The play could scarcely be said to be worthy of his talents; The Athenaeum found the piece humorous and outrageous, and Sothern's performance "certainly the funniest thing in the world ... a vile caricature of an inane nobleman, intensely ignorant, and extremely indolent"; The Era thought the play "a hasty work, manufactured to suit the American market ... a sort of dramatic curiosity". The play closed on 21 December 1861 after 36 performances; after this inauspicious start it
2925-418: 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 Abraham Lincoln was attending when he
2990-464: The principal London theatres. A substantial portion of Taylor's prolific output consisted of adaptations from the French or collaborations with other playwrights, notably Charles Reade . Some of his plots were adapted from the novels of Charles Dickens or others. Many of Taylor's plays were extremely popular, such as Masks and Faces , an extravaganza written in collaboration with Reade, produced at
3055-468: The record for the longest-running play in history and held it for almost two decades. It was also much revived, especially in America. From 1876 to 1879, he wrote several successful burlesques for the Gaiety Theatre, London , such as a burlesque of Dion Boucicault 's Don Caesar de Bazan called Little Don Caesar de Bazan , and The Gaiety Gulliver (1879). Also during that period, he edited
3120-454: The role because he felt that it was too small and unimportant. Our American Cousin premiered in New York on October 15, 1858. After several weeks of performances, Sothern began portraying the role more broadly, as a lisping, skipping, eccentric, weak-minded fop prone to nonsensical references to sayings of his "bwother" Sam. His ad-libs were a sensation, earning good notices for his physical comedy and spawning much imitation and mockery in both
3185-524: The role of Cheviot Hill in a revival of his friend Gilbert's eccentric comedy, Engaged . He continued acting until 1882, when ill health forced him to retire. Not surprisingly, Byron achieved his greatest acting successes in timing of the delivery of his own witty lines. The Times explained that "in such parts as Gibson Greene in Married in Haste , a self-possessed, observant, satirical, well-bred man of
3250-497: The same time studying to become a barrister , and beginning his life's work as a writer. Taylor was called to the bar of the Middle Temple 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 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
3315-482: The servants marry. The play's April 14, 1865, performance at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. , became the most infamous in the play's history as the site of Abraham Lincoln 's murder by John Wilkes Booth . The cast modified a line of the play in honor of the president: when the heroine asked for a seat protected from the draft, the reply – a pun on draft evasion scripted as, "Well, you're not
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#17327806525443380-575: The sixpenny magazine Mirth. He wrote numerous dramatic critiques and humorous essays for magazines, including the rival of Fun , Punch . During this period, he was a well-known man-about-town, joining, and popular as a guest at, various London dining clubs and, in 1863, becoming a founding member of the Arundel Club. Henry Morley acknowledged with dismay Byron's position in the literary world as chief punster but found in him "a true power of fun that makes itself felt by high and low". He became
3445-601: The stage as an actor and, during the same period, wrote numerous successful plays, including the historic international success, Our Boys . In his last years, he grew frail from tuberculosis and died at the age of 49. Byron was born in Manchester , England, the son of Henry Byron (1804–1884, second cousin to the poet Lord Byron and descendant of many Lords Byron ), at one time British consul in Port-au-Prince , Haiti , and Elizabeth Josephine née Bradley. He
3510-486: The words to Arthur Sullivan 's dramatic cantata , 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
3575-619: The world, [Byron] was beyond the reach of rivalry. To ease and grace of manner he united a peculiar aptitude for the delivery of the good things he put into his own mouth." Byron continued to write prose comedies with the ambitious semi-autobiographical Cyril's Success (1868), The Upper Crust (starring Toole), Uncle Dick's Darling (1870, starring Henry Irving), An English Gentleman (1871, starring Edward Sothern ), Weak Woman (1875, starring Marion Terry ), and his greatest success, Our Boys (1875–79, Vaudeville Theatre ). With 1,362 performances in its original production, Our Boys set
3640-476: Was Dearer than Life (1867), which received many revivals, beginning with a London revival in 1868 starring J. L. Toole and the young Henry Irving . Another, the same year, was The Lancashire Lass; or, Tempted, Tried and True (1867), a melodrama, also revived in London in 1868. He even collaborated with W. S. Gilbert on Robinson Crusoe; or, The Injun Bride and the Injured Wife , which played in 1867 at
3705-764: Was George de Barnwell; or Harlequin Folly in the Realms of Fancy (1862). Several of these early plays were revived in Britain and received New York productions. Between 1865 and 1867, he joined Marie Wilton , whom he had met through his early work at the Strand, in the management of the Prince of Wales's Theatre . She provided the capital, and he was to write the plays. His first was a burlesque of La sonnambula . However, Wilton wanted to present more sophisticated pieces. She agreed to produce three more burlesques by Byron, but he agreed to write his first prose comedies, War to
3770-465: 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 Wandsworth to his Whitehall office. Some, like Ellen Terry , praised Taylor's kindness and generosity; others, including F. C. Burnand , found him obstinate and unforgiving. Terry wrote of Taylor in her memoirs: Most people know that Tom Taylor was one of
3835-677: Was again admired in An American Lady in 1874, with which he began as the manager of the Criterion Theatre , and then Married in Haste (1875) which was much revived. In 1876, he played in his The Bull by the Horns and Old Chums . Other roles included Dick Simpson in Conscience Money (1878), Charles Chuckles in his An English Gentleman (1879) and John Blunt in his Michael Strogoff (1881). In 1881, he played
3900-487: Was also successful. The play quickly rose to great renown during its first few years and remained very popular throughout the second half of the 19th century. Despite achieving critical and audience acclaim throughout its production history, Our American Cousin is best known as the play that U.S. president Abraham Lincoln was attending in Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth ,
3965-433: 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 , took over the part in revivals. Howes records that Taylor was described as "of middle height, bearded [with] a pugilistic jaw and eyes which glittered like steel". Known for his remarkable energy, he
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#17327806525444030-624: Was educated in Essex and then at St. Peter's Collegiate School in Eaton Square , London. Although his mother wanted him to pursue a career in the Navy , Byron did not do so. Instead, he first became a physician's clerk in London for four years and then studied medicine with his grandfather, Dr. James Byron Bradley, in Buxton . Byron married Martha Foulkes (1831–1876) in London in 1856. He entered
4095-420: Was elected to a scholarship in 1838, and graduated with a BA in both classics and mathematics. 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 , while at
4160-426: Was revived at the same theatre on 27 January 1862 and ran uninterruptedly until 23 December for 314 successive performances. Sothern successfully revived the play many times, making Dundreary by far his most famous role. " Dundrearyisms ", twisted aphorisms in the style of Lord Dundreary (e.g. "birds of a feather gather no moss"), enjoyed a brief vogue. And the character's style of beard – long, bushy sideburns – gave
4225-710: Was the second son of Thomas Taylor (1769–1843) and his wife, Maria Josephina, née Arnold (1784–1858). His father had begun as a labourer on a small farm in Cumberland and had risen to become co-owner of a flourishing brewery in Durham . After attending the Grange School in Sunderland, and studying for two sessions at the University of Glasgow , Taylor became a student of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1837,
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