I haven't been able to find a baptism record for John, but according to his burial record, he would have been born in about 1748. By 1771, he was living in Salisbury, as the Banns for his marriage on the 29^th June 1771 to Mary Joles was read in the Parish of St Martin with St Mary Magdalene, where he is listed as "of this parish". Mary was from Winterbourne Earls, where they were married and where they settled.

In many ways Henry Taylor is a pivotal player in my Family Tree research. In my article on the life of Francis Fane Taylor I mentioned that he was born in Farley, nr Salisbury and his father was Henry Taylor. I have also shown in my article on John Taylor - the landscape painter - that Henry Taylor was the youngest child of John and Rebecca Taylor. But how do we know that this was the same Henry Taylor. After all Henry and Taylor are both common names today and were also common names in early 19th century England.