Henry Taylor (dramatist)

Sir Henry Taylor (18 October 1800 – 27 March 1886) was an English dramatist.

Taylor was born in Bishop Middleham, the son of a gentleman farmer, and spent his youth in Witton-le-Wear with his stepmother at Witton Hall (now Witton Tower) in the high street. His father George was a friend of Wordsworth and the poet visited him in July 1838.

In Witton, Taylor wrote 'The Cave of Ceada' which was accepted for the Quarterly Review. He became editor of the London Magazine in 1823, and from 1824 until 1872, he worked in the Colonial Office. Taylor wrote a number of plays, including Isaac Comnenus (1827) and Philip van Artevelde (1834). This latter brought him fame and elicited comparisons with Shakespeare. In 1845 there followed a book of lyrical poems. His essay 'The Statesman' (1836) caused some controversy, being a satirical view of how the civil service really works. Taylor published his Autobiography in 1885, which contains pleasant portraits of Wordsworth, Southey, Tennyson and Scott among others.