Dr John Taylor, Chartist--Ayrshire Revolutionary
W Hamish Fraser

Ayrshire Monographs No. 33
ISBN--0 9542253 5 X
112 pp, illustrated
£4.00.

Dr John Taylor (1805-42) was a notable leader of Scottish chartism. He was a romantic figure, heavily influenced by Feargus O'Connor. He was born at Newark Castle, near Ayr, and served as a surgeon in the navy. He also lived at Blackhouse, in Ayr, where Western House Hotel now stands. He became involved in politics in 1830, unsuccessfully standing for parliament for Ayr Burghs at the first election after the Reform Act, in 1832. He stood again as a Radical in 1834. He was involved in Radical journalism and was active in many organisations in the west of Scotland that campaigned for reform in many forms. Taylor was noted for the violent terms of his speeches, and was imprisoned for libellous articles that appeared in the Ayrshire Reformer. He was arrested in July 1839 for inciting a riot in Birmingham. He suffered from poor health and died in Larne in 1842 aged 37. A statue was erected in his memory in Wallacetown Cemetery, Ayr, in 1850.

Until his recent retirement, Hamish Fraser was Professor of Modern History at the University of Strathclyde. Among his publications are The Coming of the Mass Market, Conflict and Class: Scottish Workers 1700-1838 and A History of British Trade Unionism 1700-1998. He has also edited books on both the history of Glasgow and the history of Aberdeen.