Background
Taylor was born in Greenlaw, Berwickshire, on 18 March 1813.
Taylor was born in Greenlaw, Berwickshire, on 18 March 1813.
He graduated Master of Arts
After the parish school he went to the University of Edinburgh, and then to the theological hall of the United Secession Church with a view to the ministry. On 29 May 1839 he was ordained minister of the Church in Saint Andrews. at Edinburgh University on 20 April 1843. Resigning his charge in 1872, he was appointed secretary to the new Education Board for Scotland.
lieutenant was closed down in 1885.
By then Scotland had popularly elected educational authorities, an outcome for which Taylor had advocated in synod, in public meetings, and in the lobby of the House of Commons. Benjamin Disraeli alluded to Taylor"s persistence in his novel Lothair.
Taylor received the degrees of Doctor of Divinity from Saint Andrews University in 1849 and of Doctor of Laws from Edinburgh University in 1892. He spent his last years in Edinburgh, writing, and died at Corstorphine, on 16 March 1892.