Dr Rowland Taylor 1510~1555

Rowland Taylor (1510 - 1555)

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Thomas Taylor (1548 - 1588)

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Thomas J Taylor II, Captain (1574 - 1618)

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John Taylor I "The Immigrant" (1607 - 1651)

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James Taylor (1635 - 1698)

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John Powell Taylor (1696 - 1780)

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William Taylor Lt Colonel (1737 - 1803)

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William Taylor (1770 - 1854)

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Sarah `Sally` Taylor (1793 - 1863)

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Amanda Lamberson (1821 - 1866)

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John Hansel Batton (1855 - 1909)

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Clara Forbes Batton (1888 - 1987)

Rowland Taylor was Clara Forbes Batton’s  10x great grandfather.  He and I share a birthday give or take 500 years. 

Rowland was a scholar and Anglican parish priest.  He received the LLD from Cambridge the same year Martin Luther completed his German bible.  He was married to Margaret Tyndale whose uncle (some researchers say her brother but most say uncle), William Tyndale, was burned at the stake and denounced as a heretic for his New English Bible translation.

Rowland Taylor Memorial, Aldham Common, England

Rowland picked a rather bad time to preach a sermon against the Catholic Church, mainly against forced celibacy for the priesthood.  He, along with a lot of the Protestants thought priests should be able to marry.

Queen “Bloody” Mary had landed on the throne and she was a big fan of the Pope.  Rowland was arrested only 6 days after Bloody Mary came to power. 

Rowland refused to back down when it came to his beliefs and had the unfortunate honor of being third in over 280 auto-de-fé ordered by Bloody Mary.

Rowland was burned at the stake February 9, 1555.  Just as the fire was lit a guard named, Warwick, took pity on Rowland, hitting him in the head with a halberd and killing him instantly sparing Rowland pain.

Both Rowland Taylor and William Tyndale became Martyrs for their faith.

William Tyndale 1484-1536