The Taylor Family

 Taylor Family by Cathay Birch

Some of what i know of the famous Taylor family and especially Gypsy Joe who was my husbands great grandad. Joe married Betsy Penfold, you can see the pictures of her parents Henry and Ocean Penfold nee Hughes above. If you open the attachment you will see that Mark Taylor who married Charlotte Lewis in Gloucestershire was the father of John Taylor who married Harriet Saunders, daughter of John and Jane Saunders nee Willis. They had 14 children amongst whom was Gypsy Joe.The Taylor family from John Taylor until now were always boxers and street fighters. Joe had a brother Jimmey who carried on the boxing booth from his father John Taylor and he in turn passed it on to his son Ronnie Taylor. Jimmey also had a son James who took the name Tex Taylor when he went to Texas in America to continue his fighting career. However he took up with another fighters woman and was beat up so badly he had to return to Britain and never fought again. Joes brother Jimmey was an alcholic and a fighter.One day when there was a nasty fever going round Barnstaple, Jimmey ambled along to the circus that was in town, he got very drunk and when he returned home his two youngest children had died of the fever. He never drank again. If you read the will of John Taylor you will see that he was not best pleased with his sons Henry and Joe. Although being very rich (Taylors owned most of Trinity Street and Butchers Row in Barnstaple N.Devon at one time) he only left a shilling to each of those boys!!!On the Birch 2 pages you will see a photo of Ocean Taylor Joes daughter with her cousins.is'nt she beautiful. Joes other two daughters married two Birch brothers.Vashti Taylor married James Birch and Harriet Taylor married William Henry Birch. Apart from fair work the Taylors did hawking and farm work, traded in horses and put their hand to anything that would make a bob or two!They resided mainly in Barnstaple in Devon but i wonder if the girls met their husbands at a fair when their husbands sister Charlotte Birch(mother of Joe Beckett, British Heavy weight Champion in the 1920s) was at a fair with her Beckett Boxing Booth? Who knows.Gypsy Joe was well respected amongst the farming community even though he had a few run ins with the law and there are numerous newspaper reports of his antics that landed him in court. Jack Taylor also pictured above was also an alcholic and he is said to have died choking on a chicken bone while the worse for drink.As you can see Joe was buried with his wife in Barnstaple, Devon.Their daughter Harriet is buried with her husband in South Molten Devon and Vashti is buried with her husband in West Down Devon. If you would like to go to the Birch pages on this site you will see the photos and some details of the Taylor marriages to the Birch Boys. Also if you look at the Somerset and Dorset pages you will see the Hughes family from whence Ocean came from. She was Robert Hughes and Sarah davis's daughter. Click the button below to download Taylor the tree.

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