REYNELL TAYLOR, C.B., C.S.I.

CHAPTER I.

EARLY LIFE.

1822-40.

AMONG the many tablets and monuments adorning the walls of the old parish church of Denbury, South Devon, there is one in the south transept which may be distinguished from the rest by reason of its size and importance. The Latin inscription, after the fashion of the time at which it was written, is of a laudatory character, but it has this advantage over many of the kind-it speaks the truth and tells of praise well earned.

thus

Translated into English the lines of this inscription run

:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF

JOSEPH TAYLOR, ESQUIRE,

Who for many years, being in command of a ship of war, discharged his duty most honourably.

home and abroad for his exploits.

He was renowned both at

With heroic courage he engaged four French vessels which together attacked him. He dyed the sea with the blood of the enemy and dispersed their ships in a miserably shattered condi

tion.

B

Through the whole French fleet he forced a way for himself singlehanded, and he seldom put into port unadorned with some trophies of war. Dauntless in the face of the enemy, he always

inspired them with terror.

With friends he was always companionable and polite, and they found him ever courteous and amiable. Sincerely religious toono less remarkable as a good man than as a good warrior, he had been schooled in the science of both warfares, the warfare of the world as well as that of Christ.

Having lived long enough and gloriously enough, with the same brave spirit and constancy with which he had served his country, he died

1733.

Joseph Taylor was no common man, and his life was one of stirring adventure. While still young he was taken prisoner at sea and narrowly escaped hanging at the hands of the Duke of Monmouth, for refusing to side against the king. Fifteen years later he played an active part in the wars of the Spanish Succession; was at the taking of Vigo, and brought home the despatches of the capture of Gibraltar. His successes against the enemy's privateers were so continual that he earned for himself the title of the King of the Channel,' and he not only defeated four French galleys and a number of shore boats, when becalmed alone off the Antilles, but he, on one occasion, cut his way through the French fleet, and so brought the news to Sir George Rooke that they were out. For this service he was decorated by the Queen with a gold medal and chain. In 1713 he was employed by the Government to settle some of the numerous fishery disputes in Newfoundland, and on the accession of George I., in the following year, he was offered a baronetcy. This honour, however, he declined,

and soon afterwards, worn out in the service of his country, he retired from the navy and established himself at Denbury, in Devonshire. His family consisted of two sons: Thomas, who lost his life in the foundering of a frigate in the Gulf of Lyons; and Joseph, the younger of the two, who married the daughter and heiress of a Mr. Whitrow, of Dartmouth, became a member of Parliament, and on his father's death succeeded him at Denbury.

Not more than a mile from Denbury stands West Ogwell House. It is a large, square, comfortable-looking place, surrounded by trees, and snugly situated in a narrow valley along which runs the river Og. History relates that the labourers who built it in the first instance were prisoners from the Spanish Armada, and that two centuries or more later, when part of the old house was pulled down to make room for modern improvements, the work was done by French prisoners of war from Dartmoor gaol.

West Ogwell was one of the many estates owned by the Reynell family, all of which have passed with heiresses into other hands. When Joseph Taylor established himself at Denbury, Richard Reynell, the last of the elder branch of the family, and M.P. for many years for Ashburton, was living at Ogwell. He had several daughters, with whom, it appears, he did not agree; but he had no son, and when he died, in 1735, he left his estates to his niece, the wife of the younger Joseph Taylor; and thus it happened that the Reynell and the Taylor properties became united.

I must leave Denbury and Ogwell for the present, and, passing over three generations, come at once to the greatgrandson of Joseph and Rebecca Taylor-the father of the

Through the whole French fleet he forced a way for himself singlehanded, and he seldom put into port unadorned with some trophies of war. Dauntless in the face of the enemy, he always inspired them with terror.

With friends he was always companionable and polite, and they found him ever courteous and amiable. Sincerely religious too— no less remarkable as a good man than as a good warrior, he had been schooled in the science of both warfares, the warfare of the world as well as that of Christ.

Having lived long enough and gloriously enough, with the same brave spirit and constancy with which he had served his country, he died

1733.

Joseph Taylor was no common man, and his life was one of stirring adventure. While still young he was taken prisoner at sea and narrowly escaped hanging at the hands of the Duke of Monmouth, for refusing to side against the king. Fifteen years later he played an active part in the wars of the Spanish Succession; was at the taking of Vigo, and brought home the despatches of the capture of Gibraltar. His successes against the enemy's privateers were so continual that he earned for himself the title of the King of the Channel,' and he not only defeated four French galleys and a number of shore boats, when becalmed alone off the Antilles, but he, on one occasion, cut his way through the French fleet, and so brought the news to Sir George Rooke that they were out. For this service he was decorated by the Queen with a gold medal and chain. In 1713 he was employed by the Government to settle some of the numerous fishery disputes in Newfoundland, and on the accession of George I., in the following year, he was offered a baronetcy. This honour, however, he declined,

and soon afterwards, worn out in the service of his country, he retired from the navy and established himself at Denbury, in Devonshire. His family consisted of two sons: Thomas, who lost his life in the foundering of a frigate in the Gulf of Lyons; and Joseph, the younger of the two, who married the daughter and heiress of a Mr. Whitrow, of Dartmouth, became a member of Parliament, and on his father's death succeeded him at Denbury.

Not more than a mile from Denbury stands West Ogwell House. It is a large, square, comfortable-looking place, surrounded by trees, and snugly situated in a narrow valley along which runs the river Og. History relates that the labourers who built it in the first instance were prisoners from the Spanish Armada, and that two centuries or more later, when part of the old house was pulled down to make room for modern improvements, the work was done by French prisoners of war from Dartmoor gaol.

West Ogwell was one of the many estates owned by the Reynell family, all of which have passed with heiresses into other hands. When Joseph Taylor established himself at Denbury, Richard Reynell, the last of the elder branch of the family, and M.P. for many years for Ashburton, was living at Ogwell. He had several daughters, with whom, it appears, he did not agree; but he had no son, and when he died, in 1735, he left his estates to his niece, the wife of the younger Joseph Taylor; and thus it happened that the Reynell and the Taylor properties became united.

I must leave Denbury and Ogwell for the present, and, passing over three generations, come at once to the greatgrandson of Joseph and Rebecca Taylor-the father of the