Clementia Taylor (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Doughty; 17 December 1810 – 11 April 1908) was an English women's rights activist and radical.''ODNB''.

Life

Clementia (known as Mentia to her friends) was born in

Brockdish Brockdish is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Brockdish is located south-west of Harleston and south of Norwich. Brockdish CP also includes the smaller village of Thorpe Abbotts. History Brockdish's name is ...

, Norfolk, one of twelve children. Her family was Unitarian, and Clementia became the governess to the daughters of a Unitarian minister who ran a boys' boarding school at Hove. In 1842 Clementia married Peter Alfred Taylor, the cousin of her pupils. Taylor was later the Liberal Member of Parliament for

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. In 1863, Peter Taylor bought Aubrey House in the

Campden Hill Campden Hill is a hill in Kensington, West London, bounded by Holland Park Avenue on the north, Kensington High Street on the south, Kensington Palace Gardens on the east and Abbotsbury Road on the west. The name derives from the former ''Camp ...

district of

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and largely surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park. Colloquially referred to as 'Millionaire's Row', ...

in West London. The Taylors opened the Aubrey Institute in the grounds of the house; the institute gave young people the chance to improve a poor education they might have had. The lending library and reading room of the institute had over 500 books. Taylor, Mary Estlin and

Eliza Wigham Eliza Wigham (23 February 1820 – 3 November 1899), born Elizabeth Wigham, was a Scottish campaigner for women's suffrage, anti-slavery, peace and temperance in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was involved in several major campaigns to improve women ...

were active in anti-slavery movement in England and in 1863 they all served on Ladies' London Emancipation Society which Taylor led. The Taylors were also closely involved in the movement for

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

and

Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, ; ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the ...

was a frequent visitor to Aubrey House. During his celebrated 1864 visit to London, a reception was held at Aubrey House for

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

and after Garibaldi visited Mazzini. Noted radical figures at the reception included feminist Emilie Ashurst Venturi;

Aurelio Saffi Marco Aurelio Saffi'' (13 August 1819 – 10 April 1890) was a Roman and Italian politician, active during the period of Italian unification. He was an important figure in the radical republican current within the Risorgimento movement and close t ...

Karl Blind Karl Blind (4 September 1826, Mannheim – 31 May 1907, London) was a German revolutionary and writer on politics, history, mythology and German literature. Blind participated in the Revolutions of 1848, including in the uprising in the Grand Du ...

Ferdinand Freiligrath Ferdinand Freiligrath (17 June 1810 – 18 March 1876) was a German poet, translator and liberal agitator, who is considered part of the Young Germany movement. Life Freiligrath was born in Detmold, Principality of Lippe. His father was a teacher ...

Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin (; 2 February 1807 – 31 December 1874) was a French lawyer, politician and journalist who emerged as one of the leaders of the French Revolution of 1848. He served as Minister of the Interior and on the Executi ...

and

Louis Blanc Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc ( ; ; 29 October 1811 – 6 December 1882) was a French Socialism, socialist politician, journalist and historian. He called for the creation of cooperatives in order to job guarantee, guarantee employment for t ...

. In Moncure D. Conway's autobiography he describes the Taylor's

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

at Aubrey House, and Clementia's "Pen and Pencil Club" at which the work of young writers and artists was read and exhibited. Conway, an American abolitionist and clergyman, moved to Notting Hill to be near the Taylors at Aubrey House. The Taylor's social gatherings were also noted by the American author

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

. Attendees of the "Pen and Pencil Club" included the diarist

Arthur Munby Arthur Joseph Munby (19 August 1828 – 29 January 1910) was a British diarist, poet, portrait photographer, barrister and solicitor. He is also known as Arthur J. Munby and A. J. Munby. Biography Arthur Munby was born in York on 19 August 182 ...

, and many poets and authors who later achieved fame. Aubrey House was also visited by feminists

Barbara Bodichon Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (born Barbara Leigh Smith; 8 April 1827 – 11 June 1891) was an English educationalist and artist, a philanthropist and her greatest skill was as a facilitator. She was a leading mid-19th-century feminist and women ...

Lydia Becker Lydia Ernestine Becker (24 February 1827 – 18 July 1890) was a leader in the early British suffrage movement, as well as an amateur scientist with interests in biology and astronomy. She established Manchester as a centre for the suffrage mov ...

Elizabeth Blackwell Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 182131 May 1910) was an English-American physician, notable as the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council for the Un ...

, and

Elizabeth Malleson Elizabeth Malleson (''née'' Whitehead; 1828–1916) was an English educationalist, suffragist and activist for women's education and rural nursing. Life Elizabeth Whitehead was born into a Unitarian family in Chelsea, Malleson was the first c ...

.''MunODNB''. Clementia Taylor was on the organizing committee of the 1866 petition in favour of women's suffrage that

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

presented to the British parliament; the 1499 signatures were collated in Aubrey House. It was in the house that the Committee of the London

National Society for Women's Suffrage The National Society for Women's Suffrage Manchester Branch The National Society for Women's Suffrage was the first national group in the United Kingdom to campaign for women's right to vote. Officially formed on 6 November 1867, by Lydia Becker ...

, held its first meeting in July 1867. In 1873, the Taylors sold Aubrey House due to Peter's ill health, established an apartment near parliament house for when the Commons sat, and moved to Brighton. Mentia Taylor died in Brighton in 1908.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *; cited as ''ODNB''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Clementia 1810 births 1908 deaths People from South Norfolk (district) English suffragists English Unitarians People from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Activists from Brighton