The King Against Robert Taylor and Others

As detailed in other posts in this blog we know that a Harriet Robinson who witnessed the marriage of John Brooks and Elizabeth Stagoll in 1808 went on to marry the Rev. Robert Taylor (poss. Jan 17th 1834). We also knew that John Brooks had published Taylor's Diegesis; Being a Discovery of the Origin, Evidences, and Early History of Christianity' in 1829. We have recently rediscovered details of events from the previous year;

The initial charges date from 1827 but the case did to get heard until Jan/Feb 1828. 

1st count.
"Robert Taylor...John Roome...Thomas Brushfield...William Devonshire Saull...John Hanger...John Brooks...William Freeman...being persons of wicked, profane, and irreligious minds and dispositions...on the 1st day of January, in the 7th year of the reign of our sovereign Lord George the Fourth [1827]...did wickedly and impiously conspire, combine, confederate and agree together, to blaspheme our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and to bring into ridicule and contempt the Christian Religion and the Holy Scriptures."

The indictment continues;

They "open[ed] a certain room, for the purpose, amongst other things, of delivering therein blasphemous and impious discourses,..."

"and did also...in pursuance of the said conspiracy...print and published, and cause to be printed and published, a certain impious and blasphemous libel, in the form of an advertisement...

CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE SOCIETY

The ninety-third discussion will be held in the Areopagus, on Tuesday, the 13th inst, at seven precisely.

Subject-"The Character of Christ," as published by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. The Reverend Orator will deliver a Philippic in expose of the atrocious villains that characterise the Jewish Vampire, (meaning our said Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ) and in respectful challenge of his Ministers, to come forward and shew, if they themselves are not ashamed of him. 

The Holy Liturgy, as performed every Sunday, and in the ninetieth Oration delivered by the Rev.Orator, in irrefutable demonstration of the forgery and imposture of the four Gospels, are to be had of the printer, J. Brooks, 421, Oxford Street, and at the Areopagus, every Tuesday evening, 86 Cannon Street.

    

2nd count.
...by blasphemous and impious speeches and discourses, and by other unlawful means, to bring into hatred and contempt and ridicule  the Christian Religion and the Holy Scriptures; to the high displeasure of Almighty God...and against the the peace of our said Lord the King, his crown and dignity. 

3rd count.
...such persons aforesaid...disregarding the laws and religion of this realm...[brought] into contempt the Christian Religion. [And did] deliver and cause to be delivered divers wicked, impious and blasphemous discourses...to wit, 500 persons, then and there, on these dates and times, assembled to the great scandal the Christian Religion..."    


According to Richard Carlile writing in 'The Lion' (No.3 vol 1. Friday, January 18, 1828) Robert Taylor stood alone charged of the second indictment. At the time of writing we can not discover what happened to John Brooks and the other five accused. At one point they are offered no further action if they just plead guilty but they are talked out of this by Taylor as a matter of principle.
Whatever happen to them we know that on the 7th Feb Taylor was sentenced to a year in Oakham Goal.

Stagoll, Robinson and the Devil's Chaplain

In the previous post we saw that Elizabeth Stagoll's marriage record was witnessed by Harriet Robinson. To strengthen our theory that this 1808 wedding of John Brooks and Elizabeth Stagoll is the one relating to our family tree we now turn to examine Miss Robinson.


Our first reference to Harriet Robinson came from Elizabeth's copied diary entries:

"Mrs Robinson was married to Mr Taylor Jan 17 1834"

A subsequent entry tells us that Mr. Taylor died in 1844. Both these dates tie in with the Rev. Robert Taylor, a radical free-thinker and anti-clericalist nick-named 'the devil's chaplain'. In 1829 John Brooks published Taylor's 'Diegesis; Being a Discovery of the Origin, Evidences, and Early History of Christianity' and both Brooks and Taylor were acquaintances with Richard Carlile and Julian Hibbert.

It is interesting to note that John Brooks was an executor in Hibbert's will. When the non-animal-eating Hibbert died suddenly in 1834 (also recorded in the diary) a sum of money left to Robert Taylor was 'revoked by a codicil, in consquence, as he states, of Taylor having married a Lady of large fortune'. The Cambridge Alumni Database also records this marriage to 'an elderly lady of means'.

Parish records for St. Giles in Field indeed register the 1834 marriage of a Robert Taylor and Harriet Robinson although we have yet to obtain a copy of the certificate.

The Cambridge records also record Taylor's 1844 death in Tours, France. This might explain another diary entry:


"Left Tours for Jersey June 4th 1842...
...my second visit to Tours June 7th 1844. Mr. Taylor died about 7th June 1844"

So to summarise, the 1808 marriage of John Brooks and Elizabeth Stagoll looks very likely to be the correct one. Harriet Robinson was a good friend of Elizabeth who later married Rev Robert Taylor. Elizabeth continued to visit Harriet even after the Taylor's move to Tours and yet another diary entry records a last visit to Mrs Taylor in Cumberland.



Sources:
Cambridge Alumni Database
The Gentleman's Magazine Published by F. Jefferies, 1834