Vol. IV, p. 48
The ancestry of George, born 1615, is not completely clear.  It is believed that he is either a younger brother of John and James Taylor or their cousin.  All three men came to Virginia at about the same time.  In attempting to trace the descendants of John, who was born in 1607 and James, born in 1610, we find many differing opinions.  There is an abundance of information concerning this family, on the Internet, from the files of Latter-Day Saints, and from several books.  All of this only adds to the confusion since so much of it is not documented and appears to be only speculation from various individuals.

In attempting to summarize some of the material which can be found concerning these men, most agree that they were sons of Thomas Taylor, Jr. of Carlisle, England and his wife, Margaret Swinderby.  In tracing further back there seems to be no definite agreement other than Thomas, Jr, (born March 15, 1574 - died 1618) was a son of Thomas Taylor, Sr. (born September 19, 1548, Hadley, England - died 1576) and his wife, Elizabeth Burwell.  There are those who believe Thomas Taylor, Sr. was a son of Rowland Taylor (born 1510 - died February 5, 1555) and Margaret Tyndale.  Rowland's father was reported to have been John Taylor, born about 1478 and whose wife was Susan Rowland.

Rowland Taylor, born in Rothbury, England, was an English Protestant martyr who was burn at the stake in 1555 by the order of the Roman Catholic Bishop Stephen Gardiner.  Rev. Taylor was preaching from the Bible that had been translated into English by his wife's uncle, William Tyndale who had suffered the same fate for his pains in 1536 as the Rev. Rowland Taylor did nineteen years later.

Under examination by Dr. Henry Harvey on April 2, 1554, it was learned that he had married Margaret in the house of John Tyndale in 1525.  Rowland Taylor was but sixteen years of age at the time of the marriage, his bride only fourteen.  Also during this examination he stated there had been nine children.  While he was in prison he gave his son, Thomas, a Latin Book, containing the notable sayings of the martyrs...etc, 1 (1 The Life of Rowland Taylor, by William James Brown, 1959; Published in England.

From Rowland Taylor's will he stated "I go to the rest of my children, Susan, George, Ellen, Robert, and Zachary:  I have bequeathed you to the only Omnipotent." 2 (2 ibid.)  We have not found the names of his three other children.

p. 49

As was mentioned previously the Internet has much in the way of "information" concerning Rowland Taylor, none of which seems able to be proven.  Recently a fellow researcher ran across the following story on the Internet.  Your guess is as good as mine as to its validity.  However I thought it was more interesting than any of the other so called histories of Rowland Taylor that I have found or read.

The parents of John Taylor, who was Rowland father, were William and Joan Taylor.  William was a game warden in the forest of Needwood, name of county not given.  In 1471, William and his wife, Joan, held a copyhold on a cottage northeast of the church in Barton-under-Needwood.  (A copyhold in the laws of England and Ireland, means the holding of land by right of being recorded as holder in the court of the manor).  The Taylor family had lived in this area since 1345.

William and Joan had four children, a daughter and three sons who were triplets, born about 1478.  The triplets were John, Rowland, and Nathaniel.  The forest of Needwood was a hunting area for the king and after the birth of the triplets William and Joan presented the three boys to the king and asked for his blessing for them.  As a result of this meeting the decree was made that the crown would provide for the education of all triplets born in the kingdom.  The decree stayed in effect until the 20th century when Queen Elizabeth II revoked it.

For those researchers who read this story and want to believe it I strongly suggest you prove it before adding it to your own lineage.  I assume that the martyr, Reverend Rowland Taylor, born 1510, was named after his father's brother, Rowland.  To me it is simply an interesting and unique story that I enjoyed reading.