John Edward Taylor
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- For others named John Taylor, see John Taylor.
John Edward Taylor (September 11, 1791 - January 6, 1844) was the founder of the Manchester Guardian newspaper, later to become The Guardian. Born at Ilminster, Somerset, England where his father was a Unitarian minister, he was apprenticed to a cotton manufacturer in Manchester, later becoming a successful merchant. He was a moderate supporter of reform and witnessed the Peterloo massacre in 1819. In 1821 he founded the Manchester Guardian, which he continued to edit until his death.
His younger son, also John Edward Taylor (though usually known as Edward) (1830-1905) became a co-owner of the Manchester Guardian in 1852 and sole owner four years later. He was also editor of the paper from 1861 to 1872. He bought the Manchester Evening News from its founder Mitchell Henry in 1868 and was owner, then co-owner, until his death. He had no children; after his death the Evening News passed into the hands of his nephews in the Allen family, while the Guardian was sold to its editor, his cousin C. P. Scott.
A third man by the name John Edward Taylor wrote the 1847 English translation of the Italian work Il Pentamerone by Giambattista Basile.