  tom taylor (19 october 1817 &ndash; 12 july 1880) was an english dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of punch magazine. he wrote about 100 plays during his career, including our american cousin (1858), famous as the play which was being performed in the presence of american president abraham lincoln when he was assassinated in 1865. ==biography== taylor was born into a wealthy family at bishopwearmouth, present day sunderland, in north-east england. his father owned a brewery. after attending school at the grange in sunderland, and studying for two sessions at the university of glasgow, he became a student of cambridge university's trinity college in 1837. in 1840 he received a b.a. with honors in both classics and mathematics, and a master's degree in 1843.profile of taylor at the turney site.  taylor began his working life as a journalist. soon after moving to london, he wrote for the morning chronicle and the daily news. he was on the staff of punch magazine until 1874, when he succeeded charles william shirley brooks as editor. he was also was an art critic for the times and the graphic.information from the 1911 edition of encyclopÃ¦dia britannica at the same time, for two years, he was a professor of english literature at university college, london. he was accepted as a lawyer of middle temple in november 1846, and practised the northern circuit until he became assistant secretary of the board of health in 1850. on the reconstruction of the board in 1854 he was made secretary, and on its abolition his services were transferred to a department of the home office, retiring on a pension in 1876. taylor also wrote about painters, editing the autobiography of b. r. haydon (1853), the autobiography and correspondence of c. r. leslie, r.a. (1860), and writing life and times of sir joshua reynolds (1865). he also edited pen sketches from a vanished hand, selected from papers of mortimer collins. he died at his home in battersea, london, in 1880 at the age of 62. ==theatre== ===acting and stage direction=== from an early age, taylor had shown a predilection for theatre and performed dramas with a number of children in a loft over a brewer's stable. during 1842, taylor, together 
1817_births 1880_deaths Alumni_of_Trinity_College,_Cambridge English_dramatists_and_playwrights People_associated_with_Gilbert_and_Sullivan People_from_Sunderland,_Tyne_and_Wear