The Story of John Taylor

In around 1480, triplet sons, John, Rowland and Nathaniel, we born to Joan, wife of William Taylor who was probably employed as a gamekeeper in the Forest of Needwood. Surviving, healthy tri[lets would have been unusual in this period. It is told that the three babies were presented to King Henry VII whilst he was hunting in the forest. Henry undertook to educate the three boys and all entered the learned professions as he saw the triplets as a sign of the Holy Trinity. 

In 1503, Joh Taylor earned his living at Bishop's Hatfield, a parish in Hertfordshire, and soon afterwards became a Tudor civil servant. By 1509 he had become Prebendary of Eccleshall in Lichfield Cathedral. When Henry VII died Henry VIII appointed him King's clerk and Chaplain. 

John Taylor was thought to have been at the famous meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I of France called the Field of the Cloth of Gold in June 1520 in Northern France. It was intended to strengthen peace ties between the two nations. 

In 1527 he had become Master of the Rolls, the peak of his appointments, travelling to and from France on Royal business and he had been appointed one of the commissionaires to try the validity of the King's marriage to Catharine of Aragon. John Taylor eventually resigned as Master of the Rolls in favour of Thomas Cromwell. 

John Taylor decided to build a new church to replace the old chapel which is first known to have been in existence in 1157. By the time St James' Church was finished and dedicated in 1533, John Taylor was already a sick and troubled man and he died in 1534. 

Prior to the break from Rome is was common for rich families to buy 'indulgences' from the church to ease their passage from purgatory. Building the church may have been John Taylor's indulgence. Such practices ceased and the English Church broke with such practices. 

The John Taylor coat of arms can be seen in several places inside and outside the church. The three heads represent the triplets. The flowers are violets and represent humility, majesty or royalty. The red roses are the Tudor roses of Henry VII. The letter 'T' is a TAU cross, a variant of the Christian cross. Nearby High Schools bear John Taylor's name to record local pride in his illustrious career.