Janet Taylor (born Jane Ann Ionn, 13 May 1804 – 25 January 1870[1]) was an English astronomer, navigation expert, mathematician, meteorologist,[2] and founder of the George Taylor Nautical Academy. She was the author of various astronomy and navigation works, and owner of a navigational instrument production and repair warehouse.
The George Taylor Nautical Academy was highly regarded by the East India Company, Trinity House, and the Admiralty. She received medals from both the King of Prussia and King of the Netherlands, and her rule for calculating latitude from altitude was described as "ingenious".[3] Taylor was among the few women working as a scientific instrument designer in 19th century London.[4] Her 1834 patented "Mariner's Calculator" was dismissed by the Admiralty, and was later reassessed as "genius but impractical in the 'clumsy' hands of its potential users."[5]
Taylor was born Jane Ann Ionn in Wolsingham, England, on 13 May 1804. Her parents were the Reverend Peter Ionn and Jane Deighton, and was their sixth child out of eight.[6] [7] Her father was the headmaster of a free grammar school, which was one of the few Northern English schools to teach navigation, which Taylor would attend.
At nine years old, she received a scholarship to attend Queen Charlotte’s Royal School for Embroidering Females in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, which had an entry age of fourteen.
When her father died, Taylor invested her inheritance into a career in the male-dominated field of nautical education. In 1821, she began managing the finances of her older brother's business. In 1831, she married George Taylor and became a stepmother of three children.
Janet Taylor opened the George Taylor Nautical Academy in 1833 with her husband.[8] During this time period she published "Luni-Solar and Horary Tables: with their application in nautical astronomy; containing an easy and correct method of finding the longitude, by lunar observations and chronometers; the latitude, by double altitudes and elapsed time, the azimuth, amplitude, and true time," which discussed calculations that were able to "reduce the lunar distance" using a formula she derived herself.
In 1834, she received a patent for her "Mariner's Calculator". The invention did not see usage in the British Royal Navy as it was deemed "unworthy for the Lordships Patronage" by the Admiralty. Later on, she published a second edition of "Principles of Navigation Simplified", however faced financial difficulties following its release and her invention's failure.
Around mid-1835, she had a child. After improving her lunar distance formula, she published the second[9] edition of Luni-Solar and Horary Tables. She owed much of this success to Francis Beaufort, who helped push for the acceptance of her work by the Naval establishment.
This was Taylor's first published book, in 1833. This book was specifically meant to simplify the calculations of astronomical navigation by using the moon instead of the sun as one's point of reference. During the time surrounding this publication, there would be a lot of criticism around finding the best way to calculate longitude while at sea.
Luni-Solar and Horary Tables became a great success, due to Taylor's discovery proving that the earth is spheroidal rather than spherical. She uses "he" instead of "her" to refer to herself throughout the book, because of how male-dominated her field was.
To pay respects to Queen Charlotte, Taylor dedicated this book to King William IV, her son. William offered her a job as an educator for nobility.[10]
In 1833 the first edition of Luni-Solar and Horary Tables was reviewed in The United Service Journal, The Atlas, and The Morning Advertiser. These were positive reviews, urging young mariners to use this as their basis of studying. In 1834, Taylor published a shorter version of Luni-Solar and Horary Tables called The Principles of Navigation Simplified: with Luni-Solar and horary tables, and their application in Nautical Astronomy,.
In 1835, after getting support and a grant from the Admiralty, Trinity House, and East India Company, Taylor was able to publish the second edition of Luni-solar and Horary Tables, and in 1836 she published the third edition. In 1854 she published her seventh and last edition of the book. Taylor published a second book, An Epitome of Navigation, and Nautical Astronomy, with the Improved Lunar Tables, in 1842. She published twelve editions of Epitome of Navigation by 1859.
After Taylor's book, Luni-Solar and Horary Tables, second edition came out in 1835, and was selling well, along with the steady income from her first nautical academy, she was able to open her second academy named after her this time during late 1835. This success meant Taylor was increasingly recognized as a credible mathematician and entrepreneur. Mrs. Janet Taylor's Nautical Academy and Navigation Warehouse offered training in all subjects a mariner would need: "a complete course on Navigation, including Trigonometry, and its application to Navigation. Another course was Algebra, Geometry, Physical Geography in relation to the velocity of tides, waves, etc. Mechanics including the Composition of Forces, Mechanical
powers, the Laws of Motion, the strength of strain, of materials; wind, rain, steam powers, Atmospheric and Oceanic Phenomena... and so it continued....".[11]
During the late 1830's and 40's, her academies would be advertised by The Shipping and Mercantile Gazette and the London Shipping Gazette.[12]
Janet Taylor's second academy had a very large and positive impact on the young English mariners. So much so that the expansion of her second nautical academy was endorsed by organizations like: the Admiralty, the Trinity House, and the East India Company. This expansion allowed her to house pupils who would not have been able to attend otherwise.
Janet Taylor, before anything was an instrument maker, and established herself as such. 1838 was when her first advertisements for her very own chronometers were appearing. After her discovery that the Earth was spheroidal, Taylor would create and adjust compasses, sextants, binnacles, and other nautical tools to keep up with this new discovery and the principles that came with it.
The Mariner's compass, while not endorsed by the Admiralty, could be considered Taylor's "most notable" invention.
In 1850, Taylor developed and designed a quintant for the Prince of Wales, who would later become King Edward VII, specifically made for royalty with space at the bottom for Prince Edward's three-feathered family crest. A year later, Prince Albert decided to host the Great Exhibition of 1851, which would really boost Taylor among 15,000 male inventors. There she presented her "bronze binnacle, with compass, designed from the water lily."[13]
For three years following the Great Exhibition of 1851, Taylor would continue to develop many binnacles, by performing experiments consisting of swinging ships back and forth across the Thames and recording the compass actions. She would then explain these results in a letter to astronomer George Biddell Airy in 1854. This letter would lead to a great professional relationship between Airy and Taylor for a while to come.
In 1856, Taylor invented another nautical instrument consisting of an attachment for sextants and quadrants, called sea artificial horizon.
In 1862, Janet Taylor presented a newly innovated sextant and her mariner's compass at the 1862 London International Exhibition of Industry and Art. Her developed sextant was incredibly popular with the public.
Her husband died in 1853. Her senior employees would leave the academy that same year to start their own businesses. From 1860, Taylor began receiving an annual Civil List pension of £50. The academy later rebranded to Mrs Janet Taylor and Co. In 1863, she published the sixth edition of Directions To The Planisphere Of The Stars, but declared bankruptcy the following year. She left London in 1866[14] and got bronchitis, dying on 26 January 1870 aged 65. Her death certificate states her occupation as "Teacher of Navigation".[15]