Isaac Taylor c.1720-1788

Isaac Taylor was a land surveyor and map-maker. Although based in Ross in Herefordshire he produced maps of estates in Hampshire(1757) and in the years between 1765 and 1777 he was frequently employed in Devon and Dorset where he produced estate maps for those counties as well as for estates in Wiltshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex and Middlesex. In 1754 he produced his first map of Herefordshire, the first 1 inch to 1 mile map of the county, and in 1757 he completed a map of Hereford city. Surrounding this map are several engravings of notable buildings and the decorative cartouche features a map-maker at work which may well be a self-portrait. It was at around this time that he began to sign himself "Isaac Taylor of Ross". His Herefordshire map was followed by a county map of Hampshire. After a period in the south of England working on estate maps he returned to Ross and began work on a county map of Worcestershire which was published in 1772. In 1777 he published his county map of Gloucestershire which he had carried out while also working on more estate maps.
By 1776 the income generated by producing both estate and county maps enabled Taylor and his wife Eleanor to occupy a sizeable property at 54-55 High St, Ross. From there he also acted as a local surveyor and land agent. In 1786 his Herefordshire map was re-issued. In 1788 he died and was buried in Ross churchyard. It is interesting to note that the current owner of Isaac Taylor's property in Ross discovered, under the floorboards, a pair of metal dividers, one of the tools of the map-makers trade.

For further reading see Herefordshire Maps 1577 to 1800 by Brian Smith pub.Logaston Press