| Description | This letter was sent to Elizabeth Taylor by her father John Taylor on the occasion of her twenty-second birthday whilst she was staying with her school friend Edith Graham. John Taylor sends his birthday greetings, reminiscing about Elizabeth's birth at the Taylor family's first home, Elm Place in 1858. He recalls his daughter's 'soft brown downy hair', remarking that he used to call her 'monkey'. Drawing on religious teachings, John Taylor reminds Elizabeth that 'it is a capital faculty to see the bright light', advising her to 'go thro' the world with a hopeful spirit'. John Taylor concludes his letter by sending his kind regards to Edith Graham and her mother. Elizabeth Taylor's mother Mary Jane Taylor also wrote to her daughter on her twenty-second birthday. |