Clementia Taylor

Clementia Taylor (née Doughty; December 17, 1810 – April 11, 1908) was an English women's rights activist and radical.

Clementia (known as Mentia to her friends) was born in Brockdish, Norfolk, one of twelve children. Her family was Unitarian, and Clementia became the governess to the daughters of a local Unitarian minister who ran a boy's boarding school. In 1842 Clementia married Peter Alfred Taylor; the cousin of her pupils. Taylor was later the Liberal Member of Parliament for Leicester.

In 1863 Peter Taylor bought Aubrey House in the Campden Hill district of Holland Park in West London. The Taylors opened the Aubrey Institute in the grounds of the house; the institute gave young people the chance to improve a poor education they might have had. The lending library and reading room of the institute had over 500 books.

"Those monthly [other sources say fortnightly] parties during the London season were unique and very enjoyable, for Mentia and her husband … were admirably free of class prejudice in persons and opinions, so that all kinds of literary people—refugees from several countries—artists and humble lovers of social enjoyment, mingled with supporters of 'causes' of all kinds"

Taylor, Mary Estlin and Eliza Wigham were active in anti-slavery movement in England and in 1863 they all served on Ladies' London Emancipation Society which Taylor led. The Taylors were also closely involved in the movement for Italian unification and Giuseppe Mazzini was a frequent visitor to Aubrey House. Giuseppe Garibaldi stayed at the house for a few days during his celebrated 1864 visit to London. During his stay at Aubrey House he was visited by Mazzini, and noted radical figures such as feminist Emilie Ashurst Venturi; Aurelio Saffi, Karl Blind, Ferdinand Freiligrath, Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin and Louis Blanc.

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