Maria Ann Spilsbury

Maria Ann Spilsbury [married name Taylor] (1777–1820) grew up among the Moravians and Methodists. Her father, Jonathan Spilsbury (1737-1812), a printmaker and portrait painter, became a Moravian in 1781, and in 1789 moved the family to county Wicklow, Ireland, to teach drawing, having established a close relationship with Mrs Sarah Tighe (mother of Mary Tighe), a Wesleyan follower. He exhibited three works at the Society of Artists between 1763 and 1771, and thirteen paintings at the Royal Academy between 1776 and 1784. In 1791 the Spilsburys returned to London, and his daughter began to develop outstanding skill in painting and music. Between 1792 and 1813, she exhibited nearly 80 paintings at the Royal Academy and the British Institution, including portraits, domestic and religious scenes. In 1807 she became engaged to John Taylor (1785-1821), a Calvinist nonconformist and philanthropist. They were married in 1808. Her studio was at 10 St Georges Row, and she received as much as 40 guineas per painting, largely supporting her family prior to her marriage.  Both her parents were buried in Bunhill Fields.  In 1814 the Taylors moved to Ireland, living for a time with Mrs Tighe in Rossanna, then in Dublin. She continued to exhibit paintings during her time in Ireland. See Walter George Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1913).