Born in 1831 to Harriet and John Taylor, Helen Taylor became an influential British writer and activist. Taylor wrote and organized for various liberal political movements, especially women’s suffrage, making use of both her own connections and writing talent and her stepfather’s, John Stuart Mill’s, political position. At 25, Taylor worked for two years as an actress, before returning to live with her mother and Mill, with whom she remained until their respective deaths. While living with Mill, Taylor worked alongside him, by writing, taking dictation, editing for publication, and championing women’s suffrage and a regulation of prostitution. Her work of this time is primarily directed towards the support of her stepfather's efforts. After his death, however, her activist focus shifted: she served on the Southwark constituency’s school board, worked for Irish home rule and lectured in support of land reform,* championed universal suffrage and a graduated direct income tax, and travelled frequently between Europe and England. Though a radical and unabashed activist, much of Taylor’s enduring recognition comes from the work she did for and alongside Mill and her mother.
*"Land reform," at this moment is, in the words of a motion from the Land Nationalization Society, which Taylor seconded, advocating “the right of every man to have access to the land of his native country.” This included wide varieties of real estate reform, steps towards the dissolution of the land-holding prerequisite for political involvement, and efforts to eliminate the preeminence of a social system based on land.
Sources
Little, Tony. “Women who wish for political enfranchisement should say so.” Journal of Liberal History, 93, Winter 2016-2017, pp. 18-25. https://liberalhistory.org.uk/journal-articles/women-who-wish-for-polit…;
"Biographies of Candidates." Times, 25 Nov. 1885, p. 3+. The Times Digital Archive, link-gale-com.proxy.uchicago.edu/apps/doc/CS50514297/TTDA?u=chic_rbw&sid=TTDA&xid=c17cd565.
"Land Nationalization Society.-The tenth." Times, 20 June 1891, p. 19. The Times Digital Archive, link-gale-com.proxy.uchicago.edu/apps/doc/CS319608020/TTDA?u=chic_rbw&sid=TTDA&xid=27ebaa04.
Thompson, F. M. L. “Land and Politics in England in the Nineteenth Century.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. 15, 1965, pp. 23–44. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3678815.
Levine, Philippa. "Taylor, Helen (1831–1907), promoter of women's rights." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. October 08, 2009. Oxford University Press. https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/….