{"id":4450,"date":"2017-09-08T14:31:37","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T14:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/?p=4450"},"modified":"2017-09-08T14:31:37","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T14:31:37","slug":"out-of-the-silence-with-bessie-kyffin-taylor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/out-of-the-silence-with-bessie-kyffin-taylor\/","title":{"rendered":"Out of the Silence with Bessie Kyffin-Taylor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you like classic supernatural tales, those from the late Victorian period to the inter-war years? Good. For today, dear listener, that’s where we’re going.\u00a0 Specifically, to the tales of Bessie Kyffin-Taylor<\/strong><\/span>, an English writer of ghostly fiction. That we know of her at all is entirely due to one volume of seven stories, for despite rumours of another book, entitled Rosemary, there seems to be no record of her producing anything else. In fact, there\u2019s little record of Bessie Kyffin-Taylor (d.1922) herself.<\/p>\n

\"bessie<\/a><\/p>\n

Only the male line of her husband has much written about it \u2013 predominantly the sons of William Francis Taylor, Archdeacon of Liverpool. Bessie, also Liverpool born, was married to Gerald Kyffin Taylor<\/strong>, one of the Archdeacon\u2019s son, in 1892. Gerald became a Brigadier-General and Member of Parliament. His brother Austin also became an MP, whilst another brother ended up in the legal profession, William Francis Kyffin Taylor, 1st (and last) Baron Maenan.<\/p>\n

\"William<\/a>
William Francis Kyffin Taylor (c) Shropshire Council; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That some sources call her Lady Bessie Kyffin-Taylor is a puzzle, and we wonder if this is an error due to the family connection with Baron Maenan. Although Gerald had a CBE, we don\u2019t think that would have entitled the couple to the titles Sir or Lady.<\/p>\n

(The name Kyffin is likely of Welsh origin, related to boundary or border, and as Maenan is in Conwy, North Wales – not so very far from Liverpool- we can assume a Welsh lineage somewhere in the family. Wales as landscape also turns up in some of the stories.)<\/em><\/p>\n

So, her collection From Out of the Silence<\/em> survives as the only witness to her interests or her talents, which is a shame, because there\u2019s some good stuff in there. And one or two duds, but the high spots make them irrelevant. Not that we know where the comment comes from, but E F Bleiler<\/strong>, editor and bibliographer, is supposed to have said that her work reminded him of E F Benson<\/strong>, who will be known to many enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

Should you read this collection? Yes, you should, for at least a couple of reasons, and we\u2019ll explain in a moment. The seven stories in From Out of the Silence<\/em> are:<\/p>\n