Turner, George William (1854-1916)
Early years
George was born on 12 February 1854 at Wickersley, Yorkshire to parents George and Charlotte. George, senior, was a quarry-master. His parents kept open house for ministers and local preachers.
George was converted during a week-night service when Rev John Gair was preaching. He soon became a Sunday School teacher and progressed to be a local preacher whilst still a youth.
Ministry
George was a poet and hymn writer.
His obituary records that George had a deep reverence for Scriptural truth, without tendency to narrowness or bigotry. He sought to present the truth rather than controvert hostile opinion. He was argumentative in his preaching, but not without bursts of imagination and passion. His diction was rich and chaste, evidencing a close acquaintance with the best writers and authors.
Family
George married Sarah Ann Harrison (b1857) in the summer of 1878 at Belper, Derbyshire. Census returns identify five children.
- George Herbert (b1879)
- Harold Harrison (b1885) – a railway clerk (1911)
- Leonard (b1888)
- Hilda Louise Haverfal (1889-1977) – a schoolteacher (1911)
- Frederick William (b1891) – a railway clerk (1911)
George died on 12 December 1916 at Gloucester, Gloucestershire.
Circuits
- 1874 Belper
- 1875 Wirksworth
- 1877 Coningsby
- 1878 Lincoln I
- 1879 Gloucester
- 1880 Yarmouth
- 1883 Wangford
- 1886 Rotherham
- 1889 Gainsborough
- 1892 Ashby de la Zouch
- 1895 Hull I
- 1899 Brownhills
- 1902 Grantham
- 1905 Derby
- 1908 Clayton West
- 1912 Burnley
- 1915 Gloucester
References
Primitive Methodist Magazine 1910/801
PM Minutes 1917/268
W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990
Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers
Comments about this page
Having recently viewed the Conference Minutes for 1908-1912, George was indeed stationed at Clayton West, not Huddersfield as stated in Leary. I have corrected the circuit stations above to reflect this change.
David,
Thanks for pointing out this inconsistency in stations. The information on the page is as documented by Leary. When I am able to visit Englesea Brook I will check the stations recorded in the Minutes of Conference.
You show the Rev George William Turner’s Circuit for the period 1908-1912 as Huddersfield. However, the 1911 Census you refer to regarding his daughter being a schoolteacher shows George, his wife and daughter as the sole inhabitants of Lodge Villa, Skelmanthorpe. Lodge Villa was the manse for the Superintendent Minister of the Clayton West Circuit as shown by the 1903-1905 Circuit Preaching Plans.
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