Edmund Edward George Turner

Edmund Edward George Turner is my Great Great Grandfather. We are connected through my Grandmother on my mother's side of the family. 

Edmund was born on the 28th of February 1875 in Northfleet, Kent, England to Edmund Summers Ralph Turner and Mary Ann Rachel Smith. Up to this point I have not been able to find a primary source for his birth. The best evidence I have of his birth is from his Royal Navy service record that lists his date of birth, but at best this is a secondary source for his birth. The year of his birth is mostly supported by the 1881 England Census where he first appears with his family. His approximate age of birth is 1875 according to that census, which helps to support the Royal Navy service record.

According to my best knowledge, he is the third child in his family, and the first male child. According to the 1881 Census he was listed as a scholar, or student, which makes sense given that he was six years old at the time. However, this also might show that the family had some means because education was not universally accessible in England at the time.

1881 England Census (1)

The Turners males were trained from a young age to be coopers, or barrel makers. Edmund was the third generation of Turners to become a cooper, and started coopering from a young age, at least by the age of 16 according to the 1891 Census. That census lists him employed as an apprentice cooper, most likely to his father Edmund who is listed as a Foreman Cooper in that same census.

1891 England Census (2)

As soon as Edmund became of age, he joined the Royal Navy (RN) as a cooper. Edmund enlisted in the RN on October 29^th, 1894 in the Chatham division. We can glean some really interesting things about Edmund from his RN service record. Besides his birth information, we learn that he claimed religious affiliation with the Church of England and that he could swim. Furthermore, we learn more about his stature and appearance. At the time of enlistment, he stood 5ft 5.5in tall, had a “sallow” complexion (which may have meant he had a sickly appearance), had “fair” colored hair, and had gray colored eyes. He also did not have any noticeable marks, wounds, or scars.

Edmund Edward George Turner Royal Navy Service Record (personal collection)

The RN record also provides an extensive listing of the ships he worked with as a cooper. It appears that the ship named “Pembroke” was one of the ships he most frequently worked on. In October 1916, he was listed as “Chief Cooper”, which is also around the same time that he became pensioned with the RN. It appears that he ended his time with the RN in January 1920. The record also shows that he was awarded some medals, although their names are not decipherable on the record.

Evidence from his family suggests he continued as a master cooper after he left the RN. Robert John Turner, in a letter dated 3/11/92, he describes his father with the following:

I would assume those names mentioned after the colon to be actual names of breweries and distilleries that he supplied with barrels.

Edmund first married in 1902 to Edith Florence Lipscombe in Strood, Kent. They had two sons together: Edmund Frederick (1905) and Ronald G (1907). However, Edith passed away in 1908. Edmund then remarried on August 1^st, 1910 in Luton, Kent to Ann Catherine Price, to whom I am related. They had one child together: Robert John Turner, born in 1911. Robert John Turner is my Great Grandfather. Their marriage record, listed below, became an important piece of information to continue building my family tree for Ann Price's family line. This record is interesting because Edmund’s father’s name is listed incorrectly on the record. This is something I have never been able to reconcile. It could be that he tried to distance himself from his father at the point he was remarried for reasons that will elaborated on in a future post when we discuss his father. However, the major piece that helps identify his father is the first and last names and his listed occupation as cooper. Another interesting aspect of the record is that Ann was listed as a spinster and was 27 years old when they married.

Edmund Edward George Turner and Ann Catherine Price Marriage Record (personal collection)

I do not know much about his first two children from his first marriage. I do know much more about his relationship with his third child Robert John. Robert John, in a recording, remembered that his father really wanted to push him into the coopering business. This makes a lot of sense given the tradition for young Turners to become apprentice coopers to their fathers. However, Robert decided not to take on the family career because he believed that coopering was a waning profession. His father was disappointed with this decision, but it proved to become prophetic later on.

From a probate record I was able to obtain, Edmund passed away on March 25^th, 1955 in Berkshire, England. He left behind a total of £260 to his wife Ann. 

Edmund Edward George Turner Probate Record (3)

Turner Family Photo (personal collection). Undated, but given that Robert John Turner is an infant, the picture was probably taken between 1911 and 1912. The two other boys in the photo are presumably Ronald (left) and Edmund Frederick (right).

(1) Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1881 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

(2)Ancestry.com. 1891 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

(3)Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.