Ernest Sackville Turner
Encyclopedia
Ernest Sackville Turner (born Liverpool
, England
, 17 November 1909; died Kingston upon Thames
, Surrey
, England, 6 July 2006) was a freelance journalist
and author
who published 20 books, and contributed to the English
weekly satirical magazine
Punch
for more than 50 years.
in 1780, and who became a Member of Parliament in 1784.
Turner was educated at, amongst other schools, Orme Boys School in Newcastle under Lyme. He was an otherwise unremarkable pupil and never went on to attend college or university.
However, at the age of 17 his father, Frederick, presented him with a second-hand
typewriter, and this fuelled his desire to write. After having a piece published by the Dundee Courier
in 1927, he managed to secure a position with the Glasgow Evening Times, progressing from humble copy boy to become sub-editor, reporter and gossip column editor. After moving on to the Glasgow Evening Citizen, he then joined the Scottish Daily Express
.
Turner met a girl called Helen Martin, from New York
in the USA, who impressed him so much that they married in 1937. They would go on to have two daughters, Patricia and Jill, before Helen's death in 1968.
After the onset of war
in 1939, he continued to write for various publications, even after he joined the Royal Artillery
in 1941. He was able to contribute during his spare time in the Army
, being based in the UK throughout the hostilities. At one point, whilst he was on leave, his anti-aircraft unit actually saw action when they shot down a German
bomber.
Realising his writing talents, the Army 'top brass' decided to put him to work in a more appropriate area - helping to set up and publish "Soldier", the magazine of the British Army. This contributed to his promotion to the rank of major
in 1946, coinciding with his appointment as editor
of the magazine. He held this title even after 'demob', until 1957.
In 1948 'Michael Joseph', the publishers, released his first book, Boys Will Be Boys: The Story of Sweeney Todd
, Deadwood Dick
, Sexton Blake
, Billy Bunter
, Dick Barton
, et al. - usually truncated to Boys Will Be Boys. This was an in-depth examination of the "Boys' Weekly" genré, also known as 'story papers', 'penny dreadfuls' or 'bloods' (due to the violent nature of the prose). He carried out research for the book, ploughing through numerous back-numbers of the various publications.
For his second book, however, he changed direction completely, producing the 1950 non-fiction work Roads to Ruin: A Shocking History of Social Progress, which was a forthright insight into the British class system
, and the resistance of the upper class to significant change. The politician
Tony Benn
often quoted passages from the book in the House of Commons
to illustrate points he was trying to make, and especially in 1992, during one particular debate
on foxhunting. Turner was also quoted by another politician, Gerald Kaufman
, during a 1996 debate on homosexuality
in the Armed Forces
.
During the 1950s, as a now permanent freelance writer, Turner contributed regularly to Punch Magazine, the leading satirical magazine with the accent on humour and pastiche. This source of income enabled him to concentrate more on writing books. In all, some 20 works by Turner were published in book form during his lifetime, including two novels under the pseudonym
of 'Rupert Lang'†.
Soon after his first wife Helen's death in 1968, Turner met an Irish
housing manager called Roberta Hewitt whilst travelling in Samarkand
. They married in 1971, and were childless.
Turner's literary flexibility was illustrated two years later when he wrote a Betjeman
-style pastiche for the Royal
wedding of The Princess Anne
and Mark Phillips
on 14 November 1973, subsequently quoted in an obituary by Miles Kington
in 2006.
At the age of 89, he published "Unholy Pursuits", which took as its subject the incidence of Anglican clergymen working anonymously as journalist
s (a profession considered well beneath them at the time). Its 1998 release coincided with him being dropped by his regular publishers.
E. S. Turner contributed many pieces in his later years to publications such as the Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books
, culminating in his final article, which was published posthumously in the magazine "The Oldie" in September 2006.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, 17 November 1909; died Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England, 6 July 2006) was a freelance journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
who published 20 books, and contributed to the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
weekly satirical magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
for more than 50 years.
Biography
E. S. Turner, as he was professionally referred to throughout his life, was a descendant of Sir Barnard Turner, officer in charge of troops attempting to control the Gordon RiotsGordon Riots
The Gordon Riots of 1780 were an anti-Catholic protest against the Papists Act 1778.The Popery Act 1698 had imposed a number of penalties and disabilities on Roman Catholics in England; the 1778 act eliminated some of these. An initial peaceful protest led on to widespread rioting and looting and...
in 1780, and who became a Member of Parliament in 1784.
Turner was educated at, amongst other schools, Orme Boys School in Newcastle under Lyme. He was an otherwise unremarkable pupil and never went on to attend college or university.
However, at the age of 17 his father, Frederick, presented him with a second-hand
Second-Hand
Second-Hand was a 2005 Romanian film directed by Dan Piţa.-Plot summary:The film's plot surrounds the romantic involvement of two contrasting characters: Petre , a Mafioso, and Andreea , a young violin player. The pair meet and fall in love...
typewriter, and this fuelled his desire to write. After having a piece published by the Dundee Courier
The Courier
The Courier & Advertiser, more commonly known as simply The Courier, is a broadsheet newspaper published by DC Thomson in Dundee, Scotland...
in 1927, he managed to secure a position with the Glasgow Evening Times, progressing from humble copy boy to become sub-editor, reporter and gossip column editor. After moving on to the Glasgow Evening Citizen, he then joined the Scottish Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
.
Turner met a girl called Helen Martin, from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in the USA, who impressed him so much that they married in 1937. They would go on to have two daughters, Patricia and Jill, before Helen's death in 1968.
After the onset of war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1939, he continued to write for various publications, even after he joined the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
in 1941. He was able to contribute during his spare time in the Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, being based in the UK throughout the hostilities. At one point, whilst he was on leave, his anti-aircraft unit actually saw action when they shot down a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
bomber.
Realising his writing talents, the Army 'top brass' decided to put him to work in a more appropriate area - helping to set up and publish "Soldier", the magazine of the British Army. This contributed to his promotion to the rank of major
Major (UK)
In the British military, major is a military rank which is used by both the British Army and Royal Marines. The rank insignia for a major is a crown...
in 1946, coinciding with his appointment as editor
Literary editor
A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews. A literary editor may also help with editing books themselves, by providing services such as proof reading, copy-editing, and literary...
of the magazine. He held this title even after 'demob', until 1957.
In 1948 'Michael Joseph', the publishers, released his first book, Boys Will Be Boys: The Story of Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as then antagonist of the Victorian penny dreadful The String of Pearls and he was later introduced as an antihero in the broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and its film adaptation...
, Deadwood Dick
Deadwood Dick
Deadwood Dick is a fictional character who appears in a series of stories, or "dime novels", published between 1877 and 1897 by Edward Lytton Wheeler...
, Sexton Blake
Sexton Blake
Sexton Blake is a fictional detective who appeared in many British comic strips and novels throughout the 20th century. He was described by Professor Jeffrey Richards on the BBC in The Radio Detectives in 2003 as "the poor man's Sherlock Holmes"...
, Billy Bunter
Billy Bunter
William George Bunter , is a fictional character created by Charles Hamilton using the pen name Frank Richards...
, Dick Barton
Dick Barton
Dick Barton - Special Agent was a popular radio programme on the BBC Light Programme. Between 1946 to 1951 it aired at 6.45 each weekday evening and at its peak it had an audience of 15 million listeners. Despite popular belief, it was not actually the BBC's first daily serial...
, et al. - usually truncated to Boys Will Be Boys. This was an in-depth examination of the "Boys' Weekly" genré, also known as 'story papers', 'penny dreadfuls' or 'bloods' (due to the violent nature of the prose). He carried out research for the book, ploughing through numerous back-numbers of the various publications.
For his second book, however, he changed direction completely, producing the 1950 non-fiction work Roads to Ruin: A Shocking History of Social Progress, which was a forthright insight into the British class system
Social structure of Britain
The social structure of the United Kingdom has historically been highly influenced by the concept of social class, with the concept still affecting British society in the early-21st century. Although definitions of social class in the United Kingdom vary and are highly controversial, most are...
, and the resistance of the upper class to significant change. The politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
often quoted passages from the book in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
to illustrate points he was trying to make, and especially in 1992, during one particular debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
on foxhunting. Turner was also quoted by another politician, Gerald Kaufman
Gerald Kaufman
Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1970, first for Manchester Ardwick, and then subsequently for Manchester Gorton...
, during a 1996 debate on homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
in the Armed Forces
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
.
During the 1950s, as a now permanent freelance writer, Turner contributed regularly to Punch Magazine, the leading satirical magazine with the accent on humour and pastiche. This source of income enabled him to concentrate more on writing books. In all, some 20 works by Turner were published in book form during his lifetime, including two novels under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of 'Rupert Lang'†.
Soon after his first wife Helen's death in 1968, Turner met an Irish
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
housing manager called Roberta Hewitt whilst travelling in Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
. They married in 1971, and were childless.
Turner's literary flexibility was illustrated two years later when he wrote a Betjeman
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
-style pastiche for the Royal
Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...
wedding of The Princess Anne
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
and Mark Phillips
Mark Phillips
-Ancestry:-Issue:-Sources:...
on 14 November 1973, subsequently quoted in an obituary by Miles Kington
Miles Kington
Miles Beresford Kington was a British journalist, musician and broadcaster.-Early life :...
in 2006.
At the age of 89, he published "Unholy Pursuits", which took as its subject the incidence of Anglican clergymen working anonymously as journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s (a profession considered well beneath them at the time). Its 1998 release coincided with him being dropped by his regular publishers.
E. S. Turner contributed many pieces in his later years to publications such as the Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books
London Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, culminating in his final article, which was published posthumously in the magazine "The Oldie" in September 2006.
Main Body of Work
- Boys Will Be Boys, published 1948 by Michael Joseph: ISBN 0-7181-1282-2
- Roads To Ruin, published 1950 by Michael Joseph: ISBN
- The Shocking History Of Advertising, published 1952 by Michael Joseph: ISBN
- †The Third Pip, published 1952 by Constable & Company: ISBN
- †Maiden Voyage, published 1954 by ?: ISBN
- A History Of Courting, published 1954 by Michael Joseph: ISBN 0-86025-817-3
- Gallant Gentlemen, published 1956 by Michael Joseph: ISBN
- Call The Doctor, published 1958 by St Martin's Press: ISBN
- The Phoney War On The Home Front, published 1961 by St Martin's Press: ISBN
- What The Butler Saw, published 1962 by Penguin: ISBN 0-14-139083-2
External links
- Turner's major employer, Punch magazine: their website.
- "Soldier" magazine: Announcement of the passing of their former Editor-In-Chief.