Bot at 19:55, 18 June 2022

2022-06-18T19:55:24Z

New page

{{Short description|British Army General}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
[[File:Sir Alfred Turner Vanity Fair 26 May 1910.jpg|thumb|Caricature of Sir Alfred by "WHO" in ''Vanity Fair'', 1910]]
Major-General '''Sir Alfred Edward Turner''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB}} (3 March 1842 – 20 November 1918) was a [[British Army]] officer of the late nineteenth century, who served in administrative posts in Ireland.

==Early life==

Turner was born on 3 March 1842, the eldest son of Richard E. Turner and his wife Frances (née Johnstone). Richard Turner was a barrister and a [[bencher]] of the [[Inner Temple]]. Alfred attended [[Westminster School]] and then the [[Addiscombe Military Seminary]], entering the [[Royal Artillery]] in 1860.

==Staff service==

In 1882, Turner was appointed an [[aide de camp]] and military private secretary to [[John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer|Earl Spencer]], the [[Viceroy of Ireland]]; he held the post until 1884, when he was given the position of deputy assistant adjutant-general in the [[Nile Expedition]], for which he was [[mentioned in despatches]]. In 1885, he returned to a staff appointment in Dublin, as the assistant military secretary to [[Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]], the [[Commander-in-Chief in Ireland]], and the following year was appointed the private secretary to the Viceroy. From 1886 to 1892 he served as a Commissioner of Police in various Irish counties, and was created a Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] (CB) in the civil division.<ref name="WWW">''Who Was Who''</ref>

From 1895 to 1898, Turner was the assistant adjutant-general for the Royal Artillery, for which he was created a Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] (CB) in the military division. From March 1900 to 1904 he was the [[Inspector General of Auxiliary Forces]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27177|page=2043|date=27 March 1900}}</ref> At the time, the term "Auxiliary Forces" was used by the British Army to collectively cover [[Yeomanry]], [[Militia (United Kingdom)|Militia]] and [[Volunteer Force (Great Britain)|Volunteers]]. That is to say the various part-time units maintained to act in support of the [[Regular Army (UK)]].<ref>Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, Volume 3, p. 50</ref> He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the [[1902 Coronation Honours]] list published on 26 June 1902,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Coronation Honours |date=26 June 1902 |page=5 |issue=36804}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27448 |date=26 June 1902|page=4190|supp=y}}</ref> and invested as such by King [[Edward VII]] at [[Buckingham Palace]] on 24 October 1902.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular |date=25 October 1902 |page=8 |issue=36908}}</ref> In September 1902 he attended the maneuvers of the 1[[XIV Corps (German Empire)|4th German Army Corps]] at Donau, Oeshingen, attached to the Staff of the [[29th Division (German Empire)|29th Infantry division]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence|date=3 September 1902 |page=4 |issue=36863}}</ref>

==Spiritualism==
Turner was interested in [[Parapsychology|psychical research]] and identified as a [[Spiritualism|spiritualist]].<ref>Turner, Alfred Edward. (1912). [https://archive.org/stream/sixtyyearsofsold00turn#page/334/mode/2up ''Sixty Years of a Soldier's Life'']. London: Methuen. p. 334</ref> He was a member of the [[International Club for Psychical Research]].<ref>Anonymous. (1911). [https://archive.org/stream/secularthought37torouoft#page/254/mode/2up ''Union Of Theosophy and Spiritualism'']. ''[[Secular Thought|Secular Thought: A Monthly Journal of Rational Criticism in Politics, Science and Religion]]''. 37 (1): 254–255.</ref>

He attended [[séance]]s with the materialization medium [[Cecil Husk]]. He became convinced that Husk could materialize spirits and defended the medium in various newspaper articles. During one of the séances he stated that he had witnessed the materialization of [[W. T. Stead]].<ref>Anonymous. (15 December 1913). [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045396/1913-12-15/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1789 ''Spirits Appear at Seance in London'']. The Salt Lake Tribune.</ref><ref>Anonymous. (15 December 1913). [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025182/1913-12-15/ed-1/seq-9/#date1=1789 ''Stead's Ghost Floating Around'']. The Daily Gate City.</ref> Turner also claimed to have experienced [[Apport (paranormal)|apports]] and spirits in his own home.<ref>Anonymous. (14 December 1913). [http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1913/12/14/page/17/article/gen-turner-finds-spirit-medium ''Gen. Turner Finds Spirit Medium'']. Chicago Sunday Tribune.</ref><ref>Anonymous. (14 December 1913). [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1913-12-14/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1789 ''Says Stead's Spirit Talked With Him: Major-General Turner Declares Journalist's Ghost Described Titanic Disaster'']. The Sun (New York City).</ref>

==Later life==

In retirement, he was the chairman of the [[Alliance Franco-Britannique]], a director of the [[North Borneo Chartered Company]] and the Manchester North Borneo Rubber Company, and chairman of North Borneo State Rubber. He wrote two books of military history, on Napoleon's invasion of Russia (''The Retreat from Moscow and Passage of the Beresina'') and on the [[Franco-Prussian War]] (''From Weissenburg to Sedan''), and a volume of memoirs, ''Sixty Years of a Soldier's Life'' (1912).<ref name="WWW"/>

==Family==
Turner married first, in 1865, (Emma) Blanche Hopkinson. His first wife died in 1899, and on 23 August 1902 he remarried at [[Battersea]] to Juliette Elizabeth Marie Whiting, only daughter of Henry Whiting.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Marriages|date=26 August 1902 |page=1 |issue=36856}}</ref>
He died on 20 December 1918, survived by two sons and a daughter.<ref name="WWW"/>

==Publications==

*''The Retreat from Moscow and Passage of the Beresina'' (1898)
*''From Weissenburg to Sedan'' (1899)
*[https://archive.org/details/sixtyyearsofsold00turn ''Sixty Years of a Soldier's Life''] (London: Methuen, 1912)

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==

* "TURNER, Maj.-Gen. Sir Alfred Edward", in {{Cite book|title=Who Was Who|publisher=A & C Black|place=London|year=2007|edition=Online|url=http://ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U204011/}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Alfred Edward}}
[[Category:1842 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:British spiritualists]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Parapsychologists]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:Royal Artillery officers]]

Alfred Edward Turner - Revision history

Bot at 19:55, 18 June 2022