William Terry Turner (1 December 188726 January 1959) was a senior Australian public servant. He was Comptroller-General of Customs between 1949 and 1952, heading the

Department of Trade and Customs The Department of Trade and Customs was an Australian government department that existed between 1901 and 1956. It was one of the inaugural government departments of Australia established at federation. History The department was one of the firs ...

Life and career

Turner was born in

Woolloomooloo Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a low ...

, New South Wales on 1 December 1887. Turner joined the

Commonwealth Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

in 1905 in as a clerk in the Department of Trade and Customs. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1916, and embarked from Australia for overseas service on 24 January 1917 aboard HMAT Anchises A68. After he returned from military service, Turner returned to the customs department and was put in charge of the activities of the Commonwealth public trustee and subsequently the Clearing Office in New South Wales. During the Second World War, Turner was responsible for contraband administration and export control. He was promoted to the role of Comptroller-General in January 1949. He retired in 1952, with plans to spend his retirement in Canberra. Colleagues and business stakeholders celebrated Turner's retirement and honoured him at a function at the Menzies Hotel. More than 100 people attended, and Turner was presented with an Australian painting and a radiogram for his wife Annie. Turner died on 26 January 1959 at Canberra Community Hospital. His body was cremated.

Awards

Turner was made a companion of the

Imperial Service Order The Imperial Service Order was established by King Edward VII in August 1902. It was awarded on retirement to the administration and clerical staff of the Civil Service throughout the British Empire for long and meritorious service. Normally a pe ...

in June 1953, in recognition of his public service as Comptroller-General of Customs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Bill 1887 births 1959 deaths Australian public servants Australian Companions of the Imperial Service Order 20th-century Australian public servants