Ernest Sackville Turner (17 November 1909 – 6 July 2006) was an English freelance journalist and writer who wrote 20 published books, including ''Boys Will Be Boys'' (Michael Joseph, 1948), ''The Phoney War on the Home Front'' (St. Martin's Press, 1961), and ''What The Butler Saw'' (Penguin, 1962), and contributing to the '' Times Literary Supplement'', ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

'', and regularly to the English

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

weekly magazine ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' (the latter for more than 50 years).

Early life and education

E. S. Turner was born in the Wavertree Garden suburb of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the North West of England on 17 November 1909. His father, Frederick William Turner, "a churchgoer and a teetotaller, nda desk-man in the Post Office Engineering Department in Liverpool," was a descendant of Sir Barnard Turner, an Alderman and sheriff in London who commanded troops attempting to curb looting in the 1780

Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

in 1780,Andrew O’Hagan, 1998, "Seventy Years in a Filthy Trade: Andrew O’Hagan meets E.S. Turner", ''London Review of Books'', Vol. 20 No. 20, 15 October. 1998, pp. 3-6, se

accessed 27 May 2015.L. Namier & J. Brooke, 1985

964 Year 964 ( CMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Nikephoros II continues the reconquest of south-eastern Anatoli ...

"Turner, Sir Barnard (?1742-84), of Paul's Wharf, London", in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754–1790'', London: Secker & Warburg, , se

accessed 28 May 2015. but who later died penniless less than a month into Member of Parliament#United Kingdom, Parliament's assembly, after his election in 1784. Turner's mother, Bertha Pixton Norbury, was an amateur portrait and landscape painter, and oversaw a home "built for a class… er son E.S. thoughtextinct, that of ‘meritorious artisans’", with a "family bookcase... weighted with the massed works of Swedenborg… and a ‘splendid’ volume called ''The Bible in Pitman's Shorthand''." Turner's first school was in Shrewsbury, where he is said to have been "a good pupil", winning "a few prizes" and enjoying "memorising passages of Macaulay's ''Lays''." He went on to Orme Boys' School in

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...

, and " though he had the reserved, courteous and erudite air of an Oxbridge don", Turner never went on to attend university. At the age of 17 his father presented him with "an ancient typewriter urchasedfor a fiver from a passing lorry", supporting his desire to write.

Career

Early career

Turner published his first piece in the '' Dundee Courier'' in 1927. He applied for a "day job" with the ''

Glasgow Evening Times The ''Glasgow Times'' is an evening tabloid newspaper published Monday to Saturday in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Called ''The Evening Times'' from 1876, it was rebranded as the ''Glasgow Times'' on 4 December 2019. There, he progressed from "office junior to the sub-editors' bench and then became one of the paper's cub reporters… and

ater Ater (Hebrew אֲתַר) is an Old Testament male name. #A descendant of Hezekiah, who returned from Babylon ; #An Israelite, who subscribed to Nehemiah’s covenant #A porter ; {{bibleverse, , Nehemiah, 7:45 Set index articles on Hebrew Bible ...

was made editor of the paper's Diary." Stating this another way, Jonathan Sale of ''The Guardian'' described it as his"work nghis way up from copy boy to subeditor, reporter and gossip column editor." At the ''

Evening Times The ''Glasgow Times'' is an evening tabloid newspaper published Monday to Saturday in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Called ''The Evening Times'' from 1876, it was rebranded as the ''Glasgow Times'' on 4 December 2019.RMS Queen Mary RMS ''Queen Mary'' is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. ''Queen Mary'', along with , ...

in May 1936, from Southampton, England to New York city in the U.S.—"About a hundred reporters", he

aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

"each of us desperate to find a stowaway"—one of a series of ocean voyages which he wrote about. Such travels contributed to two later pseudonymous Rupert Lang novels, and to a final '' London Review of Books (LRB)'' piece written with his first hand information on

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

s. After the 1936 voyages, he spent "some months" working at ''

Glasgow Evening Citizen The ''Evening Citizen'', was an evening version of ''The Glasgow Citizen'' (a daily newspaper founded in 1842 by James David Hedderwick). It was first published in August 1864, was one of the first of three evening newspapers to be printed, publ ...

'' and then at the ''

Scottish Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

''. At the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'', a fellow

sub Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designate ...

was prominent British journalist

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

, who he described as "a good friend, a brilliant reporter." In this period between the wars, he added voyages on liners flying under the flags of

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

Germany and

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

Italy, as well as of the Anchor Line, from Glasgow, and did a motor tour in "swastika-hung" Germany in a Morgan three-wheeled automobile. Turner moved toward the decision to go

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

over these years, formally doing so in 1938.

War years

After the onset of war in 1939, he continued to write for various publications, even after he joined the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1941. He was able to contribute during his spare time in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, 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 Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1946, coinciding with his appointment as

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.

of the magazine. He held this title even after '

demob Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

', until 1957.

Middle years

In 1948 Michael Joseph's publishing firm issued his first book, ''Boys Will Be Boys: The Story of Sweeney Todd,

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 (1854/5–1885). The name became so widely known in its time that it was used to advantage by s ...

, Sexton Blake, Billy Bunter,

Dick Barton ''Dick Barton – Special Agent'' is a radio thriller serial that was broadcast in the BBC Light Programme between 7 October 1946 and 30 March 1951. Produced and directed by Raymond Raikes, Neil Tuson, and Charles Lefaux, it was aired in 15-mi ...

, 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 A story paper is a periodical publication similar to a literary magazine, but featuring illustrations and text stories, and aimed towards children and teenagers. Also known in Britain as "boys' weeklies", story papers were phenomenally popular ...

', '

penny dreadfuls Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...

' 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.Jonathan Sale, 2006, "Obituary: E.S. Turner, Stalwart of Punch and the patron saint of freelancing", ''The Guardian'' (online), 18 July 2006, se

accessed 27 May 2015. 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 Social structure of Britain, British class system, and the resistance of the upper class to significant change. The politician

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

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 Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...

. Turner was also quoted by another politician,

Gerald Kaufman Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman (21 June 1930 – 26 February 2017) was a British politician and author who served as a minister throughout the Labour government of 1974 to 1979. Elected as a member of parliament (MP) at the 1970 general election, ...

, during a 1996 debate on homosexuality in the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. 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. Turner's literary flexibility was illustrated when he wrote a

Betjeman Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...

-style

pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...

for the

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

wedding of

The Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of Ki ...

and Mark Phillips on 14 November 1973, subsequently quoted in an obituary by Miles Kington in 2006. In all, some 19 works by Turner were published in book form during his most productive period, including two novels under the pseudonym of "Rupert Lang."

Late career

E. S. Turner contributed many pieces in his later years to publications such as the Times Literary Supplement and the

.Anon., 2006, "Obituary: E. S. Turner, Novelist and journalist", ''The Scotsman'' (online), 19 July 2006, se

accessed 27 May 2015. At the age of 89, he published "Unholy Pursuits", which took as its subject the incidence of

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

clergymen working anonymously as journalists (a profession considered well beneath them at the time). Its 1998 release coincided with him being dropped by his regular publishers. His final article was published posthumously in the magazine ''"The Oldie"'' in September 2006. Turner died in London on 6 July 2006.

Critical appraisal

Appraisal in retrospect looks at Turner's dedication to freelance writing—Jonathan Sale referred to him as "the patron saint of freelancing"—and has focused on his energy, productivity, the scope of his writing, and on its inherent humanity.Anon., 2006, "Obituary: E. S. Turner", ''The Telegraph'' (online), 17 July 2006, se

accessed 27 May 2015. Andrew O'Hagan, in his 1998 London Review of Books, LRB retrospective, noted that while Turner's fingers had always been light on the keyboard, his writing was "with a strongly human pulse just under the skin, a richness of personal feeling in the blood." ''The Telegraph'' noted in its obituary that Turner, over "succeeding decades... produced a stream of books... praised by reviewers; it was said that the author had invented a new kind of book which demonstrated the British genius for tremendous trifles." Miles Kington, a fellow journalist intersecting with Turner at ''Punch'' recalls Turner at editorial lunches: Some mention is made of political leanings—O'Hagan refers to Turner as "never a left-wing diehard" and as having a "rightwing persona (which was only partly a pose)"—but these are not thoroughly explored, and during a House of Commons debate on the

issue, Labour MP

quoted from ''Roads to Ruin: A Shocking History of Social Progress'' (1950), the book where Turner exposed the upper class's "disgraceful rearguard action…" against reforms such as "abolition of child chimney sweeps and the repeal of laws under which convicted criminals could be hung, drawn and quartered." With regard to the correctness of his writing, when viewed from a 21st-century perspective, O'Hagan writes that " e Britain Mr Turner writes about may (like Punch) no longer be here… There's always a whole new set of things you're not allowed to laugh at… you can't laugh at newsagents. You can't snigger at class, or Princess Diana, even if you're the sort of person who might always have done so. Mr Turner might say we fought for the right to say farewell to Smith, the right to meet Patel. But it would not be a popular thing to say."

Personal life

Turner met Helen Martin from New York City in the U.S., and they married in 1937 and saw 30 anniversaries; they had two daughters, Patricia and Jill. Helen died in 1968. After his first wife's death, Turner was travelling in

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doing a travel article for the

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

and met

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

-born Roberta Hewitt, a housing manager, and they married in 1971. She, and daughters Patricia and Jill from the marriage to Helen, survived Turner at his death in 2006. A formal man and an Edwardian, Ernest Sackville Turner is said to have "clung to the dignity of his formal style and title": In the 1998 '' London Review of Books, LRB'' interview, O'Hagan noted, "Sometimes Mr Turner can't think of an answer to one of my questions. But when he sits at the typewriter, and begins to write, great swathes of his story come clean. He would later send me these typed pages. And they sit here in front of me now, covered in shadows of print, and they speak of a man altogether present." O'Hagan goes on to quote the author of 80 years of journalism, 50 years of ''Punch'' contributions, and 20 published books, to say, "I don't know how you’ll get a whole article out of me... ‘I haven't a whole lot to say.’"

Published works

The following are some of Turner's main book-length published works, with sources as indicated: * ''Boys Will Be Boys: The Story of Sweeney Todd, Deadwood Dick, Sexton Blake, Billy Bunter, Dick Barton et al.'' (1948), a study of the

, a Victorian pulp hero genre, a study receiving "enthusiastic notices" in the U.K.,

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

and

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

, so successful it went to reprint twice in the first week of publication. * '' Roads to Ruin: A Shocking History of Social Progress'' (1950), on the upper class's "disgraceful rearguard action…" against reforms such as "abolition of child chimney sweeps and the repeal of laws under which convicted criminals could be hung, drawn and quartered." * '' The Shocking History of Advertising'' (1952), as its name implies, published by Michael Joseph. * '' The Third Pip'' (1952), novel, under the pseudonym Rupert Lang, published by Constable. * ''Maiden Voyage'' (1954), novel, under the pseudonym Rupert Lang. * '' A History of Courting'' (1954), as its name implies, translated into the French as ''L'Histoire de la Tactique Amoureuse'', published by Michael Joseph, . * '' Gallant Gentlemen'' (1956), an historical look at British officers, published by Michael Joseph. * ''Call the Doctor'' (1958), a social history of British physicians and medical practitioners, published by St. Martin's Press, se

accessed 28 May 2015. *''All Heaven in a Rage'' (1964), a history of human cruelty towards animals. * '' The Phoney War on the Home Front'' (1961), study of restrictions and public ill-temper in Great Britain before

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. * '' What the Butler Saw: Two Hundred and Fifty Years of the Servant Problem'' (1963), a critical survey of employer and employed, "in service." * '' Hemlock Lane'' (1968), novel, under his own name. * '' May It Please Your Lordship'' (1972), a social history of English judgeships, published by

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

, . * '' Amazing Grace: The Great Days of Dukes'' (1975), a social history of English dukedoms. * '' Dear Old Blighty'' (1980), an account of life 'on the home front' in Britain during the Great War, 1914–1918, * '' Unholy Pursuits: The Wayward Parsons of Grub Street'' (1998), a history of the journalistic moonlighting by Anglican clergymen.E.S. Turner, 1998, "Unholy Pursuits. The Wayward Parsons of Grub Street", Lewes, Sussex:The Book Guild Ltd., 224 pp., , se

accessed 28 May 2014.

References and notes

External links

''Punch'' magazine
s website, a major employer of Turner.
E. S. Turner's contributions
to the ''London Review of Books''.

s announcement of the passing of their former Editor-In-Chief. {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Ernest Sackville 1909 births 2006 deaths 20th-century English male writers British Army personnel of World War II English literary critics English male journalists English male non-fiction writers Journalists from Liverpool Officers of the Order of the British Empire London Review of Books people Punch (magazine) people Royal Artillery officers The Times Literary Supplement people