Henry Turner (10 November 1844 – 9 August 1932) was a member of both the

Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

and the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

Early life

Turner was born in November 1844 at

Aynho Aynho (, formerly spelt ''Aynhoe'') is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, on the edge of the Cherwell valley south-east of the north Oxfordshire town of Banbury and southwest of Brackley. Along with its neighbour C ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, England to Thomas Turner and his wife Leah (née Fathers). He was apprenticed in a plant nursery and then worked as a gardener. Upon arriving in

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

in 1880, he worked at the local meatworks for many years where he began to take an active interest in the

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

Political career

Upon the resignation of

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

to stand for a senate seat in the 1901 federal election,1901 Senate
–

Psephos Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive is an online archive of election statistics, and claims to be the world's largest online resource of such information. Psephos is maintained by Dr Adam Carr, of Melbourne, Australia, a historian and former a ...

. Retrieved 29 March. Turner, representing the Labour Party, contested the subsequent by-election in June of that year and defeated the Ministerial candidate, John Linnett. The election outcome was successfully challenged in the courts by Linnett and he was declared duly elected. Turner once again won the seat at the 1902 state election and in the 1904 state election and remained the sitting member till his resignation in May 1907. Two months later, Premier

William Kidston William Kidston (17 August 1849 – 25 October 1919) was an Australian bookseller, politician and Premier of Queensland, from January 1906 to November 1907 and again from February 1908 to February 1911. Early life William Kidston was born in Fa ...

appointed Turner to the Legislative Council, remaining there until the Labour members of the Council voted to abolish the Council in March 1922.

Personal life

Turner married Louisa Langford Stevens in Middlesex in 1866. The couple had 5 children. His wife Louisa died on 11 February 1882 and was buried in the North Rockhampton Cemetery. He subsequently married Ida Martha Ridgewell (b. 29 March 1879; d. 1965) and they had two children, Gwendoline Ida (1911-1975) and Geoffrey Ridgewell (1918-1998). Henry died in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in 1932 and was buried in

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland's largest cemet ...

.Turner Henry
– Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 29 March 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Henry Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Members of the Queensland Legislative Council Colony of Queensland people 1844 births 1932 deaths People from Aynho English emigrants to colonial Australia Burials at Toowong Cemetery Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland