James Aspinall Turner (1797 – 28 September 1867) was a British businessman,

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

and Whig politician. He was the son of John Turner of Mayfield, near

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

, and his wife, Elizabeth Aspinall 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 ...

.''Obituary'', The Gentleman's Magazine, 28 September 1867. He was a descendant of John Turner who had fought against the

Old Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...

in 1715.''Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society 1867''. Turner was a prominent

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

manufacturer and merchant in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. He made his home at

Pendlebury Pendlebury is a town in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,069. It lies north-west of Manchester city centre, north-west of Salford and south-east of Bolton. Historically in Lancash ...

Hall and was a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

and deputy lieutenant of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. In 1845, he formed the Manchester Commercial Association. The association, of which he was president, was a

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

body that broke away from the pro-

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

Manchester Chamber of Commerce. In the mid-nineteenth century the parliamentary borough of

was represented by two

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

members of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

John Bright John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn Laws ...

and

Thomas Milner Gibson Thomas Milner Gibson PC (3 September 1806 – 25 February 1884) was a British politician. Background and education Thomas Milner Gibson came of a Suffolk family, but was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where his father, Thomas Milner Gi ...

. In order to unseat them the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

stood aside at the 1857 general election and Turner and John Potter were elected as " Palmerstonian Whigs". In 1858 he was appointed a member of the royal commission on army clothing. He stood down from parliament at the 1865 general election. Apart from his business and political activities, Turner was a renowned entomologist. He founded the Manchester Field Naturalist Club, and was a member of the

Royal Entomological Society The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of London ...

. He was chairman of the committee of Manchester New College (now

Harris Manchester College, Oxford Harris Manchester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarian students and moved to Oxford in 1893. It became a full college of th ...

) from 1840 to 1852. J A Turner died in London in September 1867, aged 70.

Legacy

Turner is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of African gecko, ''

Chondrodactylus turneri Turner's thick-toed gecko (''Chondrodactylus turneri'') is a species of lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is endemic to southern Africa. Etymology The specific name, ''turneri'', is in honor of British entomologist James Aspinall Tur ...

''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Turner, J.A.", p. 269). Wrote "Remarks on the Linnaean Order of Insects" in 1827. See Canadian Entomologist, 1926, Vol. 58 #12, pg. 287 for review of book by Weiss.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, James Aspinall 1797 births 1867 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 People from Bolton People from Pendlebury Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Manchester People associated with Harris Manchester College, Oxford