Sir Skinner Turner (2 June 1868 – 5 July 1935) was a British

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

who served in Kenya, Uganda, Siam and China. His last position was as the Chief Judge of the

British Supreme Court for China The British Supreme Court for China (originally the British Supreme Court for China and Japan) was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement to try cases against British subjects in China, Japan and Korea under the principles o ...

from 1921 to 1927.

Early life

Turner was born near Tonbridge, Kent, England in on June 2, 1868 to Frederick and Marsha Turner, the eighth of nine children. In the 1871 census, his father described his profession as “farmer of 560 acres employing 20 men and 2 boys.”

Education

Turner was educated at King's College School, Strand, and at London University. Turner was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1890.

Career

Turner started his career in law on the Western Circuit and at the Hampshire Sessions.

Judicial

Turner joined the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

Judicial Service in 1900. He was appointed Registrar to the British Court of the East Africa Protectorate. The following year he was transferred to the Uganda Protectorate to act as Vice-Consul. Early in 1902 he was appointed magistrate in Mombasa and in May the same year was transferred to Zanzibar as acting Assistant Judge. He was appointed Second Assistant Judge in October 1902 and promoted to Senior Assistant Judge in February 1904. Throughout his time in Zanzibar he sat as one of the judges of the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

for the East Africa Protectorates and was present at the first sitting of that court. In 1905, he was appointed Judge of the British Court for Siam, replacing acting judge Hiram Parkes Wilkinson. In 1909, on conclusion of the treaty partially bringing extraterritoriality to an end between Siam and Great Britain, he was lent to the Siamese Government as legal adviser. In this role, he sat on the Siamese Court of Appeal. In recognition of his valuable services as judicial adviser, he was awarded the Insignia of the Third Class of the Ratanabhon Personal Order by the King of Siam. In 1915, Turner was appointed Assistant Judge of the

in Shanghai on the retirement of Sir Frederick Bourne. In 1921, he was promoted to Chief Judge. In 1926 he served as the British Representative on the Extraterritoriality Commission that had been set up to investigate the application of extraterritoriality in China with the view to its eventual abolition. Turner retired in 1927 and was succeeded by Peter Grain.

Personal life

Turner married in The Lady Chapel of Winchester Cathedral on 2 October 1902 Millicent Harriet Hewitt, daughter of Rev. W. H. Hewett. Turner died eight years after his retirement, on 5 July 1935, at a nursing home in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

at the age of 67.Obituary, The Times, July 6, 1935

External links

UK National Portrait Gallery portraits of TurnerExtraterritoriality Commission Report

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Skinner 1868 births 1935 deaths 20th-century English judges British Supreme Court for China judges East Africa Protectorate judges 19th-century English lawyers British expatriates in Thailand British people in British Uganda