Sir Victor Alfred Charles Turner, CSI, CIE,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, SI (12 March 1892 – 16 October 1974Obituary, ''The Times'', issue 59220, 17 October 1974 p. 18.) was an English-Pakistani civil service officer, statistician and economist, and one of the founding fathers of the

Civil Service of Pakistan The Central Superior Services (CSS; or Civil Service) is a permanent elite civil service authority, and the civil service that is responsible for running the bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of ...

, serving as the first

Finance Secretary of Pakistan The finance secretary of Pakistan (Urdu: ) is the federal secretary for the Ministry of Finance. The federal finance secretary is one of the most powerful bureaucrats in the country. Being the boss of the Finance Division, the secretary plays ...

in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

of Prime Minister

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

, as well as Chairman of the

Central Board of Revenue The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) ( ur, ), formerly known as Central Board of Revenue (CBR), is a federal law enforcement agency of Pakistan that investigates tax crimes, suspicious accumulation of wealth, money-laundering make regulation of ...

from 14 August 1947 until 1 February 1950. Alfred Charles Turner – in 1947, when he was knighted, he added the name 'Victor' – was born at 36, Campden Street, Kensington, England on 12 March 1892 to Walter Charles Turner, a butler, and his wife Annie formerly Searle.General Register Office certificate of birth. His older brothers were Walter Edward Neal Turner, born 1886, and Robert Henry Turner, born 1889.David and Anne Johnson's Home Page
The Family of Sir Victor Alfred Charles Turner. Alfred's early education was at St Mary Abbots Higher Grade School, Kensington 1896–1904Personal communication, the archivist of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 2 November 2004. and then he attended Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith 1905–1911.Number 101, Admissions register, Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, London. In the autumn of 1911 he went up to Emmanuel College, Cambridge on an Open Scholarship to read Mathematics. He gained a 'First' in Part 1 of the Maths Tripos in 1912 and in Part 2 was Wrangler in 1914. He was awarded his BA in 1914 and his MA in 1918.

Military career

During the First World War Alfred Charles served with the Royal Fusiliers as Lieutenant, and fought in France from 9 August 1915.Medal Card at the Public Record Office,101356/16457. He then became Inspector of Propellent Explosives at the Woolwich Arsenal with the rank of captain. In 1921 he applied for and was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War and Victory medals. His address at the time of his medal application was Sitapur, Gorakhpur, United Provinces, India.

Indian Civil Service

Turner joined the Indian Civil Service in 1919 (he was posted to Lucknow as an assistant commissioner''Who Was Who'', 1971–1980, vol VII) and went out to what is now Uttar Pradesh in 1920. Between 1926 and 1929 he was involved with the resettlement of the Rae Bareli district and in 1930 was given responsibility for the organisation of the 1931 census of Uttar Pradesh. His undoubted skill as an administrator led to his appointment as Revenue Secretary to the Provincial Government in 1935 and was made Financial Secretary in 1936. In 1941, he rose to become Additional Secretary in the Indian Government in Delhi, was Financial Commissioner for Railways in late 1945 and returned to the Finance Department as Principal Secretary in early 1947.

Pakistan

After the

establishment Establishment may refer to: * The Establishment, a dominant group or elite that controls a polity or an organization * The Establishment (club), a 1960s club in London, England * The Establishment (Pakistan), political terminology for the military ...

of Pakistan, Sir Victor Turner was the first finance secretary as well as the first Christian to be appointed to one of the key administrative posts, by the Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan. He took an active role in the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

and was one of the main Christian leaders in the movement. Soon after being appointed, Turner became the first person to head the Federal Bureau of Statistics, and was asked by the Prime Minister to re-organize the government departments and financial institutions. Turner succeeded in establishing the installation of a paper currency mill, with the help of De La Rue plc., printing the first official rupee which carries his own signature, V.A.C. Turner. Sir Victor made several reforms in the Pakistan Civil Service, submitting a report to the Prime Minister with recommendations about the size of the Civil Service and high-lighting existing deficiencies in various ministries. After the assassination of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, Turner was removed from the government and he moved back to the United Kingdom to take up an appointment as the financial adviser to the High Commissioner of Pakistan in London.''The Times'', 26 February 1950 and 15 March 1950. He also served as the first Treasurer of the newly founded, UK-based Pakistan Society until 1969

Later life

After leaving Pakistan, Sir Victor continued to visit it, advising the government on various economic issues. Because of his extensive contributions, the government of Pakistan conferred on him the

Sitara-e-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

. In 1954 he was appointed as an economic adviser to Thomas De La Rue and Co.Ltd., and he retired in 1964. Sir Victor Turner died on 16 October 1974Probate of Will and Codicil at Principal Probate Registry, London, 16 January 1975. in Surrey, England,General Register Office death indexes. aged 82 and was survived by his widow Winifred Bessie formerly Howarth whom he married in 1957. He also left a daughter by his first marriage, Joan Goodall (taking her step-father's surname, married name Bond), in 1916 to Gladys Olive Alice Sindall and a son and a daughter by his second marriage to Gladys Blanche Hoskins in 1927.

Honours

Knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

– 1947. * Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (''CIE''). * Companion of the Order of the Star of India (''CSI''). * Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). *

Military career

Indian Civil Service

Pakistan

Later life

Honours

References

See also