Sir William Turner (12 September 1615 – 9 February 1693) was an English Sheriff, Lord Mayor and M.P. of London. 2007Kirkleatham8

He was born in Guisborough, the third son of John Turner. In 1623 his father bought the

Kirkleatham Kirkleatham is an area of Redcar in the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north-northwest of Guisborough, and south of Redcar centre. It was listed in the Domesday Book. The area has a collect ...

Estate and built Kirkleatham Hall. He moved to London and became a prosperous woollen-draper and Master of the

Merchant Taylors' Company ] The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 110 Livery company, livery companies of the City of London. The Company, originally known as the ''Guild and Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the City of London'', was founded prio ...

in 1661 (and again in 1684). He served as an Alderman of the City of London in 1660 and again from 1662 to 1687. He was elected a

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

for 1662–63 and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

for 1668–69. He was knighted by Charles II in 1662 in recognition of his public work. He served as the president of the

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

and

Bridewell Hospital Bridewell Palace in London was built as a residence of King Henry VIII and was one of his homes early in his reign for eight years. Given to the City of London Corporation by his son King Edward VI for use as an orphanage and place of corre ...

s from 1669 until his death. He was a director of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

for several years (1670–1, 1684–5, 1687–8, 1690–1). He devoted much of his fortune to establishing a hospital in his home village of

in 1676, known as Sir William Turner's Hospital (or Almshouses) and now an independent retirement home. After being largely rebuilt in 1742 it has been occupied ever since. The attached chapel contains his death mask. At the age of 75 he was elected as

Member 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 o ...

for the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

in 1690, sitting until his death. He died unmarried in 1693. He bequeathed a substantial amount of money to his great nephew, Cholmley Turner, M.P. for Yorkshire, to establish a Free School, which now serves as the local museum.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, William 1615 births 1693 deaths People from Guisborough 17th-century lord mayors of London English philanthropists Members of the Parliament of England for the City of London English MPs 1690–1695 17th-century philanthropists