TURNER, Sir Charles, 1st Bt. (1666-1738), of Warham, Norf.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1695 - 24 Nov. 1728

Family and Education

bap. 11 June 1666, s. of William Turner, attorney at law, of North Elmham, Norf. by Anne, da. of John Spooner. educ. Scarning and Norwich; Caius, Camb. 1681; M. Temple 1684. m. (1) Apr. 1689 Mary (d. Apr. 1701), da. of Robert Walpole, M.P., of Houghton and sis. of Sir Robert Walpole, 1s. d.v.p. 4da.; (2) Mary, da. of Sir William Blois of Grundisburgh, Suff., wid. of Sir Nevil Catelyn of Kirby Cane, s.p. Kntd. 22 Mar. 1696; cr. Bt. 27 Apr. 1727.

Offices Held

Ld. of Trade 1707-13, of the Admiralty 1714-17, of the Treasury 1720-30, chairman of committees of supply and ways and means 1728-d.; teller of the Exchequer 1729-d.

Biography

The Turners were one of the leading families in Lynn, which they represented in every Parliament for nearly 80 years. Returned as a Whig for Lynn in 1695, Turner from 1702 shared the representation of the borough with his brother-in-law, Robert Walpole, of whom he was a loyal and trusted supporter. He obtained office with Walpole in 1714, speaking for the septennial bill in 1716; followed him into opposition in 1717, at the cost of losing his place; and was one of the friends whom Walpole put into the new Treasury board when he returned to office in 1720. When in 1724 William Farrer was taken ill in the chair of the ways and means committee, Turner deputized for him,1 succeeding him in the money chair in 1728. On his death at Houghton, 24 Nov. 1738, Walpole wrote that he had lost ‘the oldest friend and acquaintance I had in the world’.2

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Romney R. Sedgwick

Notes

  • 1. Knatchbull Diary, 2 Dec. 1724.
  • 2. Coxe, Walpole, iii. 517.