Ernest Sackville Turner (17 November 1909 – 6 July 2006) was an English freelance journalist and writer who wrote 20 published books, including ''Boys Will Be Boys'' (Michael Joseph, 1948), ''The Phoney War on the Home Front'' (St. Martin's Press, 1961), and ''What The Butler Saw'' (Penguin, 1962), and contributing to the ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

'', and regularly to the English

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

weekly magazine '' Punch'' (the latter for more than 50 years).

Early life and education

E. S. Turner was born in the Wavertree Garden suburb of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the North West of England on 17 November 1909. His father, Frederick William Turner, "a churchgoer and a teetotaller, nda desk-man in the Post Office Engineering Department in Liverpool," was a descendant of Sir Barnard Turner, an Alderman and sheriff in London who commanded troops attempting to curb looting in the 1780

Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days' rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

in 1780,Andrew O’Hagan, 1998, "Seventy Years in a Filthy Trade: Andrew O’Hagan meets E.S. Turner", ''London Review of Books'', Vol. 20 No. 20, 15 October. 1998, pp. 3-6, se

accessed 27 May 2015.L. Namier & J. Brooke, 1985

964 Year 964 ( CMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Nikephoros II continues the reconquest of south-eastern Anatolia (modern Turkey). He recaptures Cyp ...

"Turner, Sir Barnard (?1742-84), of Paul's Wharf, London", in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754–1790'', London: Secker & Warburg, , se

accessed 28 May 2015. but who later died penniless less than a month into Member of Parliament#United Kingdom, Parliament's assembly, after his election in 1784. Turner's mother, Bertha Pixton Norbury, was an amateur portrait and landscape painter, and oversaw a home "built for a class… er son E.S. thoughtextinct, that of ‘meritorious artisans’", with a "family bookcase... weighted with the massed works of Swedenborg… and a ‘splendid’ volume called ''The Bible in Pitman's Shorthand''." Turner's first school was in Shrewsbury, where he is said to have been "a good pupil", winning "a few prizes" and enjoying "memorising passages of Macaulay's ''Lays''." He went on to Orme Boys' School in

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...

, and " though he had the reserved, courteous and erudite air of an Oxbridge don", Turner never went on to attend university. At the age of 17 his father presented him with "an ancient typewriter urchasedfor a fiver from a passing lorry", supporting his desire to write.

Career

Early career

Turner published his first piece in the ''

Dundee Courier ''The Courier'' (known as ''The Courier & Advertiser'' between 1926 and 2012) is a newspaper published by DC Thomson in Dundee, Scotland. As of 2013, it is printed in six regional editions: Dundee, Angus & The Mearns, Fife, West Fife, Perths ...

'' in 1927. He applied for a "day job" with the ''

Glasgow Evening Times The ''Glasgow Times'' is an evening tabloid newspaper published Monday to Saturday in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Called ''The Evening Times'' from 1876, it was rebranded as the ''Glasgow Times'' on 4 December 2019. There, he progressed from "office junior to the

sub-editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (" copy") to improve quality and readability, as well as ensuring that a text is free of errors in grammar, style, and accuracy. ''The Ch ...

s' bench and then became one of the paper's cub reporters… and aterwas made editor of the paper's Diary." Stating this another way, Jonathan Sale of ''The Guardian'' described it as his"work nghis way up from copy boy to subeditor, reporter and

gossip column A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially in a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are written in a light, informal style, and relate opinions about the personal lives or conduct of celebrities f ...

editor." At the ''

Evening Times The ''Glasgow Times'' is an evening tabloid newspaper published Monday to Saturday in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Called ''The Evening Times'' from 1876, it was rebranded as the ''Glasgow Times'' on 4 December 2019.Southampton, England Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

to New York city in the U.S.—"About a hundred reporters", he

aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Th ...

"each of us desperate to find a stowaway"—one of a series of ocean voyages which he wrote about. Such travels contributed to two later pseudonymous Rupert Lang novels, and to a final '' London Review of Books (LRB)'' piece written with his first hand information on

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

s. After the 1936 voyages, he spent "some months" working at ''

Glasgow Evening Citizen The ''Evening Citizen'', was an evening version of '' The Glasgow Citizen'' (a daily newspaper founded in 1842 by James David Hedderwick). It was first published in August 1864, was one of the first of three evening newspapers to be printed, pub ...

'' and then at the ''

Scottish Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

''. At the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'', a fellow

sub Sub or SUB may refer to: Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB People * Bottom (BDSM), or "sub" for "submissive" * Substitute teacher Christianity * Sub tuum praesidium, an ancient hymn and prayer dedicated t ...

was prominent British journalist

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

, who he described as "a good friend, a brilliant reporter." In this period between the wars, he added voyages on liners flying under the flags of

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Germany and

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

Italy, as well as of the Anchor Line, from Glasgow, and did a motor tour in "swastika-hung" Germany in a Morgan three-wheeled automobile. Turner moved toward the decision to go

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

over these years, formally doing so in 1938.

War years

After the onset of

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

in 1939, he continued to write for various publications, even after he joined the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1941. He was able to contribute during his spare time in the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, being based in the UK throughout the hostilities. At one point, whilst he was on leave, his anti-aircraft unit actually saw action when they shot down a German bomber. Realising his writing talents, the Army 'top brass' decided to put him to work in a more appropriate area – helping to set up and publish ''Soldier'', the magazine of the British Army. This contributed to his promotion to the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in 1946, coinciding with his appointment as

Literary editor A literary editor is a editor responsible for refining and overseeing the quality of written content in a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Literary editor deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews. A literary ...

of the magazine. He held this title even after '

demob Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

', until 1957.

Middle years

In 1948 Michael Joseph's publishing firm issued his first book, ''Boys Will Be Boys: The Story of

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–1847). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet St ...

Deadwood Dick Deadwood Dick is a fictional character who appears in a series of stories, or dime novels, published between 1877 and 1897 by Edward Lytton Wheeler (1854/5–1885). The name became so widely known in its time that it was used to advantage by ...

Sexton Blake Sexton Blake is a fictional British detective, whose adventures captivated readers for over eight decades from 1893 to 1978. Blake featured in more than 4,000 stories by approximately 200 different authors, making him one of the most prolifica ...

Billy Bunter William George Bunter is a fictional schoolboy created by Charles Hamilton using the pen name Frank Richards. He features in stories set at Greyfriars School, a fictional English public school in Kent, originally published in the boys' weekly ...

Dick Barton ''Dick Barton – Special Agent'' is a radio thriller serial that was broadcast in the BBC Light Programme between 7 October 1946 and 30 March 1951. Produced and directed by Raymond Raikes, Neil Tuson, and Charles Lefaux, it was aired in 15- ...

et al. References Notes References Further reading * * External links * {{Latin phrases E ...

'' – usually truncated to ''Boys Will Be Boys''. This was an in-depth examination of the "Boys' Weekly" genré, also known as '

story papers A story paper is a periodical publication similar to a literary magazine, but featuring illustrations and text stories, and aimed towards children and teenagers. Also known in Britain as "boys' weeklies", story papers were phenomenally popul ...

', '

penny dreadfuls Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the 19th century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to a sto ...

' or 'bloods' (due to the violent nature of the prose). He carried out research for the book, ploughing through numerous back-numbers of the various publications.Jonathan Sale, 2006, "Obituary: E.S. Turner, Stalwart of Punch and the patron saint of freelancing", ''The Guardian'' (online), 18 July 2006, se

accessed 27 May 2015. For his second book, however, he changed direction completely, producing the 1950 non-fiction work ''Roads to Ruin: A Shocking History of Social Progress'', which was a forthright insight into the Social structure of Britain, British class system, and the resistance of the

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

to significant change. The politician

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and political activist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabine ...

often quoted passages from the book in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

to illustrate points he was trying to make, and especially in 1992, during one particular

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

foxhunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of houn ...

. Turner was also quoted by another politician,

Gerald Kaufman Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman (21 June 1930 – 26 February 2017) was a British politician and author who served as a minister throughout the Labour government of 1974 to 1979. Elected as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of parliame ...

, during a 1996 debate on homosexuality in the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

. During the 1950s, as a now permanent freelance writer, Turner contributed regularly to ''Punch Magazine'', the leading satirical magazine with the accent on humour and pastiche. This source of income enabled him to concentrate more on writing books. Turner's literary flexibility was illustrated when he wrote a

Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architectu ...

-style

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

for the

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...

wedding of

The Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

and

Mark Phillips Mark Anthony Peter Phillips (born 22 September 1948) is an English Olympic gold medal-winning horseman for Great Britain and the first husband of Anne, Princess Royal, with whom he has two children. He remains a leading figure in British equ ...

on 14 November 1973, subsequently quoted in an obituary by

Miles Kington Miles Beresford Kington (13 May 1941 – 30 January 2008) was a British journalist, musician (a double bass player for Instant Sunshine and other groups) and broadcaster. He is also credited with the invention of Franglais, a fictional language ...

in 2006. In all, some 19 works by Turner were published in book form during his most productive period, including two novels under the pseudonym of "Rupert Lang."

Late career

E. S. Turner contributed many pieces in his later years to publications such as the

and the

.Anon., 2006, "Obituary: E. S. Turner, Novelist and journalist", ''The Scotsman'' (online), 19 July 2006, se

accessed 27 May 2015. At the age of 89, he published "Unholy Pursuits", which took as its subject the incidence of

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

clergymen working anonymously as journalists (a profession considered well beneath them at the time). Its 1998 release coincided with him being dropped by his regular publishers. His final article was published posthumously in the magazine ''"The Oldie"'' in September 2006. Turner died in London on 6 July 2006.

Critical appraisal

Appraisal in retrospect looks at Turner's dedication to freelance writing—Jonathan Sale referred to him as "the patron saint of freelancing"—and has focused on his energy, productivity, the scope of his writing, and on its inherent humanity.Anon., 2006, "Obituary: E. S. Turner", ''The Telegraph'' (online), 17 July 2006, se

accessed 27 May 2015. Andrew O'Hagan, in his 1998 London Review of Books, LRB retrospective, noted that while Turner's fingers had always been light on the keyboard, his writing was "with a strongly human pulse just under the skin, a richness of personal feeling in the blood." ''The Telegraph'' noted in its obituary that Turner, over "succeeding decades... produced a stream of books... praised by reviewers; it was said that the author had invented a new kind of book which demonstrated the British genius for tremendous trifles."

, a fellow journalist intersecting with Turner at ''Punch'' recalls Turner at editorial lunches: Some mention is made of political leanings—O'Hagan refers to Turner as "never a left-wing diehard" and as having a "rightwing persona (which was only partly a pose)"—but these are not thoroughly explored, and during a

debate on the

issue, Labour MP

quoted from ''Roads to Ruin: A Shocking History of Social Progress'' (1950), the book where Turner exposed the upper class's "disgraceful rearguard action…" against reforms such as "abolition of child chimney sweeps and the repeal of laws under which convicted criminals could be hung, drawn and quartered." With regard to the correctness of his writing, when viewed from a 21st-century perspective, O'Hagan writes that " e Britain Mr Turner writes about may (like Punch) no longer be here… There's always a whole new set of things you're not allowed to laugh at… you can't laugh at newsagents. You can't snigger at class, or Princess Diana, even if you're the sort of person who might always have done so. Mr Turner might say we fought for the right to say farewell to Smith, the right to meet Patel. But it would not be a popular thing to say."

Personal life

Turner met Helen Martin from New York City in the U.S., and they married in 1937 and saw 30 anniversaries; they had two daughters, Patricia and Jill. Helen died in 1968. After his first wife's death, Turner was travelling in

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

doing a travel article for the

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegr ...

and met

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

-born Roberta Hewitt, a housing manager, and they married in 1971. She, and daughters Patricia and Jill from the marriage to Helen, survived Turner at his death in 2006. A formal man and an Edwardian, Ernest Sackville Turner is said to have "clung to the dignity of his formal style and title": In the 1998 '' London Review of Books, LRB'' interview, O'Hagan noted, "Sometimes Mr Turner can't think of an answer to one of my questions. But when he sits at the typewriter, and begins to write, great swathes of his story come clean. He would later send me these typed pages. And they sit here in front of me now, covered in shadows of print, and they speak of a man altogether present." O'Hagan goes on to quote the author of 80 years of journalism, 50 years of ''Punch'' contributions, and 20 published books, to say, "I don't know how you’ll get a whole article out of me... ‘I haven't a whole lot to say.’"

Published works

The following are some of Turner's main book-length published works, with sources as indicated: * ''Boys Will Be Boys: The Story of Sweeney Todd, Deadwood Dick, Sexton Blake, Billy Bunter, Dick Barton et al.'' (1948), a study of the

, a Victorian pulp hero genre, a study receiving "enthusiastic notices" in the U.K.,

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

and

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

, so successful it went to reprint twice in the first week of publication. * '' Roads to Ruin: A Shocking History of Social Progress'' (1950), on the upper class's "disgraceful rearguard action…" against reforms such as "abolition of child chimney sweeps and the repeal of laws under which convicted criminals could be hung, drawn and quartered." * '' The Shocking History of Advertising'' (1952), as its name implies, published by Michael Joseph. * '' The Third Pip'' (1952), novel, under the pseudonym Rupert Lang, published by Constable. * ''Maiden Voyage'' (1954), novel, under the pseudonym Rupert Lang. * '' A History of Courting'' (1954), as its name implies, translated into the French as ''L'Histoire de la Tactique Amoureuse'', published by Michael Joseph, . * '' Gallant Gentlemen'' (1956), an historical look at British officers, published by Michael Joseph. * ''Call the Doctor'' (1958), a social history of British physicians and medical practitioners, published by St. Martin's Press, se

accessed 28 May 2015. *''All Heaven in a Rage'' (1964), a history of human cruelty towards animals. * ''

The Phoney War on the Home Front ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

'' (1961), study of restrictions and public ill-temper in Great Britain before

The Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

. * '' What the Butler Saw: Two Hundred and Fifty Years of the Servant Problem'' (1963), a critical survey of employer and employed, "in service." * ''

Hemlock Lane Hemlock may refer to: Plants *''Conium maculatum'', a poisonous herbaceous plant **more broadly, other species in the genus ''Conium''; not to be confused with the related water hemlock and hemlock water-dropwort *''Tsuga'', a genus of coniferou ...

'' (1968), novel, under his own name. * '' May It Please Your Lordship'' (1972), a social history of English judgeships, published by

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

, . * '' Amazing Grace: The Great Days of Dukes'' (1975), a social history of English dukedoms. * '' Dear Old Blighty'' (1980), an account of life 'on the home front' in Britain during the Great War, 1914–1918, * '' Unholy Pursuits: The Wayward Parsons of Grub Street'' (1998), a history of the journalistic moonlighting by Anglican clergymen.E.S. Turner, 1998, "Unholy Pursuits. The Wayward Parsons of Grub Street", Lewes, Sussex:The Book Guild Ltd., 224 pp., , se

accessed 28 May 2014.

References and notes

External links

''Punch'' magazine
s website, a major employer of Turner.
E. S. Turner's contributions
to the ''London Review of Books''.

s announcement of the passing of their former Editor-In-Chief. {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Ernest Sackville 1909 births 2006 deaths 20th-century English male writers British Army personnel of World War II English literary critics English male journalists English male non-fiction writers Journalists from Liverpool Officers of the Order of the British Empire London Review of Books people Punch (magazine) people Royal Artillery officers