Sir George James Turner, FRS (5 February 1798 – 9 July 1867) was an English barrister, politician and judge. He became a Lord Justice of Appeal in chancery.

Life

Born at

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

on 5 February 1798, he was the youngest of eight sons of Richard Turner, for many years the vicar there; William Turner was his elder brother. George was educated at

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

and then at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where his uncle Joseph Turner was Master. He graduated B.A. in 1819, was elected a Fellow, and proceeded M.A. in 1822. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1821. After building up an extensive practice as a junior counsel, Turner was made a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1840. In 1847 he was elected, in the Conservative interest, Member of Parliament for

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, and represented the borough until his promotion to the bench in April 1851. He introduced and carried the measure known as "Turner's Act" ( Court of Chancery (England) Act 1850, ''An Act to diminish the delay and expense of proceedings in the High Court of Chancery in England''), intended to simplify parts of the machinery of the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

. In April 1851, Turner was appointed a Vice-Chancellor of England, and received the customary knighthood. In the same year he was sworn a member of the Privy Council. In 1852 he was on the chancery reform commission, and in 1853 he became a Lord Justice of Appeal in chancery, keeping the position until his death, which took place on 9 July 1867 at 23 Park Crescent, London. He was buried at Kelshall, near

Royston, Hertfordshire Royston is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Hertfordshire, District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It is situated on the Prime meridian (Greenwich), Greenwich Meridian, which brush ...

. Turner was a bencher of Lincoln's Inn, a governor of Charterhouse School, and a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. On 7 June 1853 he had received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from the university of Oxford. As a judge he opposed attempts to narrow the limits of the jurisdiction of the chancery court, and made efforts to expand its remedial powers to meet contemporary developments.

Works

In 1832 Turner edited a volume of chancery reports dealing with cases between 1822 and 1824, with James Russell.

Family

Turner married, in 1823, Louisa, youngest daughter of Edward Jones of

Brackley, Northamptonshire Brackley is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is on the borders with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, east-southeast of Banbury, north-northeast of Oxford, and ...

, by whom he had six sons and three daughters.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, George James 1798 births 1867 deaths English barristers 19th-century English judges Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Great Yarmouth Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge People educated at Charterhouse School Members of Lincoln's Inn 19th-century King's Counsel Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Knights Bachelor Members of Parliament for Coventry UK MPs 1847–1852 Vice Chancellors (Court of Chancery)