William Turner (1714–1794) was an English dissenting minister. He became liberal in theology, a supporter of rational dissent, and with his congregation in favour of social and political reform. He was a contributor to Theological Repository.

Life

William Turner was born at

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

, on 5 December 1714. His father, John Turner (1689–1737), was a restless man, who was minister for short periods at Preston,

Rivington Rivington is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying . It is about southeast of Chorley and about northwest of Bolton. Rivington is a rural area consisting primarily of ...

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

Wirksworth Wirksworth is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. Its population was 4,902 in the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census.Area E04002820 (Wirksworth parish) in Table PP002 - Sex, from Wirkswor ...

, and

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East district, in Cheshire, England; it is located south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and south-east of Warrington. The population of the parish at the 2021 Uni ...

, distinguished himself on the Hanoverian side in the

Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts. At Braemar, Aberdeenshire, local landowner the Ear ...

. His mother was Hannah Chorley (d. 20 February 1747), daughter of William Chorley of Preston. From 1732 until 1736, Turner was educated at Findern Academy under Ebenezer Latham. He then attended

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

from 1736-1737. He was dissenting minister at

Allostock Allostock is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, about five miles south of Knutsford and 20 miles south of Manchester. Allo ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

(1737–46). He was ordained on 7 August 1739. Ill-health caused him to retire from the ministry for eight years, during which he kept a school. In 1754 he became minister at

Congleton Congleton is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is on the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 28,497 and the built-up area ha ...

. In 1758, Turner married Mary Holland, eldest daughter of John Holland of Mobberley, Cheshire. He had two sons, the elder being William Turner (1761–1859) the abolitionist. In April 1761 he moved to

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

, where he continued to minister till July 1792. His Wakefield ministry brought him into close connection with Thomas Amory, the creator of ''John Buncle''; with

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

, then at Leeds, whose opinions he espoused; and with

Theophilus Lindsey Theophilus Lindsey (20 June 1723 O.S.3 November 1808) was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel. Lindsey's 1774 revised prayer book based on Samuel C ...

, then vicar of Catterick, of whose policy of inviting a Unitarian secession from the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

he disapproved. Turner died on 28 August 1794.

Works

Turner published sermons. His manuscript criticisms suggested to Priestley the project of his ''

Theological Repository The ''Theological Repository'' was a periodical founded and edited from 1769 to 1771 by the eighteenth-century British polymath Joseph Priestley. Although ostensibly committed to the open and rational inquiry of theological questions, the journ ...

'', to which Turner contributed (1768–71) as Vigilius (Wakefield). His notes in Priestley's ''Harmony of the Evangelists'', 1780, are signed "T."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, William 1714 births 1794 deaths English Dissenters