Turner, George ^37,42,43

   Cause of his death was Heart Attack.

  General Notes:

Compiled a handwritten family tree and newspaper scrap book (possession of W.H.Turner and then B.V.Turner). His life is well documented in biographies and his own writings in possession of Beryl Turner, and in the Bowen newspapers, and Berwick Gazette (possession of BV Turner.). Held many public posts in Bowen. Much of his material has been copied and is in the possession of the Bowen Historical Society. Town Clerk of Bowen, migrated from Scotland, 26/8/1883 (Anglo India assisted passenger.) Assisted passage on the Anglo Indian cost 5 pounds.

First job in Australia was fence post digging. Introduced to prospective wife by friend Bill Hurst (hence the Hurst name as second Christian name for the next 3 generations of Turners). Opened a boot shop in Bowen with wife Tini, importing shoes from Europe. Purchased the Gordon St. Bowen property, which became the family home, about 1900. (Jean Potts nee Turner, said that George had the house built rather than bought it).

The maple bedroom suite (double) was made for George and Tini. The smaller suite was made for Muriel. It later came back down to Brisbane, and into the Laidlaw Pde house (referring to a matching set of two bedroom suites now in the possession of BV Turner). There is a "one man cross-cut saw" in the shed of William H.Turner which was owned by George Turner. His pocket watch and a microscope are in the possession of Douglas James Turner.

He was the force behind the erection of the Sinclair monument on Bowen's town beach.
The following was captioned on a display in the Bowen Historical Society, 1965. "GEORGE TURNER Born 5th October 1863 at Grantshouse, Berwickshire, Scotland. Died at Brisbane on 7th November 1945. ARRIVED IN BOWEN ON 6TH SEPTEMBER 1883. George Turner's first appointment was a Secretary and Librarian of the School of Arts. He reatined this post for twentyone years running concurrently the business of a boot shop. He was later Town Clerk for thirteen years and Secertary of the Proserpine Tramway Board during the whole 10 years of its existence. Under the auspices of the School of Arts, he inaugurated the Bowen technical college in 1899 and entered as its first pupil. He was president of the college comittee for 5 years; Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce for thirteen years, and Secretary of the Pastoral Agricultural and Mining Association and other local institutions for various periods. He also acted on more than one occasion as Valuer to the Bowen Town Council. During most of the time he spent in Bowen he carried on Business as a land salesman and claimed to have sold nearly every allotment in the town, some three times over. PHOTOS: Mr. and Mrs. Turner Mr Turner on the School of Arts steps taken about 1909".

From interview with Wiliam Hurst Turner, 2001. "George was particularly interested in the mystery of the sinking of the Yongalla, and tried very hard to find out where she went down. In the end he even tried a oiuja board (said to be interviewing the spirits) which was very popular in Bowen at the time. There had been a couple of spectcular mysteries solved by the spitis in recent times so he asked abut the Yongala. The answer came in form of longitude and latitiude. He rushed home to look in his maps, thinking that he had the answer at last. However the point on the map was out near Longreach! About the same time a horse went missing, and some of the local identities asked the spiritis to help find it. The horse had been missing for some time and there had been a lot searching for it. Some of those involved were Potts, Thumalians, but not sure whose horse it was. The answer came that the horse was in the corner of a paddock (thinks it was Thermalian's paddock) and it would be standing under the tree in the corner of the paddock at 12 md tomorrow. And it was there at the appointed time. Nobody could explain how this might have happened. "

"George was also very interested the story of James Morril, a white man who was ship wrecked from the barque "Peruvian", which struk the reef off cape Cleveland (near Townsville). Morrill lived with the natives for years north of Bowen but South of Gumlu. George used to go nearly every Sunday up to Bald hills with a party of people searching for the captain's grave. (James Morrill had said that the grave was marked by a pile of stones). He went in a horse and sulky and later in a "Mystery Overland" car. Morrill had died by then. The grave was never found. James Morrill later became a member of the police force in Bowen (a "black tracker"). It is said that there are decendants of James Morrill among the aboriginies of the area. There was a nun with the surname of Morrill who emerged many years later in the Charters Towers area".

George was a keen historian and was a member of the Queensland Historical Society. He presented a paper to the Society on the discovery of Bowen by Captain Sinclair. He was the force behind the erection of the Sinclair monument on Bowen's town beach.

He founded the Bowen Fruit Exporting Association (BFE), and his daughter Muriel was the secretary. His son George Baden Powell Turner also was employed and became Manager after his father's retirement. On his retirement he was given an illuminated address by the BFE.

After his retirement he moved with Tini to Brisbane to the Laidlaw Parade house. ^13,37,44

  Death Notes:

date of death 30/4/1951 Heart Attack

  Noted events in his life were:

• Education: Renton School ages 7 - 13 years.

• Emigration, 26 Sep 1883, Australia. ⁴¹ Assisted passenger on S.S.Anglo India

• Military Service: Officer in Bowen Garrison, 1888, Bowen, , Queensland, Australia.

• Residence, 1900, Gordon St. Bowen.

• Employed: Employed, 1904-1911, Town Clerk, Bowen, , Queensland, Australia.

• Occupation: Shoe maker, Town Clerk,Commission agent, Auctioneer, Bowen Qld.

• Religion: Presbyterian, communicant in St. Helen's Church, Cockburnspath. He laid the foundation stone of the Presbyterian Church in Bowen. He was the Senior elder of the church at the time. He donated some of the church's furnishings (possibly the pulpit or the stained glass window).

George married Christina "Tini" Robertson Learmonth, daughter of Andrew Learmonth and Christina Barr Mushet, on 25 Oct 1888 in Bowen, , Queensland, Australia.⁴¹ (Christina "Tini" Robertson Learmonth was born on 7 Apr 1866 in Glasgow, Scotland,³⁷ died on 30 Apr 1951 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and was buried in Bulimba Cemetery, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.)

George next married Living