The Reverend William Turner

This is the first biography of the Reverend William Turner, the founder of the Newcastle upon Tyne Literary & Philosophical Society in 1793, and of many other institutions in Newcastle, from the Royal Jubilee School to the Trustee Savings Bank.Turner was a Unitarian. The book sets Unitarianism in the context of the late Georgian period, describing both its beliefs and the contemporary restraints upon their expression. It sketches the Unitarian enthusiasm for education in science and the humanities, in addition to the conventional classics, and shows how Turner's connections with men such as Joseph Priestley, and colleges like Warrington Academy, contributed to his achievements in Newcastle. But the book is not limited to the history of the Dissenters. Many notable characters, mostly Novocastrians, make an appearance: James Losh, Ralph Beilby, Thomas Bewick, Lord Brougham, Edward Moises, Elizabeth Gaskell for example, and no connoisseur of the quirks of human nature should miss the events that led up to the brandishing of a sword stick in the rooms of the Lit & Phil, or the burning in effigy of a Bishop of Durham at Bishop Auckland.

The author, now retired, spent all his working life in Newcastle, and, like his father, was President of the Newcastle Lit & Phil. He has previously published studies of some Newcastle contemporaries of Turner.