Career
Born in United States of America, Turner became a fruiterer on the Shankill Road. He first stood for election to the Belfast Corporation in the Cliftonville ward in 1909. Although he was officially an independent Unionist, he had the backing of the local Conservative Party.
However, he was defeated by the football player William Kennedy Gibson.
Turner was later successful as an Ulster Unionist Party for the council, and served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1923 to 1928. He was knighted in 1924, while in 1927 he was appointed to the Privy Council of Northern Ireland.
