340 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 
[Sess. 
Sir William Turner, K.C.B., D.L., M.B.Lond, F.R.C.SS.L. and E., LL.D., 
D.C.L., D.Sc.., F.R.SS.L. and E., Principal and Vice-Chancellor, 
University of Edinburgh, Honorary Burgess of the City of 
Edinburgh. By Sir James A. Russell. (With One Plate.) 
(Read at the Meeting on May 1, 1916.) 
At the eighth Ordinary Meeting the President, Dr Horne, gave utterance 
to the sorrow with which the Fellows heard the news of the death of Sir 
William Turner, K.C.B., and expressed the Society’s high appreciation of 
the services which Sir William rendered to it. Indeed, his devotion to its 
interests was one of the striking features of his distinguished career. 
Throughout his long life Sir William had been free from serious illness, 
and conserved his physical and mental powers to the last. He was cut off 
by a short illness in the midst of work, at the age of 84, on 15th February 
1916. We recall his sturdy frame and rapid walk, his twinkling eyes, 
strong voice, and dominant personality, his dignity, invariable courtesy, 
cheerfulness, fund of humour, wonderful memory, and cautious, judicious 
mind. He was a man of the highest talent, eminently sane and workable, 
and absolutely free from the want of balance which is not unfrequently 
associated with genius. Those who had to work with him will always 
remember his high sense of the importance of work, and his devotion 
to duty. He possessed extraordinary powers of steady work and an 
unwearied patience that endeared him to slow or stupid students in his 
early days, and that later amazed his colleagues on the University Court 
when he zealously pursued the true inwardness of the dreary details of a 
University ordinance or hunted the last sixpence in University accounts 
long after the interest of the others had flagged. When working jointly 
with an assistant he undertook the heaviest or most disagreeable part of 
the task himself. His self-control was admirable. He once said to the 
writer, “ If my digestion is in order I defy any man to make me lose my 
temper.” With these qualities Sir William was a tolerant and sincere 
Christian gentleman. He was a member of St John’s Episcopal Church 
for about sixty years, and served on its vestry for many years. At the 
same time he attended and took part in University and students’ services 
of the Presbyterian Churches. 
In 1863 he married Agnes, eldest daughter of Mr Abraham Logan of 
Burnhouses, Berwickshire, and this union did much to attach his affec- 
