342 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
applicants for chairs or other posts. No exertions were too great for him 
in such a case. 
Turner always had great enjoyment in fine scenery, and when demon- 
strator spoke with enthusiasm of Bellagio and the Italian lakes. Later he 
was carried away by the delights of a driving tour in fine weather, far 
from the madding crowd, in the north-west of Scotland, and of motor tours 
in England, when he gathered all that he could learn of the Romans or 
others who used the open way in past times. Travel on the Continent 
with members of his family was his chief relaxation in later years, and 
then he enjoyed cathedrals and other fine or historical buildings to the 
full. He also visited Canada and the United States. 
Turner was thoroughly loyal to the city of his adoption, of which he 
was a deputy -lieutenant, and no one was more ready to obey the call of 
the Lord Provost for advice or assistance. Honours that many accepted 
as mere compliments were to him occasions for the discharge of duty. 
At the time of his death he was a Vice-President of the Royal Blind 
Asylum and School, and the chairman of directors acknowledged his 
services and readiness to make speeches on behalf of the institution when 
required. He served on the board of Donaldson’s Hospital for many years, 
and was seldom absent from a committee meeting. Sir William Turner 
was Honorary Professor of Anatomy to the Royal Scottish Academy, an 
office which he held from 1878. He showed his interest by visits to the 
life school and in other ways. How he found time for all his many-sided 
activities can only be explained by his orderly mind, punctuality, and 
diligence, supported by a very happy home life. 
On 7th August 1913 a mural tablet was unveiled, with appropriate 
speeches, in Sir William Turner’s presence, to mark the site of the house in 
Lancaster in which he was born on 7th January 1832. Afterwards, in the 
Town Hall, Mr H. L. Storey presented to the Corporation a portrait of 
his father, the late Sir Thomas Storey four times Mayor of Lancaster, and 
Sir William Turner delivered an address in appreciation of his old friend. 
Sir Richard Owen, likewise a native of Lancaster, was born some twenty- 
eight years before Turner. 
Turner’s mother, who was Miss Aldren before marriage, lost her hus- 
band, William Turner, when he was forty years old and her son William 
was five. There were another son and daughter who died young. She 
apprenticed William to Christopher Johnson, surgeon, who gave him a 
liking for chemistry. Evidently the lad was a diligent apprentice if ignorant 
of modern views of infection, for he was busy with pestle and mortar pound- 
ing drugs for pills while his hands were desquamating after scarlet fever ! 
