Charles Turner (British Army officer)

Major-general Charles Turner CB (? – 11 March 1826) was a British Army officer and colonial governor.

Career

Turner became an ensign in the 2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot on 21 October 1795. After promotion to lieutenant, he saw service in Ireland and captured the Irish revolutionary Napper Tandy. Refusing to accept the reward offered for Tandy's capture, on 8 June 1803 the British government instead presented Turner with a Company in the Royal African Corps. He became a major in the Royal West India Rangers and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 28 May 1807. During the Peninsular War, Turner lost an arm at the Siege of Badajoz and retired on half-pay on 25 December 1818.[1] Turner was awarded the Portuguese Commander of the Order of the Tower and Sword and the Turkish Order of the Crescent.[2]

Sierra Leone

Following the death of incumbent governor Charles MacCarthy in 1824 in the First Anglo-Ashanti War (1823-1831), Turner was commissioned as Captain-general and appointed as Governor-in-Chief of Sierra Leone and its dependencies (including the Gold Coast). He arrived on the Cape Coast around the end of March 1825, along with 200 men of the Royal Africa Corps and 200 from the 2nd West India Regiment from Sierra Leone.[3]

In September 1825, Turner negotiated a treaty on behalf of the British government with the Sherbro king, Banka. Under this treaty, the British acquired additional territory from the local tribespeople.[4]

Family

Turner married Harriett Ann Stevenson, Daughter of Very Rev. George Stevenson LCD, Dean of Kilfenora, Ireland. They had 14 children, Including Lt.-Gen. John Turner (1820 - 9 Apr 1886) Lt.-Gen. Nathaniel Octavius Simpson Turner (1828 - 4 Feb 1884) and Maj.-Gen. Edmund Penrose Bingham Turner (1833 - 15 May 1888)

References
  1. The Gentleman's Magazine. A. Dodd and A. Smith. 1826. p. 563.
  2. Crooks, J.J. (8 October 2013). Records Relating to the Gold Coast Settlements from 1750 to 1874. Routledge. p. 216. ISBN 978-1-136-96070-3.
  3. The African Repository. 1834. p. 161.
  4. The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and Literature for the Year. J. Dodsley. 1826. p. 87-88.
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