Skinner Turner

Sir Skinner Turner
Judge, British Court for Siam
In office 1905–1909
Assistant Judge, British Supreme Court for China
In office 1916–1921
Preceded by	Frederick Samuel Augustus Bourne
Succeeded by	Peter Grain
Chief Judge, British Supreme Court for China
In office 1921–1927
Preceded by	Havilland de Sausmarez
Succeeded by	Peter Grain
Personal details
Born	(1868-06-02)2 June 1868 Tonbridge, Kent, England
Died	5 July 1935(1935-07-05) (aged 67) Winchester, England

Sir Skinner Turner (2 June 1868 – 5 July 1935) was a British judge who served in Kenya, Uganda, Siam and China. His last position was as the Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court for China from 1921 to 1927.

Early life

Turner was born near Tonbridge, Kent, England in on June 2, 1868 to Frederick and Marsha Turner, the eighth of nine children. In the 1871 census, his father described his profession as “farmer of 560 acres employing 20 men and 2 boys.”^[1]

Education

Turner was educated at

Turner started his career in law on the Western Circuit and at the Hampshire Sessions.[2]

Judicial

Turner joined the

In 1905, he was appointed Judge of the British Court for Siam,^[4] replacing acting judge Hiram Parkes Wilkinson. In 1909, on conclusion of the treaty partially bringing extraterritoriality to an end between Siam and Great Britain, he was lent to the Siamese Government as legal adviser.^[5] In this role, he sat on the Siamese Court of Appeal. In recognition of his valuable services as judicial adviser, he was awarded the Insignia of the Third Class of the Ratanabhon Personal Order by the King of Siam.^[6]

In 1915, Turner was appointed Assistant Judge of the British Supreme Court for China in Shanghai on the retirement of Sir Frederick Bourne. In 1921, he was promoted to Chief Judge. In 1926 he served as the British Representative on the Extraterritoriality Commission that had been set up to investigate the application of extraterritoriality in China with the view to its eventual abolition.^[7]

Turner retired in 1927 and was succeeded by Peter Grain.

Personal life

Turner married in The Lady Chapel of Winchester Cathedral on 2 October 1902 Millicent Harriet Hewitt, daughter of Rev. W. H. Hewett.^[8]

Turner died eight years after his retirement, on 5 July 1935, at a nursing home in Winchester at the age of 67.^[9]

Further reading

• Clark, Douglas (2015). Gunboat Justice: British and American Law Courts in China and Japan (1842-1943). Hong Kong:
  ISBN 978-988-82731-9-5

• UK National Portrait Gallery portraits of Turner
• Extraterritoriality Commission Report

References