Sharon Turner

Sharon Turner
Sharon Turner by Sir Martin Archer Shee.
Born	(1768-09-24)24 September 1768 Pentonville
Died	13 February 1847(1847-02-13) (aged 78) Red Lion Square
Nationality	British
Occupation	Historian
Known for	Anglo-Saxon history

Sharon Turner (24 September 1768 – 13 February 1847) was an English historian.

Born in Pentonville, Turner was the eldest son of William and Ann Turner of Yorkshire who had settled in London upon marrying. He left school at fifteen to be articled to an attorney in the Temple. On 18 January 1795 he married Mary Watts (bap. 1768, died 1843), with whom he had at least six children. Among these were Sydney, inspector of reformatory schools, and Mary, married to the economist William Ellis.

Turner became a solicitor but left the profession after he became interested in the study of Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon literature. He settled himself in Red Lion Square near the British Museum, staying there for sixteen years. When his friend Isaac D'Israeli left the synagogue after a dispute with the rabbi, Turner persuaded him to have his children, including the future Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, baptized in the Church of England, to give them a better chance in life.

It is said that some of his manuscripts were written in the margins of letters, on the inside covers of magazines, or on discarded wax paper. His publisher sent him clean paper but Turner did not use it.

Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons appeared in four volumes between 1799 and 1805.

Britain at the time of original publication was involved in wars against France and the idea of the Norman yoke (Anglo-Saxon liberty versus Norman despotism) had been around since the seventeenth century. Turner demonstrated Anglo-Saxon liberty "in the shape of a good constitution, temperate kingship, the witenagemot, and general principles of freedom". Turner researched extensively the collections in the British Museum and the manuscripts of Sir Robert Cotton. In doing so he obtained a working knowledge of Anglo-Saxon.