Francis Turner (cricketer, born 1890)

Francis Turner
Personal information
Full name
Francis Gordon Turner
Born(1890-03-01)1 March 1890
Kensington, London, England
Died21 November 1979(1979-11-21) (aged 89)
Deal, Kent, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingLeg break
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1912Hampshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 1
Runs scored 14
Batting average 14.00
100s/50s –/–
Top score 14
Catches/stumpings 1/–
Source: Cricinfo, 1 January 2010

Francis Gordon Turner OBE MC (1 March 1890 — 21 November 1979) was an English first-class cricketer, British Army officer, and educator.

The son of John Turner and his wife, Esther, he was born at Kensington in March 1890.[1] He was educated at Westminster School, before matriculating to Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] After graduating from Cambridge, he became an assistant master at Twyford School in Hampshire between 1911 and 1913,[2] which at the time was under the headmastership of the cricketer Harold McDonell. Turner played first-class cricket for Hampshire in 1912, making a single appearance against Cambridge University at Southampton.[3] Batting once in the match, he was dismissed in Hampshire's first innings for 14 runs by Eric Kidd.[4] He left Twyford in 1913 to become an assistant master at Felsted School.[2]

With the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914, Turner's teaching career was interrupted. He would serve in the war, being commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant into the Hampshire Regiment in January 1915.[5] Serving the entirety of the war on the Western Front,[2] he was transferred to the Dorset Regiment in September 1915.[6] In the same month, he was made a temporary captain,[7] prior to gaining the full rank of lieutenant two months later.[8] Turner was awarded the Military Cross in the 1917 Birthday Honours.[9] In August of the same year, he was serving at headquarters as a brigade major.[10] He remained in France until the end of the war, being demobilised in February 1919.[2] He was made an OBE in the 1919 Birthday Honours, for valuable service rendered in connection with military operations in France.[2]

Following the end of the war, Turner returned to teaching. He was appointed headmaster of Tormore School in Kent in 1919,[1] an appointment he held until his retirement in 1955.[11] Turner died in November 1979 at Deal, Kent.

References

  1. ^ a b The Record of Old Westminsters. Vol. 2. Chiswick Press. 1928. p. 936.
  2. ^ a b c d e f The Schoolmasters' Yearbook & Educational Directory. London: Year Book Press. 1932. p. 816.
  3. ^ "First-Class Matches played by Francis Turner". CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Hampshire v Cambridge University, University Match 1912". CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  5. ^ "No. 29041". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 January 1915. p. 491.
  6. ^ "No. 29440". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 January 1916. p. 711.
  7. ^ "No. 29450". The London Gazette. 25 January 1916. p. 1004.
  8. ^ "No. 29363". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 November 1915. p. 11158.
  9. ^ "No. 30111". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1917. p. 5485.
  10. ^ "No. 30213". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 July 1917. p. 7878.
  11. ^ "Tormore House". www.eastkenthistory.org.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2024.