Alfred Turner

Alfred Turner (28 May 1874 – 18 March 1940) was an English sculptor notable for several large public monuments. These included statues of Queen Victoria, works in the Fishmonger's Hall in London and several war memorials, both in the Britiah Isles and abroad.

Among other institutions, Turner studied at the Royal Academy, where he exhibited and was a member. He was also a member and fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. His daughter was also a distinguished sculptor.

Biography Turner was born in London on 28 May 1874, the son of sculptor C.E. Halsey-Turner. In 1899 he married Charlotte Ann Gavin and they had two daughters. One daughter, Winifred, became a distinguished sculptor. He died in London on 18 March 1940. Turner was given the commission to sculpt the two figures in 1899 when the hall was being redecorated. He received the commission based on the recommendation of William Silver Frith and was paid around 600 guineas for each statue.

The third statue was for Sheffield and was a complex, larger than life-size, composition with figures of a mother and her children and a Sheffield workman. It was originally erected in 1905 at Fargate, but was moved to Sheffield's Endcliffe Park. The mother and workman are depicted in Maternity and Labour, both shown at The Royal Academy in 1904. The statue has reliefs representing Courage, in the form of a Crusader, with Justice and Truth. Another includes images of the Queen and St George. He produced three bas-reliefs in Portland stone, illustrating a quotation from Psalm 72-"Defend the children of the poor. Punish the wrong-doer". The reliefs are positioned inside the main entrance. The panel on the left side features an angel, her sword drawn to protect a woman and her children (the defence of the children of the poor) and that on the right shows a warrior who has slain a dragon and holds a severed head (punishing the wrongdoer). At his side a woman holds his shield. In the central panel another angel holds a globe and points downwards towards the building's main entrance. She is flanked by "Spring", who sews seed from a basket and "Autumn" who holds a sickle and a sheaf of wheat. Turner also designed some metal grills for New Sessions House (leaf-like clouds, a sun burst and a nude infant crowned by child angels).

Other works

Cycle of Life, a bronze panel exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1913. Psyche, a marble statue dating from 1918 to 1919 was purchased in 1921 by the President and Council of the Royal Academy under the terms of the Chantrey Bequest and is now in Tate Britain. The Hand, 1936, Tate Britain, purchased by the administrators of the Chantrey Bequest. St George sculpture, whereabouts unknown, cast for use as a mascot for Lord Dureen's Rolls-Royce in 1927 Mother and Child, 1936, given to the Victoria & Albert Museum by Miss Jessica Turner, one of Turner's daughters. Turner sculpted the King Edward VII Memorial at Lyalipur in India, modern-day Faisalabad in Pakistan. It is not known if the work is still there.