John Turner

John Turner (1563 – winter of 1620/21) was a passenger, along with his two sons, on the 1620 voyage of the historic Pilgrim ship the Mayflower. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact and perished, that first winter.

English Origins Very little is known about his life in England, especially his origins. It is believed he may have come from Great Yarmouth in co. Norfolk, where there were several Turner families.

He was of the Separatist church and is known to have lived in Leiden in 1610 and later with the record of him of September 27, 1610 in that city when he guaranteed the citizenship of Peter Boey and William Lisle. Turner was referred to as being a merchant during his time in Holland.

Turner was involved in the Holland-England trade and in that capacity often carried letters between those Leideners in London and Holland. Records indicate that on June 10, 1620, John Turner did deliver a letter from the Leiden congregation to Robert Cushman, their chief agent in London. A few days later Turner returned to Leiden with letters as well as first-hand information from Cushman.

On the Mayflower Per William Bradford, John Turner traveled on the Mayflower accompanied by his two sons, Edward Aaron Turner and unknown.

On November 9/19, 1620, after about 3 months at sea, including a month of delays in England, they spotted land, which was the Cape Cod Hook, now called Provincetown Harbor. After several days of trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, where they anchored on November 11/21.

In addition to his two sons, John Turner also had a daughter Elizabeth, who apparently remained in Leiden after the Mayflower sailed. Elizabeth Turner later came to New England sometime before October 1635.

Death and burial Nothing is known of the dates of death of John Turner and his sons, other than they died sometime in the winter of 1620/21. John Turner was buried in Cole's Hill Burial Ground in Plymouth, presumably in an unmarked grave as with most Mayflower passengers who died in that first winter. His sons may have also been buried in Cole's Hill Burial Ground. They are all memorialized on the Pilgrim Memorial Tomb on Cole's Hill as "John Turner and two sons."