Robert Turner, Province of West Jersey

a prominent
Irish Quaker, and one of the wealthiest men in
the Province, was the son of Robert and Mary
Turner,^ of Royston, Hertfordshire, and was born
8 Mo., 1635, in Cambridge, England.

We first
hear of him as a Quaker in Ireland about 1657;
Rutty^ states that about this year he was "instru-
mental to the convincement of a few [Friends]
who lived at Grange, near Charlemont [County
Armagh], in the province of Ulster

In 1658,
according to Joseph Smith, he issued a book in
behalf of the Friends called Truths Defense, etc.*
In the pamphlet "To the Parliament of Eng-
land ... A Narrative of the Cruel and Unjust
Sufferings of the People of God of the Nation of Ireland, Called Quakers"

in
1659, is this entry concerning Robert Turner:

Kob. Turner, for speaking a few words in the Steeple house at Battdon,
(after the Priest had done) had his Hat taken away, and was beaten :
And for speaking a few words in the Steeple-house at Dublin, was very
much abused, and had his coat taken from him in the said place, and not
restored to him again : And for asking a Question of a Priest in Dublin,
was sent to Hridewell (Bridewell?), and after kept three months in prison, was put into
a Cell or Dungeon, a very noisome place, graves being over his head, and
under his feet : And being in a meeting at Londonderry, was violently
haled thereout, and drawn along the street by the Arms and Legs, (the
Mayor of that City then present, and helped with his own hands) and put
him out of the said town ; and two dayes after hailed him as before, and
one with a Knife in his hand, threatened to cut off his Members, and turned
him out again, and tyed him back and legs on a Horses bare back, with a
haire rope, and led him about as their sport, at their pleasure.

"In 1660 and also in 1661, for attending Quaker
meetings in Dublin, Robert Turner was committed
to Newgate ; and in 1662 for the same offense was
sent to Bridewell." (Myers) op. cit.