John Turner (2)

Biography

John Turner (1 March 1800 – 2 March 1883) was an English draper, landlord, and moneylender, whose behaviour led to his reputation as a miser. By hard work and self-denial, Turner rose from being a smallholder's son to the position of a draper's assistant and eventually to that of shop owner. He frequently worked shifts that could begin early in the morning on one day end past midnight on the next. He eventually became a rich property owner and sought-after lender to the moneyed residents and visitors of Harrogate. However, his pecunious personal habits drew the attention of local people, who saw him pay in full for buildings and land, but deny himself and his family the comforts of life, and hoard and recycle waste material to make pennies, alongside the great profits he made in his primary occupations. In the year following Turner's death, a biography comparing him to the miser Daniel Dancer was printed and copied in the British press. A revised and updated version of his biography by Harrogate historian Stephen Abbott was printed in two of his books, and a shorter commentary appeared in The Harrogate Advertiser in the 21st century. A stone memorial to Turner stands in Grove Road Cemetery, Harrogate.

Bio from Wikipedia