TURNER, Samuel. Gloucestershire 19.4.1759 (hardly 1749) — London 2.1.1802. British Colonial Officer in India, a Traveller and Diplomat. “Connected with Warren Hastings; entered the military service of the E.I.Co., 1780, and was Captain in 1799. Was sent by Warren Hastings on an embassy to Tibet, from Jan. 1783 to March 1784; he travelled through Tassisudon, Bhutan, to Tashilhunpo, near Shigatze, Terpaling, and back to Punakha in Bhutan. The object of the Mission was to offer congratulations on the incarnation of the young Teshu Lama and to continue friendly relations with the Tibet Government. Turner was subsequently at Cornwallis’ siege of Seringapatam in 1792, and was afterwards deputed as Ambassador to Mysore; for his conduct, he was rewarded by the E.I.Co.” In Tibet he was accompanied by —> Samuel Davis. Retired and returned to England around 1800. F.R.S. January 1801, in December seized with a paralytic stroke and died soon. Unmarried.
Publications: “An Account of his Interview with Teshoo Lama at the Monastery of Terpaling”, As. Res. 1, 1789, 8° ed. 1798, 196-205; “An Account of a Journey to Tibet”, As. Res. 1, 1789, 8° ed. 1798, 206-220; “Description of the Yak of Tartary, called Soora-Goy, or the Bushy-tailed Bull of Tibet ”, ʼAs. Res. 4, 1795, 351ff., 8° ed. 1799, 365-367.
– Account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet containing a narrative of a journey through Bootan, and part of Tibet. 28+475 p. L. 1800.
Sources: Buckland, Dictionary; *L. Petech, “The Missions of Bogle and Turner According to Tibetan Texts”, T’oung Pao 39, 1949, 330-346 (344f. on T.); S[tephen] W[heeler], D.N.B. 57, 1899, 354f.; Wikipedia.
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