William Turner (1509-1568) was an English physician & a natural historian. He has been called "The father of English botany." He studied medicine in Italy. He was an early herbalist & ornithologist. He is known as being one of the first "parson-naturalists" in England. He first published Libellus de Re herbaria in Latin in 1538, & later translated it into English because he believed herbalists were not sharing their knowledge. In addition to being a botanist, he was also a Protestant Theologian and a physician. He was the first Englishman to study plants scientifically, having spent considerable time in Europe due to Protestant persecutions.
Turner was born in Morpeth, Northumberland, in or around 1508. His father was probably a tanner of the same name. He studied at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge University, from 1526 to 1533, where he received his B.A. in 1530 & his M.A. in 1533. He was a Fellow & Senior Treasurer of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. While at Cambridge he published several works, including Libellus de re herbaria, in 1538. He spent much of his leisure in the careful study of plants which he sought for in their native habitat, & described with an accuracy hitherto unknown in England. His A New Herball was the first English herbal to include original material. An extended version of the Libellus entitled The Names of Herbes (1548) was written in English, containing German and French synonyms, and included unorthodox and vivid original observations.
He printed several religious books supporting Protestantism, which were popular in England, resulting in their outright ban during Henry VIII’s reign. His works were again declared heretical during reign of Queen Mary in 1555 and many were burned. From 1553 to 1558, he lived in Weißenburg in Bayern supporting himself as a physician.
Turner’s fervent Protestant religious beliefs led to several periods of exile to the European continent, during which he studied with & met numerous naturalists & learned about contemporary discoveries in botany. Turner’s A New Herball (in three parts; 1551–68), demonstrated his medical bias. He chose to write in English, the vernacular language, so that practical botanical & medical knowledge would be widely available to medical practitioners & apothecaries.
In 1540, he began traveling about preaching until he was arrested. After his release, he went on to study medicine in Italy, at Ferrara & Bologna, from 1540 to 1542 & was incorporated M.D. at one of these universities. He married Jane Auder who gave birth to a son Peter in 1542.
With ascension of Queen Elizabeth, he returned to England. He printed several smaller botanical works, one outlining specific locations for herbs in England (a first of its kind). His major botanical contribution, A New Herbal, was printed in three parts. Part 1 in 1551 in London, part 2 in Cologne in 1561 during his forced exile, and 1568 with all three parts again in Cologne. The illustrations for Turner’s herbal were reprints from German botanist Leonhart Fuchs (as was the case for most 16th century hebals). Turner borrowed the woodblocks for his herbal (over 400 blocks in final herbal edition). The complete edition is dedicated to Queen Elizabeth – Turner apparently had occasion to converse with Elizabeth in Latin and spoke effusively of her mastery of the language.
After completing his medical degree, he became physician to the Earl of Emden. Back in England he became Chaplain & physician to the Duke of Somerset, & through Somerset's influence he obtained ecclesiastical preferment. The position as Somerset's physician also led to practice among upper society. He was Dean of Wells Cathedral from 1551 to 1553, where he established a Herbal garden.
