The Interior of The Fives Court

Charles Turner was born at Woodstock, Oxfordshire on 31 August 1774, the son of a collector of excise who shortly afterwards lost his appointment. As a young man, Turner moved to London where he was employed by the print publisher Boydell, and was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in 1795 as an engraver. By 1807, he was engraving and publishing work from his house at 50 Warren Street, Fitzroy Square. His skill and draughtsmanship were recognised by his namesake, J.M.W. Turner, and from 1807 until 1809 he engraved the first twenty plates of the latter’s Liber Studiorum. He was an industrious and immensely successful and respected engraver, particularly for his portrait work in mezzotint. Becoming known in society, he was appointed engraver to George III in 1812, and elected an Associate of the Academy in 1828. He lived at Warren Street for many years, where he died in August 1857.