Ralph Lilley Turner

THE GURKHA
SOLDIER
Bravest of the brave,
most generous of the generous,
never had country
more faithful friends
than you.
Professor Sir Ralph Turner MC

Sir Ralph Lilley Turner MC (5 October 1888 – 22 April 1983) was an English Indian languages philologist and university administrator. He is notable for composing an Indo-Aryan comparative dictionary. He is also the author of some publications concerning the Romani language.

Early life and education

Turner was born in Charlton, London, the son of Bertha (Lilley) and George S. Turner. He was educated at the Perse School and Christ's College, Cambridge.

Career

In 1913, he joined the Indian Educational Service as a lecturer at Queen's College, Benares. From 1915 to 1919, he served with the 2nd/3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles, winning the Military Cross in Palestine. From 1920 to 1922, he was Professor of Indian Linguistics at Benares Hindu University.

In 1922, Turner returned to England as Professor of Sanskrit at the School of Oriental Studies at the University of London. Between 1924 and 1932, he also published several papers on Romani Studies in the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, including "On the position of Romani in Indo-Aryan" (1927). He was director of the school from 1937 to 1957, although he continued to occupy his chair as well until 1954. He was knighted in 1950. His magnum opus, the Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan languages was published in 1966.

The British memorial in London to the Gurkhas was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 3 December 1997. The legend on the Gurkha memorial is taken from the following quotation written by Sir Ralph:

As I write these last words, my thoughts return to you who were my comrades, the stubborn and indomitable peasants of Nepal. Once more I hear the laughter with which you greeted every hardship. Once more I see you in your bivouacs or about your fires, on forced march or in the trenches, now shivering with wet and cold, now scorched by a pitiless and burning sun. Uncomplaining you endure hunger and thirst and wounds; and at the last your unwavering lines disappear into the smoke and wrath of battle. Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you.

Personal life

He was married to Dorothy Rivers Goulty. One of his grandchildren is Professor Geoffrey L. Smith, head of the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge.

Another grandchild of Ralph Turner is David Tee, who is in the current England 45+ indoor cricket team. Earlier in his career he had a successful few years for Hertfordshire, and toured the West Indies representing Great British colleges.

Through his daughter, Kathleen L. Turner, one of his great-grandchildren is actor Jeremy Irvine.

References

• Dictionary of National Biography
• Obituary: Sir Ralph Lilley Turner, Wright, J.C. & Cowan, C.D. (1984) Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. University of London. Vol. 47, No. 3. pp. 540–548.

Works

• A Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of the Nepali Language
• A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages