Not quite sure how to reply 'direct' - is there a facility for that on this site? (I'm a new user, too). William Turner had at least three daughters - Sarah, who married William Palmer, a timber merchant in Hanley and had several children, and Elizabeth and Harriet who died young and presumably unmarried. In her will Mary Ann left £100 to erect a monument to 'my two dead sisters' in Longton parish church. Unfortunately, that church was demolished in 1960 and I am still waiting to hear whether the monument was relocated or not. Mary Ann left most of her money (just under £3000) to Sarah Palmer. I didn't know about the sons who died - does that information come from the Hillier book (in which case I missed it) or elsewhere? When exactly did it happen?
You might find a recent book 'A History of Longton' by JHY Briggs useful - there's quite a lot in it about the Turners. As to them living in a poor part of town - it was certainly a slum area in the mid 20th century but I don't think it was at the beginning of the 19th. They were a highly respectable family - William was an officer in the Yeomanry (which was a sort of Home Guard organisation), not a rank he would have achieved otherwise. And sons from poor families certainly didn't go yachting in the Mediterranean. That is why I am curious about Mary Ann. Respectable young women did not normally work, even in well paid occupations. (And yes, she was quite well educated. Matrons had to write reports and keep meticulous accounts) Admittedly her father had 'gone bankrupt' - though I think that meant something slightly different in 1806 as he still continued to run a business (with another 'bankruptcy sale' in 1812) until 1829. The Mary Ann whose family I am describing is definitely yours (on her death certificate she is described as 'daughter of William Turner potter of Lane End) and I am 99% certain she is the Mary Ann of the Lunatic Asylum (who was certainly born in Lane End). However, I have yet to discover exactly when she was born as there is 5 year discrepancy in the age given on her birth certificate and the age she gave the census enumerators in 1841,1851,1861 and 1871 - though they are obviously the same person because the addresses tally. I am going over to Staffordshire later in the week and if I turn up anything new I will let you know. Meanwhile, I'd be grateful for anything else you can tell me.
