He was one of the Cambridge Seven, seven young men from England that travelled to China in order to continue Hudson Taylor's missionary work there.

[2] In November 1882, Polhill-Turner was deeply moved by the American evangelist Dwight L. Moody’s talks to Trinity students.

He was the first of the Cambridge Seven to have the inkling that China was for him, and soon after his decision to follow Christ he began to pursue this desire with intensity, convincing a few of the others to join him.

In 1885 he and his brother, Cecil Polhill, became affiliated with the China Inland Mission (CIM).

[4] Together with Montagu Proctor-Beauchamp and William Cassels, the three established a proper Church of England diocese in Szechwan.