Born either in Derbyshire or in Suffolk, he has been identified as the George Turner who entered St. John's College, Cambridge as a sizar in November 1569.
The Dr. Turner who had dealings with Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland in the next decade has been thought possible as either of them.
[5] Considered a crypto-Catholic, Turner found that his theological opinions were in 1602 urged against his candidacy as an elect in the College of Physicians.
Sir John Stanhope and Robert Cecil wrote a letter of support, saying that his appointment would be pleasing to the queen, since there was no objection to him but his "backwardness in religion", which, Turner stated, was "in no way tainted for malice or practice against the state".
[2] Turner married Anne Norton (1576–1615), a figure of the poisoning case of Sir Thomas Overbury.