Joseph Turner (1701–1783) was a seaman, merchant, iron manufacturer, and politician in Philadelphia, where he served during the colonial era when the city was the capital of the Province of Pennsylvania, and following American independence, when it was the new nation's capital and largest and most influential city.
In January 1714, Turner left England with his parents for Philadelphia in British America.
In 1745, Abram Taylor was elected mayor of Philadelphia, then a non-paying office, but declined to serve, for which he was fined thirty pounds.
The Philadelphia city council then elected Turner to the office but he likewise refused it, for which he was similarly fined.
Turner was a member of Benjamin Franklin's Junto and of the Dancing Assembly of 1748.