Thomas Turner (diarist)

[2] Little is known about Turner's schooling, but his clear handwriting, practical mathematical abilities and wide intellectual interests suggest a reasonable level of education.

[2] On 16 January 1755 Turner wrote that "This morning about 1 o'clock I had the misfortune to lose my little boy Peter, aged 21 weeks, 3 days.

The diary served a number of purposes, including as an accounting book, a record of legal and property dealings, a place for religious reflection and as a means of describing Turner's everyday life.

[2] As well as religious texts, he read works by William Shakespeare, John Locke, Joseph Addison and Samuel Richardson, among many others.

[2] The edition also includes a family tree, short biographies of the diary's major characters and a list of Turner's reading material mentioned in Vaisey's extracts.

[5] The periodical Sussex Archaeological Collections printed some excerpts from the diary in 1859: the text is now in the public domain, and can be read online.

[7] Vaisey's edition of the diary also cites several documents in the East Sussex Record Office, such as account books and bastardy bonds, which were entirely written by Turner.