James Turner

James Turner (1726-1780) came from Bacup to the Baptist congregation at Cannon Street in Birmingham in 1755, and was ordained there that year. At that time, the church numbered about 40 members, but under Turner’s ministry the church greatly prospered, and in 1763 the chapel was enlarged, with another enlargement set to begin at about the time of his death in 1780, when membership was over 150. The tablet erected in his memory in the church notes that “he was a clear, judicious, acceptable, and successful preacher and he was a defender of all the doctrines of the everlasting Gospel.” Henry Taylor succeeded Turner in 1782. Taylor was followed by Samuel Pearce in 1789. For more on Turner, see J. E. Hale, Cannon Street Baptist Church, Birmingham. Its History from 1737 to 1880 (London: n.p., 1880).