Maria Turner

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Maria Turner, (also Great Aunt Maria or The GA,) is a fictional character in the Swallows and Amazons series of books by Arthur Ransome. She was the childhood guardian of James Turner ("Jim") and Mary Turner ("Molly", sometimes "Mops"), whose parents were never named. Jim and Molly addressed her as "Aunt Maria" and she held considerable sway as head of the family, even after Molly's marriage to Bob Blackett.

As a parent figure to their mother, Great Aunt Maria clearly thought of herself as something of a grandmother-figure to her great nieces Nancy and Peggy Blackett. However, their view of her as some sort of distant relative, as well as an overprotective adventure-spoiler, forms the basis of the conflict between them and her. Of the twelve completed books in the series, she makes appearances in two, Swallowdale and The Picts And The Martyrs.