William Turner (Bishop of Salford)

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For other persons named William Turner, see William Turner (disambiguation).

William Turner (1799-1872) was the first Bishop of Salford, a Roman Catholic diocese in the north-west of England.

Before 1850 he was the Vicar General for the Hundreds of Salford and Blackburn, and when these areas were formed into the Salford Diocese, he became its first bishop in 1851. As the new Bishop, Turner had to manage the influx of hundreds of Irish, who had fled the potato famines - increasing the Catholic population quite considerably. This problem was added to by the deaths of a tenth of the priests of the Diocese from fever contracted while tending to the sick. Many volunteer priests came from around the world to help, but the deaths of so many put a huge strain on the Bishop and his diocese. These problems were followed by the Cotton Famine, which caused even more strain.

Nevertheless, Turner was able to create the basis of the network of parishes and schools. Two religious congregations, the Sisters of the Cross and Passion and the Franciscan Missionaries of St Joseph (the Rescue Nuns) were also founded in the diocese during this time.

Turner died in office on 13th July 1872, and was succeeded by Herbert Vaughan.

Turner was the Great Uncle of Fr Frederick Turner SJ.