Matthew Turner was a well to do printer who lived in Beverley
He died in1856 and his grave is in Coronation Gardens in Beverley. He guarded jealously some of the town’s privileges and often criticised the Town Council when he considered they did not spend the taxpayer’s money correctly.
He left several investments and decreed the income from one of these investments should be used to reward ladies in domestic service. They had to be of good character, ‘live-in” at their place of employment, which had to be within eight miles of the Guildhall, Beverley and have worked for the same family for ten years or more.
This began the Turner Trust, with the first Trustees, including Henry Edward Silvester (Mayor of Beverley) and Rev John Birtwhistle (Vicar of Beverley Minster). In their first year, working with capital of £800 they were able to grant awards totalling £718.