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Charles Turner (engineer)

Mechanical and civil engineer, engineering administrator and consultant (1901-1994)

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 31, 2025
Entity authorityQ5083580 ↗
Source-derived summary

Charles William Oakey Turner (27 January 1901 – 18 May 1994) was a notable New Zealand mechanical and civil engineer, engineering administrator and consultant. He was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1901.

In 1953, Turner was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. In the 1963 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the Imperial Service Order.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Charles Turner (engineer)” as mechanical and civil engineer, engineering administrator and consultant (1901-1994). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Charles, Turner and engineer.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1901, 1994, 1953, 1963—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1901-01-27. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Charles, Turner and engineer providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Charles Turner (engineer)”, the useful work is to connect “mechanical and civil engineer, engineering administrator and consultant (1901-1994)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 31, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5083580. VIAF identifies the subject as 76030614. The Library of Congress control number is no2004071685. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1901, 1994, 1953 and 1963.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Charles Turner (engineer)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Charles Turner (engineer) primary sources, Charles Turner (engineer) archive and Charles research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Charles Turner (engineer)”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Charles Turner (engineer)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.