She was born
Ethel Mary Burwell in Doncaster in England. Her father died when she was two, leaving her mother Sarah Jane Burwell with two daughters (Ethel and
Lillian). A year later, Sarah Jane married Henry Turner, who was 20 years older and had six children of his own. Sarah Jane and Henry had a daughter, Rose. Henry Turner died suddenly, leaving Sarah Jane with nine children and little income. In 1879 Sarah Jane moved to Australia with Ethel, Lillian, and Rose; within the next two years she married Charles Cope and gave birth to his son Rex. Turner was educated at Paddington, New South Wales Public School and
Sydney Girls High School—she was one of the school's original thirty-seven pupils. She started her writing career at eighteen, founding the
Parthenon, a journal for young people, with her sister Lillian. As '
Dame Durden' she wrote children's columns for the
Illustrated Sydney News and later for the
Australian Town and Country Journal. In 1891, the family moved to
Inglewood (now known as
Woodlands), a large house in
Lindfield, now
Killara, which was then out in the country.
Woodlands still stands today in Werona Avenue and is where she wrote
Seven Little Australians. In 1896 Ethel married
Herbert Curlewis, a lawyer. After living in Mosman, they built their own house overlooking Middle Harbour. The house, Avenel, is where Turner spent the rest of her years. She survived her daughter
Jean Curlewis, who died of tuberculosis, by 28 years. Jean was also a writer of children's books, although not as popular as her mother. Jean's works include
The Ship That Never Set Sail,
Drowning Maze, and
Beach Beyond (1923). Her son
Adrian was a
barrister, captain in
WW2 and a
Changi and
Thai-Burma Railway POW and later judge. Turner died at Mosman on 8 April 1958 at 85. She is buried at Macquarie Park Cemetery in Sydney's North. ==Career==