F. G. Turnbull

F. G. Turnbull was born in Edinburgh but grew up in rural areas, hence his love and fascination of nature. As a young man he worked in mechanical engineering and successfully patented several pieces of machinery. In later years Turnbull was a partner in a commercial beekeeping enterprise.

He specialised in writing stories about the wild animals of the British Isles. He had a beautiful writing style, often reaching great heights of imagination in his colourful, exciting stories. Some of the best were collected in Kallee and other stories (1947).

He contributed 194 tales to the Evening News between 1934 and 1968. In addition to his Evening News work, Turnbull's stories regularly appeared in magazines such as Cornhill, Zoo, Argosy, The Star and the juvenile periodicals Boy's Own Paper and Look and Learn.

I know nothing about Turnbull himself. I wonder if he was related in any way to Frederick Gower Turnbull, the author of Remember Me to Everybody: Letters from India, 1944-1949 (West Meadow Press, 1997), the husband of Merlyn Ann Hoyle who died in Calcutta, India, on 26 February 1949.

PUBLICATIONS

Collections
Kallee and other stories, illus. Lunt Roberts. London, Sampson Low, Marston & Co., 1947.