The Reverend Turner was sent to Papua in 1902 by the London Missionary Society, and worked both in the mission field and in Lawes College, Isuleilei, until his retirement in 1939.

The papers consist of the following.

(i) Typescripts with manuscript corrections, undated, of four lectures on the ethnology of Papua. The fourth lecture concerns the history of the London Missionary Society in Papua. Two pages are missing at the beginning of the third lecture. (Folio 1.)

(ii) Typescript, undated, of an article 'Taking up the collection in Papua'. (Folio 94.)

(iii) Typescript, undated, of an article 'A visit to the home of the gods' by Edith E Turner, intended for publication in the ‘Chronicle of the London Missionary Society’. (Folio 97.)

(iv) Letters, 1910-1939, of Edith and Robert Turner, describing life in Papua. (Folio 107.)

(v) Miscellaneous items, including a typed extract of Turner's journal for 1932, and some biographical notes concerning him. (Folio 140.)