| Activity | After a somewhat slow start as an assistant at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, Turrill's career accelerated after his war service assignment left him an opportunity to gain a superior knowledge of the plant life of the Balkan Peninsula (the experience led both to his Ph.D. dissertation and his best known book the following year). At Kew Turrill was an inventive force, greatly expanding the herbarium collections, initiating facilities for experimental work, and setting up a seed collection and specialized herbaria. His own research focused on genetics and ecology, and yielded a steady stream of writings of both a technical and popular nature.
1909 Hired as a temporary assistant in the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, became permanent assistant 1914. Served in the Royal Army Medical Corps 1916 - 1918, returned to Kew afterwards. 1918 - 1939 gave evening classes at Chelsea Polytechnic. Made keeper of the Herbarium and Library at Kew 1946, retired from this post 1957. Editor of 'Botanical Magazine 1948 - 1961. 1950 - 1951 president of the British Ecological Society. 1953 receives the Veitch memorial gold medal of the Royal Horticultural Society. 1955 receives OBE, 1958 receives the Linnean Society's Gold Medal. 1958 vice-president of the Linnean Society. 1958 made a fellow of the Royal Society |