Charles Thomas Turvey was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, England on 24 March 1895 and he was baptised on 2 August that same year in St Peters Church, Cranley Gardens, Kensington. He was the son of William Christopher Turvey (1862-1943) and Hannah Raynham who were married in London in 1886. His father was a native of Paddington, London, but his mother's origins are not clear. She either died prior to 1906 or was separated from her husband.  In 1906 his father was remarried to Grace Davy (b. 1879 in Kensington).

Neither Charles or his father appear on the 1901 census. When the 1911 census was taken his father and step-mother are again absent, but Charles is listed at the home of his childless uncle and aunt Charles and Kate Rose Turvey of 42 Jermyn Street, St James, London. His profession was listed as a hotel page.

When he signed-on to the Titanic, on 6 April 1912, he gave his address as 1 Aspley Villa, Acton, this was an address common to several Gatti restaurant staff. Turvey's own address was 90 Cornwell Road, Bayswater, London. The Titanic was his first ship. As a member of the à la carte restaurant he was employed and therefore paid by Mr Gatti.

During the sinking eyewitness reports suggest that the largely Continental staff of the restaurant were herded together by various stewards and kept in their quarters; indeed, only three of the staff survived, two of whom were the women cashiers. Charles may, on the other hand, have been one of the handful of bellboys described by surviving seaman Humphries joking with passengers and enjoying a smoke up on deck.

Turvey died in the sinking. His body, if recovered, was never identified.

His father and stepmother later had a son nearly a year after Charles' death, whom they named Philip. A daughter named Margaret was born in 1917. They relocated to Kent where his father died in 1943 and his stepmother in 1966.