William John Robert Turpin was born in Plymouth, Devon in 1883. He was the son of John R Turpin (general labourer) and Mary Jane. They had married in about 1880 and were living in Commercial Street, Plymouth at the time of the 1881 census. Both were from Devon, John was originally of Plympton and Elizabeth from South Milton.
William appears to have been an only child and aged 8 at the time of the 1891 census he was living with his parents at 1 Friary Street in Plymouth.
Aged 18 in 1901 he was an apprentice carpenter, living with his parents at 1 Friary Street. He sometime later became a member of the local Masonic Lodge. At this point his father was described as a refuse foreman for the Plymouth City Corporation.
In 1908 William married Dorothy Anne Wonnacott in Plymouth, they lived at 59 Chaddlewood Road.
At some point the couple moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where William had obtained work as a carpenter. Returning to Plymouth for an extended holiday in August 1911 they spent time with their respective parents and other relatives. William’s parents were by then living in Beaumont Road.
For their return to America they were due to travel on the New York, but owing to the coal strike they were transferred to the Titanic. In the second class accommodation, their tickets had cost £21.
They were both lost in the sinking, William was aged 29. His body was not amongst those later recovered from the sea.