While 2025 undoubtedly marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of JMW Turner, the exact date on which the artist was born is still a matter of some debate.
Recently, at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, the chair of the Turner Society and the museum’s curator emeritus, Pieter van der Merwe, explained that although Turner—notoriously shifty about his origins and activities—claimed his birth was on 23 April, along with William Shakespeare, there was no record of this. The only certain date was his baptism on 14 May 1775 at St Paul’s Church Covent Garden, just around the corner from his birthplace at 21 Maiden Lane.
However, even this is complicated. Early engravings actually show the building on the other side of the narrow street.
The real site is now occupied by the Porterhouse pub, which has joined Turner’s birthday celebrations with gusto, commissioning a 10 foot square mural map of Turner’s London from Adam Dant, which the artist unveiled as van der Merwe hung a splendid wreath on the wall.
The pub has also created a limited edition Mr Turner’s Porter—the great man fortified his genius on quantities of porter and cheese—and readers can claim a free sample by following a walking trail version of Dant’s map and uploading, tagging and producing photographic evidence at the bar. Birthday or not, we’ll drink to that.
