• Name: Turner, Joseph Mallord William
• Gender: Male
• Birth Date: 23  April  1775
• Death Date: 19  December  1851
• Occupation: painter

According to St Clair, in 1830, when Godwin was 74, he ‘took tea with the painter John Martin and struck up a remarkable friendship. Martin invited him to dinner nearly every week and was to introduce him to most of the artists of the day including Turner, Wilkie, and Landseer’.

See, in addition, the manuscript sheets in Godwin’s hand dated from 23 Sept 1806, written to a child, recalling their walk in the country. The diary records him as writing First impressions. The piece is clearly partly fictional – it refers to walking in the churchyard where they find the grave of Anne – who is described as having been the child’s senior by a year. The piece becomes an account of the nature of spirit – or god. It refers to 'your little brother Henry'. But it also talks about artists including a reference to Mr Turner, 'with whom we dined at Mr Nicols the other day.' Although this implies that Godwin met Turner in or before 1806, there is no plausible instance, and there is also no entry for Nichols at which a Turner is present, suggesting that this is an entirely fictional device.

There's a W. Turner post-Milton Gallery in 1800 w/ Fuseli, Opie, Northcote, West, Lawrence, W. Turner, and Bannister, which has been coded as a probable attribution.

• MS. Abinger c. 24, fols. 20-31: 23 Sept 1806.
• DNB.
• St Clair, p. 478.

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.