Matthew Turner (died 1788), a Liverpool physician, is considered (for example by Berman, 1990) to be the author or co-author of the 1782 pamphlet, Answer to Dr. Priestley's Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, the first published work of avowed atheism in Britain.[1] Turner was also a pioneer in the use of ether for medical purposes, and wrote a pamphlet on the subject. In a footnote, Turner was the man who introduced Josiah Wedgwood to Thomas Bentley in Liverpool, a friendship which led to the formation of the company that produced the famous pottery.
Turner was a friend of Peter Perez Burdett and his scientific knowledge was referred to Joseph Wright of Derby when he constructed his painting of The Alchemist Discovering Phosphorus in 1771[2] which is now in Derby Museum and Art Gallery.