Early Life, Family and Training In a house on Maiden Lane, within the busy Covent Garden district of London, Joseph Mallord William Turner entered the world. His beginnings were rooted in the practical trades of the city; his father, William Turner, worked as a barber and wigmaker. This domestic setting was also a place of commerce, as William served as an art dealer, providing a young boy with an early, unforced proximity to the worl…