Lindsay Robert Turner was born on 22 April 1887 to parents Henry Allcard and Mary Elizabeth Turner (nee Gamlin), at Bairnsdale, Victoria. He was educated at Bairnsdale Primary School and St Andrew's College, Bairnsdale. He then studied law at the University of Melbourne, and began work as a barrister and solicitor. Turner enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 1 May 1916, aged 29. He was appointed to the Field Artillery Brigade, 28th reinforcements on 29 May 1916. He was soon commissioned as an officer, becoming appointed as second lieutenant on 1 March 1917.
Turner embarked from Melbourne on 9 November 1917 on HMAT Port Sydney. After training at Salisbury Plains, England, he joined the 5th Division Artillery in France in April 1918. He was later posted to 53rd Battery, 14th Field Artillery Brigade. Turner saw action on a number of battlefields of France, including at Villers-Bretonneux, Morlancourt, Amiens, Peronne and the Hindenburg Line.
On 25 October 1918, Turner was injured by a gunshot wound to the face, which also fractured his jaw. He was transferred out of the field admitted to the 3rd London General Hospital. He was transferred to Grove Military Hospital, London on 1 March 1919. Turner returned to Australia on 16 March 1919.
Lindsay Robert Turner married Gladys Estelle Fraser on 8 October 1919 at Scots Church, Melbourne. They had three children, Lindsay David, Colin Grant and Barbara Estelle. Both of their sons served in the Second World War. Turner progressively built up a successful firm of solicitors, known as Shaw and Turner. He and his wife acquired the dairy farm "Westerfolds" on the Yarra River at Templestowe in 1936. The property remained in the family until it was sold in 1969.
Lindsay Robert Turner died on 22 August 1964 at Mitcham Private Hospital, Melbourne.