Turner Street is the setting of two important events in Mary BartonI: Jem and Young Mr. Harry Carson's altercation in the bar as well as Harry's murder. The significance of this place is that it is key evidence that implicates Jem for the murder of Harry. While struck with the news of his son's death, Mr. Carson talks with a policeman that recounts the night that Jem and Harry fought: "But after your son had left, the man made use of some pretty strong threats. It is rather a curious coincidence that the scuffle took place in the very same spot where the murder was committed; in Turner Street" (274). The policeman interestingly takes the side of the Carson's even though it was Harry who threw the first punch and Jem who was defending himself. It shows favoritism towards middle and upper classes against the working class. Further favoirism is shown when Jem is charged for murder with nothing but circumstantial evidence, such as the location in common, even though he is an innocent man.

Gaskell, Elizabeth. “Chapter XVIII.” Mary Barton, edited by Jennifer Foster, Broadview Press Ltd., 2000, pp. 264–277.