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[[File:Statue of George Palmer.jpg|thumb|Statue of George Palmer in [[Palmer Park, Reading]]]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = George Palmer
| image =
| alt =
| constituency_MP = [[South Essex (UK Parliament constituency)|South Essex]]
| parliament = United Kingdom
| term_start = 1836
| term_end = 1847
| predecessor = [[Robert Westley Hall-Dare]]
| successor = [[Sir Edward Buxton, 2nd Baronet]]

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1772|2|11}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1853|5|12|1772|2|11}}
| death_place = [[Nazeing Park]], [[Essex]], England
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| children = {{unbulleted list| [[George Palmer (Lieutenant Colonel)|George Palmer]] | [[William Palmer (barrister)|William Palmer]]}}
| relatives = [[Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne|Roundell Palmer]]
}}
'''George Palmer''' (1772–1853) was an English businessman, politician, and philanthropist.

==Early life==
Born on 11 February 1772, he was the eldest son of William Palmer (1748?–1821), a London merchant, descended from the Palmers of [[Wanlip]], [[Leicestershire]], and his wife Mary (born 1747),<ref name=odnb>{{cite web | title=Search Results for Palmer, George (1772–1853), merchant and philanthropist | website=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] | url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/search?q=Palmer%2C+George+%281772%E2%80%931853%29%2C+merchant+and+philanthropist|date=23 September 2004 | access-date=9 December 2020}}</ref> only daughter of John Horsley the rector of [[Thorley, Hertfordshire|Thorley]], [[Hertfordshire]], and sister of [[Samuel Horsley]]. [[John Horsley Palmer]] ([[Governor of the Bank of England]]),<ref name="DNB"/> William Jocelyn Palmer and Sir Ralph Palmer were younger brothers. He was a nephew of [[Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne]].<ref name=slaves>{{cite web | title=George Palmer: Profile & Legacies Summary| website=Legacies of British Slave-ownership | url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/10809 | access-date=8 December 2020}}</ref>

He was educated at [[Charterhouse School]].<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Palmer, George|volume=43}}</ref>

==Naval service==
After leaving school, he entered the [[naval]] service of the [[East India Company]]<ref name="DNB"/> at the age of 14.<ref name=commons>{{cite web | title=MP of the Month: George Palmer, a 'firm friend of the shipwrecked' | website=The Victorian Commons | date=22 October 2014 | url=https://victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/mp-of-the-month-george-palmer-a-firm-friend-of-the-shipwrecked/ | access-date=8 December 2020}}</ref>

Palmer made his first voyage in the ''[[Carnatic (1787 EIC ship)|Carnatic]]'' in 1786.<ref name="DNB"/> Commander of the ''[[Boddam (1787 EIC ship)|Boddam]]'' in 1796,<ref>{{cite web | title=Palmer, George (1772-1853), commander of East India Company ship Boddam, businessman and politician | website=The National Archives | url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F284191 | access-date=8 December 2020}}</ref> he received a complimentary letter from the court of directors for his conduct in an encounter with four French [[frigate]]s. His last voyage was made in 1799,<ref name="DNB"/> after which he resigned owing to ill-health.<ref name=commons/>

==In business==
In 1802 Palmer entered into partnership with his father and brother, Horsley Palmer, and Captain Wilson, as East India Company merchants and shipowners at 28 [[Throgmorton Street]], London.<ref name="DNB"/> In 1831 he was master of the [[Mercers' Company]],<ref name=adams/> and 1832 he was elected chairman of the General Shipowners' Society,<ref name="DNB"/>

He and his brothers had property interests in [[Grenada]], which used [[Slavery in Britain|slaves]] on their Springs, Mount Aire and Upper Latante estates.<ref name=slaves/>

==New Zealand Company==
{{Further|New Zealand Company}}
Palmer was on the founding board of the [[New Zealand Company]] in 1825, which was the earliest organised attempt to colonise New Zealand. The board included chair [[John George Lambton]] [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] and later 1st [[Earl of Durham]]), political economist[[Robert Torrens (economist)|Robert Torrens snr]], [[Edward Ellice (merchant)|Edward Ellice]], [[Edward Littleton, 1st Baron Hatherton]], and others, including other [[East India Company]] merchants.<ref name=wcl>{{cite book|title=The Rosanna Settlers: with Captain Herd on the coast of New Zealand 1826-7|first= Hilda |last=McDonnell |date=2002|chapter=Chapter 3: The New Zealand Company of 1825| website=Wellington City Libraries | chapter-url=https://www.wcl.govt.nz/heritage/rosannachap3.html | access-date=7 December 2020|quote=including Thomas Shepherd's Journal and his coastal views, The NZ Company of 1825.|url=https://www.wcl.govt.nz/heritage/rosannaintro.html)}}</ref><ref name=adams>{{cite book | last=Adams | first=Peter | title=Fatal Necessity: British Intervention in New Zealand, 1830–1847 | publisher=Bridget Williams Books | series=BWB e-Book | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-927277-19-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FoRhAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA197 | access-date=7 December 2020 | page=197|quote=...first published in 1977.}}</ref><ref name=wakefield>{{cite book | last=Wakefield | first=Edward Jerningham |author-link=Edward Jerningham Wakefield | title=Adventure in New Zealand, from 1839 to 1844: With Some Account of the Beginning of the British Colonization of the Islands | publisher=John Murray | series=Adventure in New Zealand | issue=v. 1 | year=1845 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PltFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4 | access-date=7 December 2020 | page=4|quote=Digitised 22 July 2009}}</ref>

==National Lifeboat Institution==
In 1788 a near-drowning near [[Macao]]<ref name=commons/> directed his attention to the equilibrium of boats, and the means of preventing them from sinking. He first became connected with the recently founded [[Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck]] (now Royal National Lifeboat Institution) in 1826, and his plan of fitting [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]] was adopted. He designed a new lifeboat, built in the shape of a [[whaleboat]], narrow and pointed at both ends, with special pockets of air built in for [[buoyancy]], which was officially adopted by the Institution in 1828.<ref name=commons/> The design was used for [[Lifeboat (rescue)|rescue lifeboats]] placed by the Institution at more than twenty ports, and was used until 1858, when it was superseded by the system of [[Capsizing#Self-righting|self-righting]] lifeboats.<ref name="DNB"/>

Palmer was deputy chairman of the society for over 25 years, and required his own ships to go to sea with the means of saving life.<ref name="DNB"/> His role was crucial in getting [[Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland]] appointed as president of the Institution (an office he held from 1851 to 1865, during which he undertook a reorganisation<ref name=northumberland>{{cite journal |publisher=[[Royal National Lifeboat Institution]] | title=The Duke of Northumberland, K.G. |date= September 1930|volume= 28|issue=303| journal= [[The Lifeboat]]| others=Lifeboat Magazine Archive|url=https://lifeboatmagazinearchive.rnli.org/volume/28/303/the-duke-of-northumberland-kg?searchterm=royal+family&page=181 | access-date=8 December 2020}}</ref>). In February 1853 he resigned his office, when the committee voted him the Gold Medal. In September 2008 this Gold Medal, with unique [[pendant]] in the shape of a lifeboat, was sold at auction for £3,200.<ref name=commons/>

==Public life==
Palmer served as [[Sheriff of Hertfordshire]] in 1818. In 1821 he held the office of master of the [[Mercers' Company]], and in that capacity he attended the Lord Mayor at the coronation of [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] on 19 July 1821.<ref name="DNB"/>

In 1832, when {{constlk|South Shields}} became a [[parliamentary borough]], Palmer was a candidate for the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], but was not elected.<ref name="DNB"/> After winning an 1836 [[by-election]] for [[South Essex (UK Parliament constituency)|South Essex]], Palmer raised the matter of deaths at sea caused by [[shipwreck]]s, in [[UK Parliament|Parliament]]. In April 1839, He chaired a [[Select committee (United Kingdom)|select committee]] looking at the regulation of [[timber ship|timber trading ships]] crossing the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to [[British North America]]. The resulting report led to the recommendation that these ships should be barred from carrying loads on their [[deck (ship)|deck]]s. As the Timber Ships Bill, it was discussed first in the [[House of Commons|Commons]] (2nd reading, July 1839)<ref>{{cite web | title=Timber Ships. (Hansard, 17 July 1839) | website=api.parliament.uk | url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1839/jul/17/timber-ships#S3V0049P0_18390717_HOC_27 | access-date=8 December 2020}}</ref> and then the [[House of Lords]] (July 1840).<ref name="api.parliament.uk">{{cite web | title=Timber Ships. (Hansard, 10 July 1840) | website=api.parliament.uk | url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1840/jul/10/timber-ships#S3V0055P0_18400710_HOL_2 | access-date=8 December 2020}}</ref> Changes were first introduced in the [[List of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 1840–1859|Timber Ships, British North America Act 1840, then the Timber Ships, America Act 1842, and then finally the Timber Ships Act 1845]], which expanded and finalised legislation which prohibited timber ships from carrying cargo on deck.<ref name=commons/>

Although he had not had experience in agriculture, he vowed to his constituents that he would defend the [[Corn Laws]], and publicly rebuked the Prime Minister [[Robert Peel]] when he repealed them.<ref name=commons/>

Palmer sat in Parliament from 1836 to 1847, successful in three strongly-contested elections.<ref name="DNB"/>

==Death==
Palmer died at [[Nazeing#Nazeing Park|Nazeing Park]], [[Essex]], on 12 May 1853.<ref name="DNB"/>

==Works==
Palmer was the author of ''Memoir of a Chart from the [[Alas Strait|Strait of Allass]] to the Island [[Buru|Bouro]]'', 1799, and of ''A New Plan for fitting all Boats so that they may be secure as Life Boats at the shortest notice'', 1828.<ref name="DNB"/>

==Family==
Palmer married, on 29 December 1795, Anna Maria, daughter of William Bund of [[Wick, Worcestershire]], who died on 13 October 1856. They had five children:<ref name="DNB"/>

*[[George Palmer (Lieutenant Colonel)|George]] (23 July 1799 – 1883), a [[South Australian Colonisation Commission]]er and lieutenant colonel in the [[Essex Yeomanry]];
* [[William Palmer (barrister)|William]], [[Gresham Professor of Law]];
* Francis, born 17 September 1810, also a barrister, 5 May 1837;
*Anna Maria, who died young; and
* Elizabeth, who, in 1830, married [[Robert Biddulph (MP)|Robert Biddulph]], M.P.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

'''Attribution'''

{{DNB|wstitle=Palmer, George|volume=43}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, George}}
[[Category:1772 births]]
[[Category:1853 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Charterhouse School]]
[[Category:British East India Company Marine personnel]]
[[Category:English businesspeople]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1835–1837]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1837–1841]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1841–1847]]

George Palmer (MP for South Essex) - Revision history

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