94918

Generation: D

William Palmer

Born: 1885
Father: Jas Palmer
Mother: Janet Murray

Jessie Moore



Children:

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I had not seen William Palmer before, but he blew in unexpectedly when Old William Murray and I were visiting Alice Palmer at Accrington on 15/6/68.

He came puffing a little from his walk in the park nearby. Red-faced, plethoric, a cross between a retired colonel and a retired sergeant-major. Certainly born to command, where he could. Perhaps 5'7" in height. Figure somewhat like Pickwick, but the face neither genial or perplexed as Pickwick's could sometimes be. Competently dressed, rather talkative in a dominant slightly critical way. He (and W.M.) was very critical about his doctors, their apparent lack of continuing interest in him, long waits at hospitals, and so on.

He was very proud at his ability to arouse the attention of audiences. "Lloyd George once sent for me to open the meeting". (So he may have been a coalition conservative!).

William's handwriting is excellent, straight lines, and his paragraphing orderly. But his letters were rather full of grumbles, e.g. poor pension, no promotion in the army, lack of recognition while others received honours, high cost of living, etc. My impression was that he was not an easy chap to live with, but he was still putting up a good show at age 83.

His sister, Alice Palmer, wrote about him: "I must tell you about my brother. We were brought up in the Methodist Church. He was a local preacher when quite young. (I suppose this would be the modern equivalent of the old Highland catechists who used to terrify our fathers in their youth. RLM). He would not obey the 24 tenets of the Church and WOULD speak on Christian Socialist matters. He has a natural gift of delivery, and has spoken all over the country with the eminent ones of the Conservative Movement."

"His domestic life has not been happy. His first wife died, she was a teacher. Now he is happy with his loving daughter and family, in Holland. I just live to get his air-mail letter every week. I love him dearly.

His wife died in a home with mind trouble. He went backwards an forwards to her for years, and came here at the weekends.

He is down on the Labour movement. He keeps teasing me about keeping my house spick and span like my forebears".

William Palmer's letters to me were first class in every way. Details of family history given by him fitted in exactly with matter from other sources, and one must be impressed by the orderlieness of his presentation and his handwriting.

He joined the Army in 1914, and because he knew German became an interpreter in the wireless section of the R.E.s. Later he was commissioned and became a captain with Allenby's army in Palestine. For two years before the war he had been in Germany, learnt German, and after that, or around then, had established an electrical business in Accrington, which apparently did not flourish. At one time he was a member of Accrington Town Council.

William had 2 children by his first wife, W.H. Palmer of 63 Primrose Street, Accrington, and Eileen (Mrs. Thompson), now living at Middlesborough.

According to his son, W.H.P, William walked out of the house when W.H.P. was 7 years old (that would be in the early twenties) and has not been seen since by his son and daughter.

Probably after the death of his first wife, William married again. He had by his second wife a daughter, Pearl Palmer, who married a Dutchman and who lives in Holland with her four children. RLM is uncertain whether there were other children by the second marriage. The first Mrs. William Palmer died in 1953, so I presume there must have been a divorce.

William Palmer, (like my cousin William Nicolson of Glagow, age 78) has lately come triumphantly through operations for hernia and prostatic obstruction, with unimpaired morale.

I wrote to him asking what prayers he was taught in his childhood by his parents. He replied thus:

I had a similar revulsion against a hymn (in the Methodist Hymnal, I think), which ran:

"I should like to die", said Willie, "If my Daddy would die too: But he says he isn't ready So what am I to do?".

That would be in Victorian England!

So much for the moment about William Palmer, who, the son of a local Labour Leader, became a professional paid speaker for the Conservative Party. I will file his letters with other relevant contributions for anyone to read.


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