George Palmer

George Palmer (11 February 1772 – 12 May 1853) was an Bombay Marine officer, 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), only daughter of John Horsley the rector of Thorley, Hertfordshire, and sister of Samuel Horsley. John Horsley Palmer (Governor of the Bank of England),

He was educated at Charterhouse School.

Naval service After leaving school, he joined the Bombay Marine

Palmer made his first voyage in the East Indiaman Carnatic in 1786. he received a complimentary letter from the court of directors for his conduct in an encounter with four French frigates. His last voyage was made in 1799,

National Lifeboat Institution In 1788 a near-drowning near Macao ). 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. and then the House of Lords (July 1840). Changes were first introduced in the , then the , and then finally the , which expanded and finalised legislation which prohibited timber ships from carrying cargo on deck.

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to his constituents that he would defend the Corn Laws, and publicly rebuked the Prime Minister Robert Peel when he repealed them.

Palmer sat in Parliament from 1836 to 1847, successful in three strongly-contested elections.

Death Palmer died at Nazeing Park, Essex, on 12 May 1853.

Works Palmer was the author of Memoir of a Chart from the Strait of Allass to the Island 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.

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:

George (23 July 1799 – 1883), a South Australian Colonisation Commissioner and lieutenant colonel in the Essex Yeomanry; 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, M.P.