Alexander Stenson Palmer (c.1825 – 8 December 1901) was a banker and politician in colonial Australia, a member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

. Palmer was born in London, England, the son of Frederick Palmer (of the East India Company) and Mary Eliza, ''nee'' Wood. Palmer arrived in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

(then called Van Diemen's Land) as a boy in 1838, and joining the

Bank of Australasia The Bank of Australasia was an Australian bank in operation from 1835 to 1951. Headquartered in London, the bank was incorporated by Royal Charter in March 1834. It had initially been planned to additionally include first South Africa and then ...

was promoted to the branch in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. In 1848, gold having been found in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

, Palmer headed there and mined with varied success. Gold having been discovered in Australia in 1850 Palmer started to return. The vessel in which he sailed was wrecked on an uninhabited island, where he was compelled to remain for some months, until rescued by a chance passing vessel. In 1854 he started business in

Castlemaine, Victoria Castlemaine ( , Variation in Australian English, non-locally also ) is a small city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria, Goldfields region about 120 kilometres (75 miles) northwest by road from ...

, and was returned member for Castlemaine Boroughs in the inaugural Victorian Legislative Assembly. Palmer resigned his seat in July 1857; he unsuccessfully stood for Castlemaine Boroughs again in 1858, and Maryborough 1861. In 1860 Palmer re-entered the service of the Bank of Australasia and became manager at

Sale, Victoria Sale is a city situated in the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria and the council seat of the Shire of Wellington. It had an estimated urban population of 15,682 according to the 2021 census. The total population including the ...

. Palmer married Susan Georgina Marianne Fereday in George Town, Tasmania in 1861. He was a brother-in-law of Judge William Henry Gaunt (1830 - 1905), father of

Guy Gaunt Admiral Sir Guy Reginald Archer Gaunt, (25 May 1869 – 18 May 1953) was an Australian-born officer of the Royal Navy, counter-intelligence officer and a British Conservative Party politician. Gaunt was born in Ballarat, Australia, to William H ...

. Palmer died in

St Kilda, Victoria St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local governmen ...

, Australia on 8 December 1901.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Alexander Stenson 1825 births 1901 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly British emigrants to Australia Australian bankers Shipwreck survivors 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople