George William Palmer (23 May 1851 – 8 October 1913) was a member of the Palmer family, proprietors of the

Huntley & Palmers Huntley & Palmers is a British company of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. Formed by Joseph Huntley in 1822, the company became one of the world's first global brands (chiefly led by George Palmer who joined in 1841) and r ...

biscuit manufacturers of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was born in Reading, the son of George Palmer and his wife, Elizabeth Sarah, the daughter of Robert Meteyard. Like his father, George William Palmer served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Reading and represented the town in

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He served as

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the Reading borough constituency from 1892 until his defeat at the 1895 general election. He regained the seat at a by-election in 1898, and held it until he resigned from Parliament in 1904, due to advancing deafness. He received the honorary

Freedom of the Borough The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Reading on 3 December 1902, for valuable public service rendered to the town. He was only the second person to receive this honour, the first being his father. His country estate was Marlston House in

Bucklebury Bucklebury is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, about north-east of Newbury and north of the A4 road. The parish has a population of 2,116, but the village is much smaller. Bucklebury Common, with an area of over , is one ...

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* g 1851 births 1913 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 People from Reading, Berkshire People from Bucklebury Mayors of Reading, Berkshire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom George William 19th-century British businesspeople {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub