George Josiah Palmer (1828-1892) was the founder and editor of ''

Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...

''.

Family grave of George Josiah Palmer in Highgate Cemetery

Early years

Palmer was born on 30 June 1828 in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

, then in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, the eldest son of George Josiah Palmer, a printer of Savoy Street,

Strand, London Strand (or the Strand) is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. It runs just over from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4 ...

, and his wife, Charlotte, who was the daughter of

John Hatchard John Hatchard (1769–1849) was an English publisher and bookseller, in Piccadilly, London. The Hatchards bookshop there is still in business. Early life Hatchard had a trial at the works of the printer Thomas Bensley. He then served on appren ...

, founder of

Hatchards Hatchards claims to be the oldest bookshop in the United Kingdom, founded on Piccadilly in 1797 by John Hatchard. After one move, it has been at the same location on Piccadilly next to Fortnum & Mason since 1801, and the two stores are also neig ...

bookshop in

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

. He was educated at Clapham grammar school and

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London and ...

. After his schooling he joined his father's printing firm as a compositor, later becoming a manager.Palmer, B. Palmer, George Josiah (1828–1892), newspaper founder and editor. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 22 Oct. 2021, from https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-37831. On 15 May 1851 he married Marianne Beall, the daughter of an

upholsterer Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...

from

Cheshunt, Hertfordshire Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Waltha ...

. They had six sons and a daughter.

Career

The year after his marriage, Palmer acquired a small bookselling and printing business in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, however after eight unprofitable years he had to sell out and move to smaller premises at 32 Little Queen Street,

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...

, later to become the home of the

. Palmer's decision to launch a popular church newspaper came after his experience printing and publishing ''The Union'' newspaper, a Christian publication which failed in 1862. The first issue of Palmer's ''Church Times'' appeared on 7 February 1863. Like ''The Union'' it was founded to promote the work and views of the

Tractarians The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

, who were then in opposition to the established church. The paper proved successful, soon outselling its

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

competitor newspapers, and circulation climbed throughout Palmer's lifetime. As well as managing and publishing the ''Church Times'', Palmer also edited it until his retirement in 1887. The paper remained in the ownership of the family for over a hundred years until its sale in 1989 and three of his sons worked at the paper. Palmer died on 27 January 1892 at 3 Victoria Crescent,

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

and was buried on the eastern side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

References

1828 births 1892 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery English newspaper founders 19th-century English businesspeople {{England-bio-stub