Sir Thomas Palmer, 1st Baronet (1540–1626), 'the Travailer,’ was an English knight and politician.

Life

Palmer was the third son of Sir Henry Palmer of

Wingham, Kent Wingham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, England. The village lies along the ancient coastal road, now the A257, from Richborough to London, and is close to Canterbury. History A settlement ...

, by his wife Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Windebank of Guisnes, and was nephew of Sir

Thomas Palmer (died 1553) Sir Thomas Palmer (died 22 August 1553) was an English soldier and courtier. His testimony was crucial in the final downfall of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset in 1551–1552. Palmer was executed for his support of Lady Jane Grey in the ...

. He was

High Sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instrum ...

in 1595, and in the following year went on the expedition to Cadiz, when he was knighted. He was a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

in 1586 and 1601 for

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much large ...

. and created a baronet on 29 June 1621. He died on 2 January 1625–6, aged 85, and was buried at Wingham. He had married Margaret, daughter of John Pooley of Badley, Suffolk, who died in August 1625, aged 85. Of his three sons, all knighted, Sir Thomas died before his father, and was himself father of

Herbert Palmer Herbert Palmer may refer to: *Herbert Palmer (Puritan) (1601–1647), Puritan writer * Herbert James Palmer (1851–1939), Canadian politician, Premier of Prince Edward Island *Herbert Richmond Palmer (1877–1958), British colonial governor *Herb ...

. The second son, Sir Roger, was master of the household to Charles I, and the third son, Sir James, was a courtier, MP and

Chancellor of the Order of the Garter The Chancellor of the Order of the Garter is an officer of the Order of the Garter. History of the office When the Order of the Garter was founded in 1348 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, by Edward III of England three officers were initiall ...

Works

In 1606 Palmer published ''An Essay of the Meanes how to make our Travailes into forraine Countries the more profitable and honourable'', London,. Here he discussed the advantages of foreign travel, and political and commercial principles which the traveller should understand. The book is dated from Wingham, where the author is said to have kept 60 hospitable Christmases without intermission.

Others of the name

The 'Travailer' must be distinguished from Thomas Palmer or Palmar, a Roman Catholic scholar, who graduated B.A. from Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1553, but who subsequently became a primary scholar of St. John's College, and was in 1563 appointed principal of

Gloucester Hall Gloucester College, Oxford, was a Benedictine institution of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, from the late 13th century until the Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. It was never a typical college of the Universit ...

. He was a zealous catholic, and, after a steady refusal to conform, he had in 1564 to retire from his headship to his estates in Essex, where persecution is said to have followed him. Wood describes him as an excellent orator, and 'the best of his time for a Ciceronian style'.Foster, Alumni Oxon. 1500–1714; Wood, Fasti, ed. Bliss, i. 150; Dodd, Church History, ii. 90

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Thomas 1540 births 1626 deaths High Sheriffs of Kent People from Wingham, Kent English knights Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1601 English essayists 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers