Frederick Christian Palmer
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Frederick Christian Palmer ( East Stonehouse, Plymouth 1866 −
Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...
1941; fl.1892–1935), known professionally as Fred C. Palmer, was the main public photographer of
Herne Bay, Kent Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...
in the early years of the 20th century, working from Tower Studio. He photographed all the civic events in Herne Bay before 1914, and made portraits of the eccentric
Edmund Reid Detective Inspector Edmund John James Reid (21 March 1846 – 5 December 1917) was the head of the CID in the Metropolitan Police's H Division at the time of the Whitechapel murders of Jack the Ripper in 1888. He was also an early aeronaut.' ...
, the erstwhile head of
Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
CID CID may refer to: Film * ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film Television * ''CID'' ( ...
who had investigated the
Whitechapel murders The Whitechapel murders were committed in or near the largely impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London between 3 April 1888 and 13 February 1891. At various points some or all of these eleven unsolved murders of women have ...
and then retired to
Hampton-on-Sea Hampton-on-Sea is a drowned and abandoned village in what is now the Hampton area of Herne Bay, Kent. It grew from a tiny fishing hamlet in 1864 at the hands of an oyster fishery company, was developed from 1879 by land agents, abandoned in 19 ...
, Herne Bay. In 1913
Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
used Palmer's 1910 photograph of the illuminated Grand Pier Pavilion as found object art in his ''Note 78'', part of his '' Green Box'' artwork. In the 1920s and early 30s, Palmer took over William Hooper's Cromwell Street studio in
Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
, again producing local postcards, photographing prominent people and doing freelance work for local newspapers and the Council.


Biography


Background

Palmer was born at 31 Union Street, East Stonehouse, Plymouth on 9 January 1866, the son of
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
bandsman William Eastman Palmer who had by then become a
journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...
photographer.Birth certificate of Frederick Christian Palmer, 9 January 1866, East Stonehouse, Devon The name "Christian" came from the boy's grandmother Christian Branton Eastman Lewis, who married his grandfather Henry Palmer, a shoemaker, in
Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based i ...
, Devon in 1826. Fred C's father W.E. Palmer married Maria Louisa Eales on 13 March 1860 and they were living in James Street,
Stoke Damerel Stoke, also referred to by its earlier name of Stoke Damerel, is a parish, that was once part of the historical Devonport, England; this was prior to 1914. In 1914, Devonport and Plymouth amalgamated with Stonehouse: the new town took the nam ...
, in 1861 and ten years later at 13 Frances Street at St Andrew's in
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
. She was a "photographic artist", which could mean that she tinted or drew on prints from glass negatives or somehow enhanced
daguerreotype Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...
s, and it was probably her influence which brought the profession of photography into the family. So W.E. Palmer became a photographer in the mid-1860s, and had twelve children including seven sons, at least five of whom were trained as photographers. The business was named William Eastman Palmer & Sons, and Frederick Christian was the third son. His brothers who trained as photographers were William George, John Eastman, Ernest Charles and Henry Reginald. In 1881 in
East Barnet East Barnet is an area of north London within the London Borough of Barnet bordered by New Barnet, Cockfosters and Southgate. It is a largely residential suburb whose central area contains shops, public houses, restaurants and services, and ...
Fred C. was 15 years old and had started his photographic
apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...
. In 1891 when Frederick Christian was 25 years old, he was still living at home and the family was at Hopetown Villa, Leicester Road, East Barnet. At that time his father William Eastman Palmer was still described as a journeyman photographer.


Adult life

In 1894 Frederick Christian Palmer was married in the
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
of
St George Hanover Square St George Hanover Square was a civil parish created in 1724 in the Liberty of Westminster, Middlesex, which was later part of the metropolitan area of London, England. The creation of the parish accompanied the building of St George's, Hanove ...
to Eleanor Florence M. Maltby, who had been born in
Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...
in 1873. They had three children: Leslie Reginald, born 1896; Muriel Audrey, born in 1902; and Joyce Selwyn, born in 1905. The first two were born in
Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
, and the third in
Herne Bay Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...
. In 1901 Frederick was practising as a photographer and the family was living at Gresham Cottage in Plantagenet Road in
New Barnet New Barnet is a neighbourhood on the north east side of the London Borough of Barnet. It is a largely residential North London suburb located east of Chipping Barnet, west of Cockfosters, south of the village of Monken Hadley and north of Oaklei ...
. In 1911 they were all at Palmer's Tower Studio in Herne Bay; Frederick was again listed in the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
as a photographer and Eleanor was assisting in the business. He may possibly have been related to Fred T. Palmer (fl.1890–1899), photographer of Ramsgate and Croydon. Palmer may have moved to
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
around 1936–1937 but did not die there; his daughter Muriel Audrey had married Charles William Raysbrook in 1925 in
Strood Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham and Rainham. It lies on the northwest bank of the River Medway at its lowes ...
and then had three children in Watford. He died on 14 March 1941, aged 75 years, of old age at The Grey Cottage, formerly Prospect House, at 1 Prospect Road,
Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...
. His death certificate gives his occupation as master photographer, retired. The term, ''master'', in this context at that time implied that he had photographers working under him in a studio, and did not refer to a specific qualification. His son Leslie Reginald was present at the death, but it is not known whether The Grey Cottage was the residence of either father or son.


Professional life


Herne Bay

Although
photographic film Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent film base coated on one side with a gelatin photographic emulsion, emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of th ...
was available, it is probable that Fred C. Palmer used large−format glass negatives and that the postcards and portraits were direct prints from these, because of their fine detail. From 1892 to 1903 he was working for the family firm, William Eastman Palmer & Sons, at Bloom House, Leicester Road, New Barnet. From 1903 to 1922 he was working as a photographer and picture-frame maker in Herne Bay, at 21 High Street from 1903 to 1905 (where Kent Kebab is, as of 2011), and at Telford Villa, 6 Tower Parade from 1907 to 1922. and Information from trade directories; confirmed by photographic historian Ron Cosens a
Carte de Visite
and notes held b
The Swindon Collection
Between 1910 and 1916, Fred C. Palmer was a freelance ''Herne Bay Press'' newspaper photographer,''Herne Bay Press'' was taken over by ''Kentish Gazette'', which is now owned by ''
Kent Messenger The ''Kent Messenger'' is a weekly newspaper serving the mid-Kent area. It is published in three editions - Maidstone, Malling, and the Weald. It is owned by the KM Group and is published on Thursdays. History The ''Kent Messenger'' grew from ...
''.
who worked from Tower Studio in Tower Parade on the Sea Front where he took portraits. He had a small shop or kiosk called ''The Art Gallery'' on the sea front, separate from the studio, where he sold postcards and portrait prints. He produced postcards of important town events, such as the grand opening of
Herne Bay Pier Herne Bay Pier was the third pier to be built at Herne Bay, Kent for passenger paddle steamer, steamers. It was notable for its length of and for appearing in the opening sequence of Ken Russell's first feature film French Dressing (1964 film) ...
's Grand Pier Pavilion by the
Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
on 3 August 1910, and the grand opening of the King Edward VII Memorial Hall by
Princess Beatrice Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is a member of the British royal family. She is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is a niece of Charle ...
on 13 July 1913. His name was usually given as Fred C. Palmer in newspaper photograph credits and on the backs of his picture postcards.


World War I

During World War I there are no written records of Fred C. Palmer, but he did produce postcards of war-wounded Belgians recuperating in
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...
and Herne Bay, of a possible 1914 recruitment rally and of soldiers larking about. There was a shortage of silver for use on
photographic plate Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a capture medium in photography, and were still used in some communities up until the late 20th century. The light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was coated on a glass plate, typically thinn ...
s, so this may be why he appears to have been limited to photographing the troops and war-wounded and perhaps other work until 1920.


Swindon

Around 1920–1921 Palmer took over the studio of the established photographer William Hooper at 6 Cromwell Street,
Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
. Street directories state that he was there between 1923 and 1936. The building is now demolished. He published postcards and portraits and was freelance photographer for local newspapers; the same professional pattern as in Herne Bay before the war. Swindon Council used his photographs. He retired around 1936–1937 at the age of approximately 70 years, and died in 1941.


Photograph of Grand Pier Pavilion, 1910

Palmer's 1910 photograph of the illuminated Grand Pier Pavilion was incorporated as found object art in an artwork by
Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
following the latter's visit to Herne Bay in 1913. Duchamp cut out Palmer's photo from a leaflet and attached it to ''Note 78'' in ''The Green Box'' describing his plans for a work called '' The Large Glass'' (1915–1923). The notes including Palmer's photograph were published in two limited editions, and were considered part of, and not just an adjunct to, the ''Large Glass'' artwork. In August 2013 a "Duchamp in Herne Bay 1913–2013" festival was organised in the town to celebrate and explore Duchamp's 1913 visit to Herne Bay and the relationship between that experience and his artwork. Palmer's postcard of the Grand Pier Pavilion, illuminated, was used to promote that festival.


Portraits of Edmund Reid

In 1910–1912 Palmer photographed
Edmund Reid Detective Inspector Edmund John James Reid (21 March 1846 – 5 December 1917) was the head of the CID in the Metropolitan Police's H Division at the time of the Whitechapel murders of Jack the Ripper in 1888. He was also an early aeronaut.' ...
who had been head of the
Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
CID CID may refer to: Film * ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film Television * ''CID'' ( ...
at the time of the
Whitechapel murders The Whitechapel murders were committed in or near the largely impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London between 3 April 1888 and 13 February 1891. At various points some or all of these eleven unsolved murders of women have ...
. Reid had retired to
Hampton-on-Sea Hampton-on-Sea is a drowned and abandoned village in what is now the Hampton area of Herne Bay, Kent. It grew from a tiny fishing hamlet in 1864 at the hands of an oyster fishery company, was developed from 1879 by land agents, abandoned in 19 ...
, a settlement which was fast sinking into the
Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...
prompting the old man to make attempts at publicity and to demand assistance from the Council. Palmer photographed this eccentric character amid the progressing disaster and gave or sold the images to Reid in the form of postcards. The old man retailed Palmer's photographs from a kiosk, calling the collection an ''art gallery''. Reid was mocked for selling postcards of himself and calling it art, but when
Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
chose to take another Palmer photograph home in 1913 and made an artwork of it, Reid's insight was validated.


One example: the Ronald Cecil Concert Party postcard

The Ronald Cecil Concert Party postcard shows a crowd on the
Herne Bay Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...
seafront around 1913, including rehearsed and choreographed
tableaux vivants A (; often shortened to ; plural: ), French for "living picture", is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrica ...
by actors. It was apparently produced in response to the contemporary eagerness of aficionados to collect and examine (with a
hand lens A magnifying glass is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle. A magnifying glass can be used to focus light, such as to concentrate the sun's radiation to crea ...
) the detailed prints made from large glass negatives. The signature of such a postcard is the inclusion of tableaux signifying the fleeting moment, and in this example it is the running boy about to go out of frame on the left, and the policeman checking his watch in the foreground. The positions of the actors would be held still for the camera at a prearranged moment, which may have been announced by the chiming of the clock tower out of frame to the right, or a call from the man on the right of the stage. Some of the tableaux are as follows: (1) The
suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
mounting a bicycle and incidentally showing a little more ankle than such a young woman might intend at that time, in the right foreground. She is wearing black stockings, which in 1913 could signify a servant or actress. (2) The young man acting ''hot under the collar'', apparently being berated by a woman, and exchanging a glance with a well-dressed and confident young
dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle desp ...
in
sports jacket A sport coat, also called a sport jacket (or sports coat or sports jacket in American English), is a men's smart casual lounge jacket designed to be worn on its own without matching trousers, traditionally for sporting purposes. Styles, fabrics, ...
and white shoes, with one hand in pocket and the other possibly holding a cigarette. (3) Ronald Cecil himself apparently falling backwards in the crowd, although nobody around him turns to look. This is at the centre-back of the crowd. The viewer's attention is drawn to Cecil's fall by the insouciant young man standing below the lamppost in cap and three-piece tweed suit and arms akimbo, looking directly at Cecil falling. (4) Two housemaids – Gertrude Mabel Warner, known as Little Warner, and her fellow servant Ethel Maud Hollaway, both employed from age 12 by the boys' school at St George's Terrace – are walking in the aisle between the concert party audience and the fence. They are carrying posters or leaflets for the concert party, and were supposed to do something with the former, but were prevented by the presence of children. The regatta in the background suggests a Saturday, and the beams from the late afternoon sun passing through the windows on both sides of the Grand Pier Pavilion suggest a time of around 4.30pm. Among the public, a
private nurse ''Private Nurse'' is a 1941 American drama film directed by David Burton and written by Samuel G. Engel. The film stars Jane Darwell, Brenda Joyce, Sheldon Leonard, Robert Lowery, Ann E. Todd and Kay Linaker. The film was released on August ...
in uniform can be seen on the right, and the
deckchair A deckchair (or deck chair) is a folding chair, usually with a frame of treated wood or other material. The term now usually denotes a portable folding chair, with a single strip of fabric or vinyl forming the backrest and seat. It is meant f ...
boys employed from age 12 are near the left foreground in the aisle between stage and fence.


Art gallery

''Art gallery'' was Edmund Reid's name for his postcard collection of photographs by Palmer. File:Fred C Palmer 010.jpg,
Bishopstone, Swindon Bishopstone is a village and civil parish in the Swindon unitary authority of Wiltshire, England, about east of Swindon, and on the county border with Oxfordshire. Since 1934 the parish has included the village of Hinton Parva. Bishopstone ...
, 1933 Image:Fred C Palmer 002.jpg,
Reculver Reculver is a village and coastal resort about east of Herne Bay on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. It is in the ward of the same name, in the City of Canterbury district of Kent. Reculver once occupied a strategic location ...
towers 1910−1916 Image:Fred C Palmer 003.jpg, Children's Special Service Mission 1910−1916 Image:Hampton-on-Sea 1910 023.jpg, Disappearing
Hampton-on-Sea Hampton-on-Sea is a drowned and abandoned village in what is now the Hampton area of Herne Bay, Kent. It grew from a tiny fishing hamlet in 1864 at the hands of an oyster fishery company, was developed from 1879 by land agents, abandoned in 19 ...
, 1910 Image:Fred C Palmer 005.jpg, Grand Pier Pavilion illuminated, 1910: the image re−used by
Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...
after 1913


Notes


References


External links


Toutfait.com: 1910 photographs by Fred C. Palmer (on page 2)Photograph of Duchamp's 1910 artwork incorporating Palmer's photograph of the Grand Pier Pavilion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Frederick Christian Photographers from London 1866 births 1941 deaths People from Herne Bay, Kent