John Palmer (1742–1818)

by George Dance, 1793

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Palmer, John (1742–1818), theatre proprietor and postal reformer, was born in Bath, probably at 1 Gallaway's Buildings, the third child and only son of John Palmer (1702/3–1788) and his wife, Jane Long (1714/15–1783). His family were prosperous tradesmen in Bath, to which town his grandfather had moved, probably from Faringdon, then in Berkshire. His father ran a tallow chandlery, a brewery and maltings, and a theatre there. Palmer was educated locally at the Revd Needham's academy at Colerne and then at Marlborough Free Grammar School. In a quarrel which presaged his later disputes with authority, he opposed his family's wishes that he should enter the church and worked for a time in the brewery, before investing his energies in their theatrical concerns. On 24 August 1769 he married Sarah Mason, a widow of Clifton, establishing their family of six children in West Hall, Weston, Bath. After her death he married on 2 November 1786 a Miss Pratt, probably a relative of the Hon. J. J. Pratt, MP for Bath.

Palmer's association with the theatre in Bath sharpened his entrepreneurial skills. With the support of Bath corporation he promoted in London an act (8 Geo. III c. 10, 1768), which secured the position of the Orchard Street Theatre by royal patent, the only one outside the capital to be thus protected. The prologue delivered by Palmer in celebration of this victory is included in a collection he edited about 1770, The New Spouter's Companion. On the retirement of his father in 1776 the patent was renewed in his name (patent rolls, 16 Geo. III pt iv). In 1779 a Bristol theatre was taken in hand on similar terms and the programmes of the two theatres Royal were dovetailed, with actors such as Mrs Siddons travelling sometimes daily between the two for rehearsal and performance. This experience, and Palmer's own travels and correspondence in search of talent, convinced him of the need for improved communications. The success of Bathonian Ralph Allen in the introduction of the cross-post, bypassing London, had already shown that a provincial base was no bar to great financial rewards for national endeavour.

The essence of the scheme devised by Palmer was that the unarmed post boy with a 'worn-out hack' or small cart, should be replaced by mailcoaches, similar to the stagecoaches on the improved turnpike roads that were already completing journeys with speed and security, which meant they were sometimes the preferred but unofficial way of sending letters and packages. The mailcoaches would be equipped with a strongbox, watched over by an armed guard. Mail was to be dispatched promptly—that from London no longer held back by government letters. The coaches contracted from private firms would travel overnight, stopping only to change horses, deal with mail bags, and meet the needs of passengers. Momentum would be maintained by an exemption from tolls and by the granting of priority over other vehicles.

In 1782 the plan was brought to the attention of William Pitt, chancellor of the exchequer, by the Hon. J. J. Pratt. Pitt showed interest, not least because of the promise of an increased revenue, but the plan's acceptance was held up by changes in government and by the opposition of the Post Office, which feared a loss of its authority. However, in June 1784 Pitt ordered a trial run on the Bristol–Bath–London road, which was so successful that a minute was sent from the Treasury to the Post Office, requiring that every assistance be given to the introduction of the service on all major routes in England and Wales. On Palmer's initiative most of this was accomplished by the end of 1785, and he then visited Scotland in 1786, France in 1787, and Ireland in 1788, to explore the extension of the service by land and sea.

The reforms were welcomed by the public but the fact that Palmer had greater support from the Treasury than the Post Office led to problems, especially as the tasks arising from his appointment as surveyor and comptroller-general, which included arranging contracts with innkeepers and training staff in new duties, were undertaken on the basis of a verbal agreement with Pitt. Palmer had understood he would receive 2½ per cent of the increase of the Post Office revenue and an annual salary of £1500, but instead found himself making a personal investment in the reform of a government institution with respect to which his powers and rewards had not been properly defined. Not until August 1786 was Palmer's dire financial position relieved when the Post Office agreed to appoint him on the terms noted, and to employ the guards, sorters, and others he had been financing, though the measures were not fully retrospective. His position was confirmed in July 1789, but to his dismay he remained under the jurisdiction of the postmasters-general, then lords Walsingham and Chesterfield, whose authority he continued to flout. They referred to him in private correspondence as 'the Dictator' (Clear, 100). A dispute early in 1792, in which his previously trusted assistant, Charles Bonnor, gave evidence of manoeuvres against the postmasters-general, led to Palmer's suspension. However, his departure was eased by the pension of £3000 per annum from April 1793, granted by William Pitt in recognition of the importance of his work.

Despite these battles, Palmer had managed not only to reform the national system for the collection and delivery of mail, but also to improve some antiquated procedures within the Post Office. His stay was short but some of his appointees, such as Francis Freeling, became influential figures there. Palmer's claim for recompense was not met fully, but in 1813 (53 Geo. III, c. 157) an award of some £50,000 was made. The approval of the people had meanwhile been shown by the striking of tokens and medals, the presentation of silverware, and the granting of the freedom of eighteen towns and cities.

Palmer continued to be notably active in the civic life of Bath. He had been elected a common councilman in 1775 and he became a Bath improvement commissioner in 1789. In 1791 he promoted a silver cup for horse racing. After the ending of his postal activities, Palmer increased his local responsibilities, becoming a Bath turnpike trustee in 1793, an alderman in 1795, and mayor of Bath in 1796 and 1809. He gave silver cups to the Bath Volunteers in 1805. In addition, he served as Bath's member of parliament from 1801 to 1807, in the whig interest. He lived in Bath at 25 Circus and 9 Laura Place and in London at Upper Gower Street; his wife died in Weymouth in 1807. He took the Chiltern Hundreds in 1808 and his son Charles was elected in his place. He died in Brighton on 16 August 1818 and was buried in the abbey church of Bath, with civic honours but without the expected public monument.

His eldest son, Charles Palmer (1777–1851), army officer and politician, was born on 6 May 1777 at Weston, Bath. He was educated at Eton College and at Oriel College, Oxford, and then served in the army, being appointed an aide-de-camp to the prince regent in 1811 and promoted major-general in 1825. He married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of John Thomas Atkyns of Hunterscombe House, Buckinghamshire, and niece and coheir of John Atkyns Wright, MP for Oxford. He represented Bath as MP in the whig interest from 1808 to 1826 and from 1830 to 1837. A radical reformer, he gave strong support to the Reform Bill, attending rallies in Bath and publishing a Speech on the State of the Nation (1832) on the occasion of the bill's third reading. His brothers John and Edmund served in the navy. He succeeded his father as proprietor of the Bath theatre, and was a large vine-grower in the Gironde. He died on 17 April 1851.