PALMER, Archdale (1661-1732), of Wanlip, Leics.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1695 - 1698

Family and Education

bap. 3 Dec. 1661, 1st s. of William Palmer of Wanlip Hall by 1st w. Elizabeth, da. of William Danvers of Swithland, Leics.  educ. G. Inn 1679, called 1688.  m. (1) lic. 21 Apr. 1684, Mary (d. 1695), da. of Joseph Dawson of London, 10s. (9 d.v.p.) 1da. d.v.p.; (2) 15 Nov. 1698, Anne (d. 1764), da. of Nicholas Charlton of London, 9s. (5 d.v.p.) 6da. (1 d.v.p.).  suc. fa. 1692.1

Offices Held

Biography

Descended from a Yorkshire family, Palmer’s great-grandfather, William, was the first of his line to settle at Wanlip where he purchased an estate in 1625. During the Civil War the family was numbered among Leicestershire’s leading Parliamentarians. Palmer’s grandfather and namesake was noted in 1669 as one of the few heads of wealthy county families sheltering ejected Nonconformist clergy, but it is uncertain whether the grandson was similarly disposed in his religious views.2

During the three years he sat for Leicester, Palmer, a Whig, proved to be no man of business but was a consistent supporter of government. He was forecast in January 1696 as likely to support the ministry over the proposed council of trade, was a signatory to the Association at the close of February, voted in favour of fixing the price of guineas at 22s. late in March, and on 25 Nov. voted in favour of the attainder of Sir John Fenwick†. On 4 Mar. 1697 he was granted leave of absence for health reasons, and in June a pass was issued enabling him to visit Holland. After the 1698 election, when he stood down, he was listed as a former member of the Court party. He resumed his squirely routines, serving as a magistrate, rearing his large family and pursuing antiquarian interests. He also assisted the Whig cause in subsequent county contests as he did, for instance, during the second 1701 election. He died on 15 Sept. 1732, the inscription on his funerary monument at St. Nicholas’, Wanlip, recalling him as ‘an honest man, a firm and able magistrate, a good father and an affectionate husband’.3

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Author: Andrew A. Hanham

Notes

  • 1. Info. from J. Hill Esq.; Nichols, Leics. iii. 1099, 1101.
  • 2. Info. from J. Hill Esq.; Nichols, iii. 1101; VCH Leics. ii. 110; Leics. Arch. Soc. xxv. 111.
  • 3. CSP Dom. 1697, p. 201; Nichols, iii. 1096, 1099; Rutland mss at Belvoir Castle, Ambrose Phillipps to Ld. Rutland (John Manners†), 18 Nov. 1701.