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Yorkshire Chess History |
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Thomas William Palmer |
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Thomas William Palmer was born 31/03/1800, presumably in London, the place of his baptism, to Thomas Palmer and Ann Palmer.
Bulmer’s History & Directory of East Yorkshire, 1892, says that Brough House, Brough, “is a large and substantial residence in the Italian style, erected about 130 years ago by an ancestor of T. W. Palmer, Esq., JP. [junior], the present owner and occupier. The grounds are tastefully laid out, and a fine lawn stretches in front.” This address is described in different places as “Brough House, Brough” and as “Castle Hill, Brough”. This suggests that although our man was born in London, the broader Palmer family nevertheless had a foothold in the Hull area, in the form of Brough House, Castle Hill, Brough.
At what stage he moved to Hull is unclear, but it was by 1830. He had married Mary Elizabeth Featherstone (b. 29/09/1810) by 1830. The couple had five children:
Cottingham and Sculcoates are pretty well near enough for there to be no reason to suppose the family residence was not Pryme Street, East Sculcoates, from 1830 to about 1842.
In 1836 Thomas William Palmer was one of numerous land tax commissioners for Hull listed in A Collection of the Public General Statutes Passed in the Sixth and Seventh Year of the Reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, 1836, wherein his address was given as Pryme Street.
He was described as a merchant by the 1841 census which found him living with his wife at Pryme Street, East Sculcoates, Hull, with the three oldest children.
The family moved to Castle Hill, Brough, around 1842. Brough is about 10 miles west of Hull, on the north bank of the Humber estuary, and is the site of the Roman Petuaria. So a Roman camp might be the origin of Castle Hill, which seems to have gone from the maps.
Thomas William Palmer, senior, became an alderman, and was mayor of Hull in the two years 1849-50 and 1850-51.
F. White’s General Directory of Kingston-upon-Hull, and York, 1851, listed him as “The Right Worshipful the Mayor” of Hull (as from November 1850, his second term of office), and as an alderman. More mundanely he was listed elsewhere as a wine and spirit merchant at 69 High Street, Hull, with home at 8 Albion Street, Hull, less than half a mile from Pryme Street. He appears to have had two residences, Albion Street in the centre of Hull, and Brough house, Castle Hill, Brough, where by now his family lived.
The 1851 census unhelpfully found him away from home, visiting John Melthorpe of Scawby, Lincs, the latter’s wife Fanny M. Melthorpe, and brother Henry Melthorpe. He was described as Mayor of Hull, without stating any other occupation.
Hugh William Palmer, the youngest son, died at Castle Hill, Brough, on 20/02/1859.
Thomas William Palmer’s wife, Mary Elizabeth Palmer, died 28/04/1860 at Castle Hill, Brough.
Thomas William Palmer, junior, became a JP. This son seems to have married in the third quarter of 1869. Bulmer’s History & Directory of East Yorkshire, 1892, listed him as a member of the gentry with his home at Brough House, Brough, and on a different page at Castle Hill, Brough. He was also listed as a partner in T. W. Palmer & Co. Another partner in this business was Rowland Heathcote Hacker of North Ferriby, to whom Charlotte Nelthorpe Palmer got married. Mary Brooke Palmer also got married, but Eleanor Palmer seems not to have married. Bulmer listed Miss Eleanor Palmer at Thornleigh, Brantingham-with-Thorne Township, near Brough.
Death
He died 28/02/1881 or 01/03/1881 at Scarborough. Probate records, which gave the latter date of date of death, described him as “late of Castle Hill, Brough”. His will, with two codicils, was proved by Joseph Lambert of 45 High Street, Hull, and Thomas William Palmer, junior, of Brough, a wine and spirit merchant. The deceased’s personal effects were less than £35,000.
The London Gazette of 22nd January 1884, page 356,carried a notice from his executors:
Sir James Thomas Woodhouse, Knight & MP, was recorded as resident, in 1897, at Brough House, Brough, Yorkshire.
Chess
He was one of the Hull contingent present at the 1854 Caistor chess meeting.
Source not stated in text: A history of South Cave and of other parishes in the East Riding of the county of York, by John George Hall
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Created 25/04/2012 |
Copyright © 2012 Stephen John Mann Census information is copyright of The National Archive, see UK Census Information |
Last Updated 07/06/2012 |