Thomas Fyshe Palmer
Encyclopedia
Thomas Fyshe Palmer was an English-born Unitarian
minister, political reformer and political exile.
, Bedfordshire
, England
, the son of Henry Fyshe who assumed the added name of Palmer because of an inheritance, and Elizabeth, daughter of James Ingram of Barnet.
Palmer was educated at Eton College
and Queen's College, Cambridge from 1765, with the purpose of taking orders in the church of England. He graduated B.A. in 1769, M.A. in 1772, and B.D.
in 1781. He obtained a fellowship of Queens' in 1781, and officiated for a year as curate
at Leatherhead
, Surrey
. While at Leatherhead he was introduced to Samuel Johnson
, and dined with him in London; but he had become disillusioned with some aspects of the Church of England
.
's works, and became a Unitarian. For the next ten years Palmer preached Unitarianism to congregations in Dundee
and other Scottish towns. A Unitarian society had been founded by William Christie
, a merchant, at Montrose
, and Palmer offered his services as a preacher (14 July 1783). In November 1783 Palmer reached Montrose, and remained as Christie's colleague till May 1785. He then moved to Dundee to become pastor of a new Unitarian society there, and he founded a Unitarian church. He preached also in Edinburgh
, Glasgow
, Arbroath
, and Forfar
, and formed further Unitarian societies. In 1789 he took temporary charge of the society at Newcastle
. In 1792 his sermons in Edinburgh attracted attention, and pamphlets were published in refutation of his doctrines.
, weaver in Dundee, brought a draft of an address to the public which he purposed circulating as a handbill. Palmer revised it, modifying it to a complaint against the government for war taxation, and a claim for universal suffrage
and short parliaments. The address was sent to be printed in Edinburgh in July 1793. The authorities were alarmed, and decided to meet an anticipated revolution in time; and, in the belief that they were attacking a revolutionary leader, Palmer was arrested in Edinburgh on 2 August on a charge of sedition
as the author of the document.
At the preliminary legal inquiry he refused to answer the questions put to him, pleading his ignorance of Scots law. He was confined in Edinburgh gaol, but afterwards freed on bail. An indictment was served on him directing him to appear at the circuit court, Perth on 12 September to answer to the charge. The presiding judges were David Rae, Lord Eskgrove
and Alexander Abercromby, Lord Abercromby; the prosecutor was John Burnett, advocate-depute, assisted by Allan Maconochie
; and Palmer was defended by John Clerk
, and Mr. Haggart. One of the first witnesses was George Mealmaker, who admitted that he was the author of the address, and stated that Palmer was opposed to its publication. Other officials of the ‘Friends of Liberty’ corroborated, and the evidence proved nothing relevant to the charge beyond the fact that Palmer had ordered one thousand copies to be printed, but had given no instructions as to distribution.
Both the judges summed up adversely, and, when the jury found the accused guilty, he was sentenced to seven years' transportation
. The conviction of Palmer, following close on that of Thomas Muir
, raised indignation among the Whig party throughout the kingdom; and during February and March 1794 attempts were made by the Earl of Lauderdale
and Earl Stanhope
in the House of Lords, and by Charles James Fox
and Richard Brinsley Sheridan
in the House of Commons, to obtain the reversal of the sentence. But the government, under William Pitt
, was too strong.
, where he was put in irons for forced labour for three months. Palmer left in the Surprise along with the so-called Scottish Martyrs, Thomas Muir, William Skirving
and Maurice Margarot
, embarking in February but sailing in April 1794, with a gang of convicts for Botany Bay
. The vessel arrived at Port Jackson
, New South Wales
, on 25 October, and as Palmer and his companions had letters of introduction to the governor, they were well treated, and had houses assigned to them.
Whilst serving his seven years of exile in Sydney
Palmer did not suffer the usual convict restraint, and he engaged in business enterprises. Besides cultivating the land, the exiled reformers constructed a small vessel, and traded to Norfolk Island
. At the end of 1799 Palmer and his friend James Ellis—who had followed him from Dundee as a colonist—combined with others to purchase a vessel in which they might return home, when Palmer's sentence expired in September 1800.
were disappointed, and they were held up for half a year. They sailed to Tongatabu, where a war prevented them from landing. They steered for the Fiji Islands, where they were well received; but while making for Goraa
, one of the group, their vessel struck a reef. Having refitted, they started for Macao
.
Adverse storms drove them about the Pacific until their provisions were exhausted, and they were compelled to put in to Guguan
, one of the Ladrone Islands, then under Spanish rule. Spain and Britain were then at war, and Spanish governor treated them as prisoners of war. When Palmer was attacked with dysentery
, he succumbed. He died on 2 June 1802, and was buried by the seashore. Two years later an American captain touched at the Isle of Guguan, and, having found out where Palmer had been buried, he had the body exhumed and taken on board his vessel, with the governor's permission. The remains were taken to Boston, Massachusetts, and reinterred in the cemetery there.
A monument was erected in the Old Calton Cemetery
, Edinburgh, in 1844 to commemorate Palmer, Muir, and the other Scottish Martyrs.
he contributed regularly in 1789–90, as Anglo-Scotus. In 1792 he published a controversial pamphlet entitled ‘An Attempt to refute a Sermon by H. D. Inglis on the Godhead of Jesus Christ, and to restore the long-lost Truth of the First Commandment,’ against Henry David Inglis (1757-1806). His ‘Narrative of the Sufferings of T. F. Palmer and W. Skirving’ was published in 1797. Several of his letters were published in the biographies of contemporary unitarians.
from 1818 to 1834, when he retired.
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
minister, political reformer and political exile.
Early life
Palmer was born in IckwellIckwell
Ickwell is a hamlet in Bedfordshire, England.With the settlements of Upper and Lower Caldecote, Thorncote, Hatch, Brook End, Cow Pastures, Vinegar Hill and Budna, the hamlet of Ickwell makes up the civil parish of Northill.-History:...
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of Henry Fyshe who assumed the added name of Palmer because of an inheritance, and Elizabeth, daughter of James Ingram of Barnet.
Palmer was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Queen's College, Cambridge from 1765, with the purpose of taking orders in the church of England. He graduated B.A. in 1769, M.A. in 1772, and B.D.
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....
in 1781. He obtained a fellowship of Queens' in 1781, and officiated for a year as curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
at Leatherhead
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the County of Surrey, England, on the River Mole, part of Mole Valley district. It is thought to be of Saxon origin...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. While at Leatherhead he was introduced to Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
, and dined with him in London; but he had become disillusioned with some aspects of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
.
Unitarian
Palmer then read in Joseph PriestleyJoseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
's works, and became a Unitarian. For the next ten years Palmer preached Unitarianism to congregations in Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
and other Scottish towns. A Unitarian society had been founded by William Christie
William Christie (Unitarian)
William Christie was a Scottish Unitarian writer, one of the earliest apostles of Unitarianism in Scotland and America.-Life:He was a son of Thomas Christie, merchant and provost of Montrose, and uncle of Thomas Christie the political writer. He was born at Montrose, and educated at the grammar...
, a merchant, at Montrose
Montrose, Angus
Montrose is a coastal resort town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. It is situated 38 miles north of Dundee between the mouths of the North and South Esk rivers...
, and Palmer offered his services as a preacher (14 July 1783). In November 1783 Palmer reached Montrose, and remained as Christie's colleague till May 1785. He then moved to Dundee to become pastor of a new Unitarian society there, and he founded a Unitarian church. He preached also in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Arbroath
Arbroath
Arbroath or Aberbrothock is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus in Scotland, and has a population of 22,785...
, and Forfar
Forfar
Forfar is a parish, town and former royal burgh of approximately 13,500 people in Angus, located in the East Central Lowlands of Scotland. Forfar is the county town of Angus, which was officially known as Forfarshire from the 18th century until 1929, when the ancient name was reinstated, and...
, and formed further Unitarian societies. In 1789 he took temporary charge of the society at Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. In 1792 his sermons in Edinburgh attracted attention, and pamphlets were published in refutation of his doctrines.
Activism and trial
When agitation for political reform began in 1792, Dundee became one of its centres in Scotland. A society called the ‘Friends of Liberty’ was formed in 1793, and met in the Berean meeting-house in the Methodist Close, beside the house where Palmer lived in the Overgait. The society was composed mainly of working men. One evening in June 1793 Palmer was attended a meeting, when George MealmakerGeorge Mealmaker
George Mealmaker was a Scottish radical organiser and writer, born in Dundee, Scotland. Like his father before him he was a weaver by trade....
, weaver in Dundee, brought a draft of an address to the public which he purposed circulating as a handbill. Palmer revised it, modifying it to a complaint against the government for war taxation, and a claim for universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
and short parliaments. The address was sent to be printed in Edinburgh in July 1793. The authorities were alarmed, and decided to meet an anticipated revolution in time; and, in the belief that they were attacking a revolutionary leader, Palmer was arrested in Edinburgh on 2 August on a charge of sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
as the author of the document.
At the preliminary legal inquiry he refused to answer the questions put to him, pleading his ignorance of Scots law. He was confined in Edinburgh gaol, but afterwards freed on bail. An indictment was served on him directing him to appear at the circuit court, Perth on 12 September to answer to the charge. The presiding judges were David Rae, Lord Eskgrove
David Rae, Lord Eskgrove
Sir David Rae, Lord Eskgrove, 1st Baronet was a Scottish judge.-Life:He was the son of David Rae of St Andrews, an episcopalian minister, by his wife Agnes, daughter of Sir David Forbes of Newhall...
and Alexander Abercromby, Lord Abercromby; the prosecutor was John Burnett, advocate-depute, assisted by Allan Maconochie
Allan Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank
Allan Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank FRSE FSA was a Scottish advocate, academic jurist, judge and agriculturalist.-Life:The only son of Alexander Maconochie of Meadowbank, Midlothian, by his wife Isabella, daughter of the Rev. Walter Allan, minister of Colinton in the same county, was born on 26...
; and Palmer was defended by John Clerk
John Clerk, Lord Eldin
John Clerk, Lord Eldin was a Scottish judge.-Life:He was the eldest son of John Clerk of Eldin, and his wife, Susannah Adam, the sister of John Adam and Robert Adam. He was born in April 1757. Though originally intended for the Indian Civil Service, he was apprenticed to a writer to the signet...
, and Mr. Haggart. One of the first witnesses was George Mealmaker, who admitted that he was the author of the address, and stated that Palmer was opposed to its publication. Other officials of the ‘Friends of Liberty’ corroborated, and the evidence proved nothing relevant to the charge beyond the fact that Palmer had ordered one thousand copies to be printed, but had given no instructions as to distribution.
Both the judges summed up adversely, and, when the jury found the accused guilty, he was sentenced to seven years' transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
. The conviction of Palmer, following close on that of Thomas Muir
Thomas Muir (radical)
Thomas Muir was a Scottish political reformer.Muir was the son of James Muir, a hop merchant, and was educated at Glasgow Grammar School, before attending the University of Glasgow to study divinity...
, raised indignation among the Whig party throughout the kingdom; and during February and March 1794 attempts were made by the Earl of Lauderdale
James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale
James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale KT PC was Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, and a representative peer for Scotland in the House of Lords.-Early years:...
and Earl Stanhope
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope aka Charles Mahon, 3rd Earl Stanhope FRS was a British statesman and scientist. He was the father of the great traveller and Arabist Lady Hester Stanhope and brother-in-law of William Pitt the Younger. He is sometimes confused with an exact contemporary of his,...
in the House of Lords, and by Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
and Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
in the House of Commons, to obtain the reversal of the sentence. But the government, under William Pitt
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
, was too strong.
Exile
Palmer was detained in Perth Tolbooth for three months, then taken to London and placed on the hulk Stanislaus at WoolwichWoolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
, where he was put in irons for forced labour for three months. Palmer left in the Surprise along with the so-called Scottish Martyrs, Thomas Muir, William Skirving
William Skirving
William Skirving was one of the five Scottish Martyrs for Liberty. Active in the cause of universal franchise and other reforms inspired by the French Revolution, they were convicted of sedition in 1793-94, and sentenced to transportation to New South Wales.-Early life and farming:William Skirving...
and Maurice Margarot
Maurice Margarot
Maurice Margarot is most notable for being one of the founding members of the London Corresponding Society, a radical society demanding parliamentary reform in the late eighteenth century.-Early life:...
, embarking in February but sailing in April 1794, with a gang of convicts for Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
. The vessel arrived at Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, on 25 October, and as Palmer and his companions had letters of introduction to the governor, they were well treated, and had houses assigned to them.
Whilst serving his seven years of exile in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
Palmer did not suffer the usual convict restraint, and he engaged in business enterprises. Besides cultivating the land, the exiled reformers constructed a small vessel, and traded to Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
. At the end of 1799 Palmer and his friend James Ellis—who had followed him from Dundee as a colonist—combined with others to purchase a vessel in which they might return home, when Palmer's sentence expired in September 1800.
Journey and death
Palmer and Ellis intended to trade on the homeward way, and provisioned their vessel for six months; but their hopes of securing cargo in New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
were disappointed, and they were held up for half a year. They sailed to Tongatabu, where a war prevented them from landing. They steered for the Fiji Islands, where they were well received; but while making for Goraa
Goraa
Goraa and Gora are alternative spellings for a gotra among the Ror Kshatriyas of North India.- History :Gora and Badal are the central heroes of many "Bardic Tales" in the history of Rajputana. These two warriors played a great role and won eternal fame while trying to protect Rani Padmini from the...
, one of the group, their vessel struck a reef. Having refitted, they started for Macao
Mação
Mação is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 400.0 km² and a total population of 7,763 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of eight parishes, and is located in the Santarém District....
.
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, one of the Ladrone Islands, then under Spanish rule. Spain and Britain were then at war, and Spanish governor treated them as prisoners of war. When Palmer was attacked with dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
, he succumbed. He died on 2 June 1802, and was buried by the seashore. Two years later an American captain touched at the Isle of Guguan, and, having found out where Palmer had been buried, he had the body exhumed and taken on board his vessel, with the governor's permission. The remains were taken to Boston, Massachusetts, and reinterred in the cemetery there.
A monument was erected in the Old Calton Cemetery
Old Calton Cemetery
Old Calton Cemetery is a graveyard in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located on Calton Hill, to the north-east of the city centre. The burial ground was opened in 1718, and is the resting place of several notable Edinburgh persons, including philosopher David Hume, publisher William Blackwood and...
, Edinburgh, in 1844 to commemorate Palmer, Muir, and the other Scottish Martyrs.
Works
Palmer's publications were mostly magazine articles and pamphlets. To the Theological RepositoryTheological Repository
The Theological Repository was a periodical founded and edited from 1769 to 1771 by the eighteenth-century British polymath Joseph Priestley...
he contributed regularly in 1789–90, as Anglo-Scotus. In 1792 he published a controversial pamphlet entitled ‘An Attempt to refute a Sermon by H. D. Inglis on the Godhead of Jesus Christ, and to restore the long-lost Truth of the First Commandment,’ against Henry David Inglis (1757-1806). His ‘Narrative of the Sufferings of T. F. Palmer and W. Skirving’ was published in 1797. Several of his letters were published in the biographies of contemporary unitarians.
Family
His nephew, Charles Fyshe Palmer, was Member of Parliament for ReadingReading (UK Parliament constituency)
Reading was a parliamentary borough, and later a borough constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire....
from 1818 to 1834, when he retired.