Basic Biographical Details
| Name: | John Palmer |
| Designation: | |
| Born: | 28 January 1785 |
| Died: | 23 August 1846 |
| Bio Notes: | John Palmer was born on 28 January 1785 into a humble family in Bishop Middleham, County Durham. When he was sixteen he was apprenticed to his uncle who was a mason in Durham. At the age of nineteen in 1804 he was employed to work at Scone Palace which was being built to the designs of William Atkinson. By this stage he had taught himself to read and write and with Atkinson’s help he learnt the basics of architecture. He was in London between 1806 and 1808 and thereafter went to assist in the construction of Yarmouth Naval Hospital. In 1811 he was back in London and moved to Manchester in 1813 where he opened business on his own account and ran a successful practice as a church architect. He built at least two Roman Catholic churches (he was a Catholic himself) but also several for the Church of England. He was the author of several books on antiquarian subjects and various papers which are in the Chetham Library and Manchester Archives. Palmer had married in Yarmouth. He died in Chorlton-on-Medlock where he lived towards the end of his life on 23 August 1846. Publications: ‘The History of the Siege of Manchester by the King’s Forces’ (1822 ‘Guide to the Collegiate Church of Manchester’ (1829) ‘History of the Foundations in Manchester’ (1834) [in collaboration with Dr S Hibbert-Ware and W R Whatton. He contributed the detailed description of the Collegiate Church in volume ii.] |
Buildings and Designs
| This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details): | |||||||
| Date started | Building name | Town, district or village | Island | City or county | Country | Notes | |
 | 1804 | Scone Palace | Scone | Perthshire | Scotland | Worked as a mason constructing the building to the designs of Atkinson. | |
References
Bibliographic References
| The following books contain references to this : | ||||||
| Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | |
| Colvin, Howard | 2008 | A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 | London: YUP. 4th edition | ||
| Gillow, J | 1885 | Bibliogrpahical Dictionary of English Catholics | volume v, pp238-9 | ||
| Procter, R W | 1874 | Memorials of Manchester Streets | pp191-2 | ||