Palmer, Charles John, FSA

Number 4 South Quay, Great Yarmouth, had been the home of Charles John Palmer.  He was an influential figure in Victorian Great Yarmouth.  His contribution was outstanding and he spent much time in charitable and voluntary work.  After his death there was considerable pressure to establish a permanent memorial to him, but this came to nothing.  In 1830, Palmer was appointed the murager for the town and for many years he was the government’s appointee as the Receiver of Wrecks.  Charles Palmer was elected as an alderman of Great Yarmouth and was twice its Mayor, in 1854 and 1855.  In addition to this public duty, he was Great Yarmouth’s chief magistrate in 1835, 1854 and 1855.  He also served as a Deputy Lieutenant for Suffolk.  Palmer was the instigator and solicitor for the Victoria Building Company, which was concerned with turning waste ground into superior housing. The company built Kimberley Terrace, Brandon Terrace, Camperdown and Albert Square.  In 1830, Palmer was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquarians.  He was very active in the preservation of buildings in Great Yarmouth, especially in saving the Tolhouse from demolition.  Palmer achieved considerable success with his literary works, especially The Perlustration of Great Yarmouth (1874) and A Continuation of Manship's History of Yarmouth (1856).  In 1853, he published, from the original manuscript which had just been discovered, A Book of the Foundation and Antiquitye of the Town of Great Yarmouth, thought to have been written by Henry Manship. The original manuscript had been written in 1619.