Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet
,
SL
(1598 ? 5 May 1670) was an
English
lawyer and politician.
Early life and family
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Born in
East Carlton, Northamptonshire
, he obtained a
BA
from
Christ's College, Cambridge
, in 1616 and a
MA
1619.
[1]
He was admitted to the
Middle Temple
on 14 June 1616 and called to the bar on 23 May 1623. He married Margaret Moore, daughter of Francis Moore, a
serjeant-at-law
of
Berkshire
, by whom he had six children:
Career
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Palmer was elected to the
Long Parliament
in 1640, representing
Stamford
. He was a manager of
Strafford
's
impeachment
, giving advice on points of law and the procedural rights of the accused. He joined in the protestation of 3 May 1641 in defence of the Protestant religion, and the act for prolongation of the Parliament on 11 May 1641. After the latter, he joined
Hyde
and
Falkland
in supporting the
King
in his opposition to his new council. Upon the passage of the
Grand Remonstrance
, he rose to protest against
John Hampden
's motion to print it, creating a tremendous tumult. The next day, he referred to the majority as "A Rabble of inconsiderable persons, set on by a juggling Junto," and was committed to the
Tower
for a few weeks. After the passage of the
Militia Ordinance
, he withdrew from Parliament to become
Commissioner of Array
for
Lincolnshire
.
In 1643, he was awarded a
DCL
by the
University of Oxford
, and was a member of the
royalist Parliament
that met there in 1644. Appointed
Solicitor General
in 1645, he was captured at the
fall of Oxford
and compounded his estates for £500 in September 1648. He practised law in
London
during the 1650s. Palmer was committed to the Tower again on 9 June 1655 on suspicion of raising forces against
Cromwell
, but was released the following year.
Palmer prospered at the
Restoration
, being made
Attorney General
on 31 May 1660, and
bencher
of the Middle Temple the next month. He was knighted on 1 June 1660, created a
baronet
on 7 June 1660, and
serjeant-at-law
in October 1660.
During this period, he was active as counsel to the crown and in prosecutions, particularly that of the
regicides
in 1662. A strong supporter of the
royal prerogative
, he joined with Hyde, now Earl of Clarendon, who was assembling a collaboration to enact legislation. Geoffrey obtained a seat at
Ludgershall
for his elder son, Geoffrey, in March 1661 by forcing the sheriff to deliver the election writ to his agent, but Geoffrey died in October; his son Lewis was elected for
Higham Ferrers
at the same election. He briefly enjoyed an appointment as
Chief Justice of Chester
from 1661 to 1662, and was
recorder
of
Boston
from 1662 until his death on 5 May 1670, in his house at
Hampstead Fields
,
Middlesex
. His funeral was attended by a large number of nobles and judges, and he was interred at East Carlton. His monument is in the south transept of St Peter's Church, East Carlton.
[2]
His estates included the manors of
East and West Carlton
, Northamptonshire, which his family had held from the 15th century and the
Carlton Curlieu Hall
estate, Leicestershire, which he purchased in 1664.
[3]
References
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