Herbert Palmer (Puritan)

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Herbert Palmer

Herbert Palmer (1601–1647) was an English

John Milton's divorce tracts
.

Early life

He was a younger son of Sir Thomas Palmer, knt. (d. 1625), and grandson of Sir

Thomas Palmer (1540–1626) of Wingham, Kent. He was born at Wingham in 1601, and baptised on 29 March. His mother was the eldest daughter of Herbert Pelham of Crawley, Sussex. He learnt French almost as soon as English, and always spoke it fluently.[1]

On 23 March 1616 he was admitted fellow-commoner in

George Abbot for a Sunday afternoon lectureship at St. Alphage's, Canterbury. He acted as a spiritual adviser, and did much religious visiting, though without pastoral charge. Occasionally he preached to the French congregation.[1]

Political career

While strongly opposing the separatist party, he resisted the innovations favoured by

prebend at Canterbury.[1]

On the resignation of

Book of Sports. He got his parishioners to bind themselves against compact against drunkenness and sabbath-breaking. He took in sons of noblemen and gentry as boarders, under a resident tutor. Preaching a visitation sermon at Hitchin in 1638, he spoke freely against 'innovations'.[1]

On 19 July 1642 he was appointed by the

St. James's, Duke Place, and afterwards at the 'new church' in the parish of St. Margaret's, Westminster (represented since 1843 by Christ Church, Westminster). He was also one of the seven morning lecturers at Westminster Abbey. On 11 April 1644 he was appointed by Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester as Master of Queens' College, Cambridge, in place of Edward Martin. At the same time the entire fellowship of the college, strongly royalist, was expelled: Martin was already in the Tower of London. Manchester recruited nine new Fellows, seven being from Emmanuel College, Cambridge.[3] In his capacity as President Palmer was a disciplinarian, helped refugee students from Germany and Hungary, and gave benefactions to the college library.[1]

In the Westminster Assembly, of which he was one of the assessors pro tempore in January 1646[4] and September 1646,[5] he had much to do with the drawing up of the 'directory,' and was anxious for a clause about pastoral visitation, which was not inserted. As regards ordination, he differed both from presbyterians and independents, holding (with Richard Baxter) that any company of ministers may ordain, and that designation to a congregation is unnecessary. He joined John Lightfoot in pleading for private baptism. His chief work was in connection with the assembly's Shorter Catechism, though he did not live till its completion. To him was due the method by which each answer forms a substantive statement, not needing to be helped out by the question.[1]

He died in August or September 1647; he was unmarried. A portrait, in

Symon Patrick, a friend at college, calls him "a little crooked man", but says he was revered. He left a benefaction for poor scholars at Queens' College.[1]

Works

Since a book by

Alexander Grosart in the nineteenth century, a work on the "Christian Paradoxes" has usually been attributed to Palmer; formerly it was considered to be by Francis Bacon. It was printed in 1645 as The Characters of a believing Christian, in Paradoxes and seeming Contradictions.[6] Also from 1645 is a sabbatarian work with Daniel Cawdry.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Dictionary of National Biography; s:Palmer, Herbert (DNB00).
  2. ^ "Palmer, Herbert (PLMR615H)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ^ "The colleges and halls: Queens'". british-history.ac.uk.
  4. ^ Minutes of the Westminster Assembly - 1 January 1646
  5. ^ Minutes of the Westminster Assembly - 23 September 1646
  6. ^ A. B. Grosart, Lord Bacon not the author of "The Christian paradoxes": being a reprint of "Memorials of godliness and Christianity." With introd. memoir, and notes; https://archive.org/details/lordbacon00palmuoft. (1865).

References

External links

  • Hutchinson, John (1892). "Herbert Palmer" . Men of Kent and Kentishmen (Subscription ed.). Canterbury: Cross & Jackman. pp. 98–99.
Academic offices
Preceded by President of Queens' College, Cambridge
1649–1652 		Succeeded by
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