| Sir James Frederick Palmer1803-1871
President: 1856-1870 Legislative Council: 1856-1870
In 1845-46 Palmer was mayor of Melbourne. He also served in the New South Wales Legislative Council and the Victorian Legislative Council which existed prior to responsible government, and was both Speaker of the latter and a member of the select committee which drafted the Constitution. He was elected to the new Legislative Council in 1856 as one of the members for Western Province, and became its first President. He was knighted in 1857, and remained President until 1870 when he did not contest the election due to ill health. Palmer had been associated with the Melbourne Hospital from its earliest origins in 1845, and was also a prominent supporter of the government education system. He died at Burwood in 1871. |
James Palmer was born in Devon, England, and became a surgeon
practising in London. In 1831 he married Isabella Gunning and in 1840, after several
professional disappointments, migrated to Sydney with his wife. He registered as a medical
practitioner in 1842 but soon moved to Melbourne and became a cordial manufacturer and
wine merchant. Between 1847 and 1854 he also engaged in pastoral interests with Francis
Murphy, who was to become the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.