Life

His family was from Tottington

Great Tottington

Great Tottington is a moated manor farm near Maidstone in the English county of Kent. It is also the site of a spring, around which are scattered numerous sarsen stones which may be the remains of a Neolithic monument and part of the Medway megaliths. Further stones lie around the farmyard...

 by Aylesford

Aylesford

Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, 4 miles NW of Maidstone in England.Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. One pub, a Post Office and four small independent shops remain...

. He is first mentioned as commanding a squadron of the queen's ships on the coast of Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

 in 1576. From that time he was constantly employed in the queen's service. In 1580 and following years he was a commissioner for the repair and maintenance of Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 harbour. In 1587 he had command of a squadron before Dunkirk, and in 1588, in the HMS Antelope

HMS Antelope (1546)

The Antelope was originally built as a galleass of the English Tudor navy, launched in 1546. She was rebuilt three times, in 1558 , 1581 and 1618. She thus served in various forms from the time of King Henry VIII to the English Civil War...

, commanded in the third post under Lord Henry Seymour

Lord Henry Seymour

Lord Henry Seymour was a younger son of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Anne Stanhope. Aboard HMS Rainbow he commanded the 'Narrow Seas' Squadron of ships that took part in the Battle of Gravelines against the Spanish Armada in 1588...

 in the "Narrow Seas", against the Spanish Armada

Spanish Armada

This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...

. When this squadron joined the fleet under the lord admiral before Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

 on 27 July, Palmer was sent to Dover to order out vessels suitable to be used for fireships. Before these could be sent, fireships, hastily improvised, drove the enemy from their anchorage, and Palmer, rejoining Seymour, took apart in the battle of Gravelines on the 29th. When Seymour, with the squadron of the Narrow Seas, was ordered back from the pursuit of the Spanish, Palmer returned with him, and continued with him and afterwards with the fleet till the end of the season. He remained in command of the winter guard on the coast of Flanders.

Through the next year he continued to command in the Narrow Seas, and in September convoyed the army across to Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

. He was employed in similar service throughout the war, his squadron sometimes cruising to the coast of Cornwall, or to Ireland, but remaining for the most part in the Narrow Seas, and in 1596 blockading Calais. On 20 December 1598 he was appointed comptroller of the navy

Third Sea Lord

The Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy was formerly the Naval Lord and member of the Board of Admiralty responsible for procurement and matériel in the British Royal Navy...

, in place of William Borough

William Borough

William Borough was a British naval officer and the younger brother of Stephen Borough. He participated in the British attack on Cádiz in 1587...

, and in 1600 had command of the defences of the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

. In 1601 he again commanded on the coast of Holland.

After the peace he continued in the office of comptroller till his death. He died on 20 November 1611 at Howlets in Bekesborne, an estate which he had bought.

Family

He was twice married: first to Jane, daughter of Edward Isaac, and widow of Nicholas Sidley; secondly, to Dorothy, nee Scott, and widow of Thomas Hernden. By his first wife he had two sons, of whom the younger, Henry, succeeded his father as comptroller of the navy by a grant in reversion of 17 August 1611. Howlets was left to Palmer's stepson, Isaac Sidley, who made it over to his half-brother Henry.