The family were based at Lucknow when the siege began on 30 June 1857 and Palmer, then just nine years old, was a pupil at La Martinière College.
After a few days he was attached to the battery of his brother-in-law, Captain Ralph Ouseley, and helped to carry ammunition and messages to the guards.
In 1866 Palmer joined the Thomason Civil Engineering College in Roorkee, north India.
By 1876 he was in charge of the Ganges division of the Etawah Canal and the next year he was involved in the relief work following the famine.
Palmer was in charge of the relief works during the great famine of 1896, for which he received the thanks of the Lieutenant-Governor and of the Government of India.