Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne, PC, FRS (27 November 1812 – 4 May 1895) was an English lawyer and politician.

While at Oxford he became a close friend of the hymnist and theologian, Frederick William Faber.

In 1861, Palmer was appointed Solicitor General in the government of Lord Palmerston and was returned unopposed for Richmond, receiving the customary knighthood.

In 1863 he was promoted Attorney General, continuing in office under Lord Russell after Palmerston's death in 1865, until the government's defeat in 1866.

Despite his continuing opposition to the government on Irish and Church issues, Palmer was appointed on 15 October 1872 as Lord Chancellor under Gladstone.

He was created Viscount Wolmer, of Blackmoor in the County of Southampton, and the Earl of Selborne in 1882.

After the fall of Gladstone in 1885, Selborne became increasingly alarmed by perceived radical tendencies within the Liberal Party.

[9] Their son William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne later became a prominent Unionist politician.