George Josiah Palmer

[1][2] Palmer was born on 30 June 1828 in Clapham, then in Surrey, the eldest son of George Josiah Palmer, a printer of Savoy Street, Strand, London, and his wife, Charlotte, who was the daughter of John Hatchard, founder of Hatchards bookshop in Piccadilly.

[3] The year after his marriage, Palmer acquired a small bookselling and printing business in Bloomsbury, however after eight unprofitable years he had to sell out and move to smaller premises at 32 Little Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, later to become the home of the Church Times.

Like The Union it was founded to promote the work and views of the Tractarians, who were then in opposition to the established church.

The paper proved successful, soon outselling its Anglican competitor newspapers, and circulation climbed throughout Palmer's lifetime.

[3] Palmer died on 27 January 1892 at 3 Victoria Crescent, Ramsgate[3] and was buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery.