John Palmer of Bath (1742 – 16 August 1818) was a theatre owner and instigator of the British system of mail coaches that was the beginning of the great British post office reforms with the introduction of an efficient mail coach delivery service in Great Britain during the late 18th century.

He met resistance from officials who believed that the existing system could not be improved, but eventually the Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Pitt, allowed him to carry out an experimental run between Bristol and London.

A service to Edinburgh was added the next year, and Palmer was rewarded by being made Surveyor and Comptroller General of the Post Office.

He was appointed Comptroller General of the Post Office on 11 October 1786, but there was some delay in paying him his share of the very substantial increase in revenue (which had risen from £51,000 in 1784 to £73,000 in 1787).

There was strong competition for the contracts because they provided a fixed regular income in addition to which the companies could charge fares for the passengers.

[4] The institution of mail coaches permanently revolutionised the British postal service, and Palmer was widely honoured for it, being presented with the freedom of numerous towns and cities.

Such was his influence with the Common Council of Bath (which in those days had the exclusive right to vote for the city's MPs) that he was able to stand down from Parliament in 1808 in the knowledge that his son Charles would be elected in his place.