Peter Palmer (died 1621)

Peter Palmer (died 1621) was an English-born judge who served in Ireland for many years, into extreme old age.[1]

He was born at Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire,[1] son of William Palmer (died 1595) and his wife Joyce, and grandson of Thomas Palmer.[2] The Palmers leased the main mansion in Waddesdon as tenants of the Crown.[2] Peter entered Lincoln's Inn as a student in 1562, but was not called to the Bar until 1579.[1] He was fined for not acting as steward at the Reader's dinner in Lincoln's Inn in 1583.[1]

Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, Palmer's birthplace

He was sent to Ireland as second justice of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) in 1600.[1] Patrick Fitzgerald, the former Recorder of Dublin, had been appointed to the Common Pleas earlier the same year, (having acted as a temporary judge for several years)[3] but for reasons which are not clear Fitzgerald's permanent appointment to the Common Pleas was simply disregarded.[4]

After the establishment of the assize system in Ireland, Palmer was diligent in going on circuit, even in old age.[1] When the King's Inns, which had been moribund for some time, was revived in 1607, Palmer was one of several judges who became members, to boost its prestige.[5] He was party to the deed of 1612 by which the English Crown vested "Blackfriars" (now Blackhall Place) in the High Court judges as Trustees of the King's Inns.[6]

Although he was described as an old man by 1611, he continued to go on assize in Leinster until 1618.[1] He died in 1621, still in office, and is buried in St. Werburgh's Church, Dublin.[1] His widow, whose family name was Newce, died in 1625.[1] They appear to have had no children, and his heirs sold the Waddesdon property in 1623.[2]

St Werburgh's Church