Alfred Neobard Palmer was trained and worked as a chemist, writes contributor Christopher Williams, first in East Anglia, then in Manchester, where he met his wife, a Welsh woman, Esther (Ettie) Francis. He moved with her to Wrexham in 1880 to work as a chemist for a firm called Zoedone, which manufactured mineral water. In 1884-6 he was the chief chemist at Brymbo Steelworks, but for most of his time in Wrexham he lived on his income from private practice, and what he earned from his published works.
Palmer had been interested in local history while in East Anglia, but this became his chief interest after his move to Wrexham. Within three years of his arrival, he published a much-praised work called 'The Town, Fields and Folk of Wrexham in the Time of James the First' (1883), based mainly on a survey of Bromfield and Yale by John Norden, 1620. In the 35 years that he lived in the town he wrote 11 books, most of which he published himself, and over 20 articles on archaeology and local history, as well as doing the fieldwork for three of the county inventories of the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments in Wales. He has been called 'the father of Welsh local historical studies'. The books that he published were bound in distinctive dark green covers, and are collectors' items today. Many of them relating to the town and the surrounding area were reprinted in recent years by Bridge Books of Wrexham.
His great contribution to local history was that, as a scientist, Palmer insisted on basing his work on firm evidence, mainly on his examination of original documents. He used early records in the Public Record Office in London, but his main sources were the parish registers and records of the area, and early deeds and documents in country houses such as Acton Park and Erddig. His books are not easy reading, as he himself admitted, and of course some of his conclusions have had to be modified in the light of research on the wealth of documents now made accessible in record offices. Nevertheless they are a quarry for the local historian today, an essential source that has to be consulted for all sorts of enquiries. Perhaps his most popular work is his 'History of the Town of Wrexham' (1893), in which he provided an outline history of every building in the old part of the town.
Palmer died at his home, Ingle Nook, in Bersham Road, Wrexham, on 6 March 1915, and is buried in the cemetery opposite. In 1922 a bronze memorial to him was unveiled in the town library. This is now displayed in the A. N. Palmer Centre for Local Studies and Archives in Wrexham Museum in Regent Street, where the manuscripts of many of his books are held.
Further details of Palmer's life and work can be found in two articles in the Denbighshire Historical Society Transactions, by A. H. Dodd, in Vol 15 (1966), and by C. J. Williams in Vol 46 (1997). There is also an account of him by A. H. Dodd in the 'Dictionary of Welsh Biography'.
In this extract from his 'History of the Town of Wrexham' (1893) Palmer describes the Market Hall in High Street, now the Butcher's Market:
"The present Market Hall front was erected in 1848, from the design of Mr Penson. Three half-timbered houses stood formerly on its site. In the first of the three lived Mr Richard Jones, ironmonger, and he was succeeded by Mr Thomas Jones, flax-dresser, who died December 8th, 1837, and was buried in the Dissenter's Graveyard. I think he was the last but one of the Wrexham flax-dressers, once so numerous. The second of the three houses was occupied in 1715, by Mr Thomas Edgeworth, hatter or castor-maker, and after the death of his widow in 1743, by Mr Thomas Jones, who was also a hatter. Then in 1784 it was converted into a public house called 'The Bear' or 'The White Bear' and so continued until it was pulled down. It belonged in 1808 to Mr Rogers of Chester, and in 1810 and after to Mr Dunbabin. The third of the houses was occupied between 1728 and 1748 by Mr Thomas Hampson, clockmaker, and known as 'The Clock'. Some clocks with Mr Hampson's name upon them are still in existence and very good they are. Mr Hampson was buried April 12th, 1755. In 1756 I find this house described as an inn - 'The Oak' or 'Royal Oak' - and so it remained until it was cleared away. I think it must have been in one of these three houses, then occupied by Hugh Blanthorne, that the plague broke out in 1665, being brought thither by a traveller from London who lodged there."
Further information
The A. N. Palmer Centre for Local Studies and Archives, named after the famous historian, is located in Wrexham Museum, and is the place in Wrexham to do your research on local history and family history. For further information please call the centre on 01978 317973 or email localstudies@wrexham.gov.uk
Prolific writer on the history of Wrexham.
