Deacon William Palmer 03

We have mentioned deacon William Palmer (1727-1807) previously. It is clear from this link here that he was a draper. What has also not been made clear is that Palmer was married to Mary Boswell (1729-1810) and so was brother-in-law to Beddome's wife, Elizabeth. A third sister, Hannah Palmer (c 1735-1765) was married to William's brother, Thomas Palmer (c 1715-1769) a draper based in Buckinghamshire and the owner of Stayesmore Manor in Carlton near Olney. (William moved from Olney in 1745.) Hannah Palmer unexpectedly died under 12 months from marrying Thomas. John Newton (1725-1807) mentions it in a diary entry for Thursday, October 17, 1765. Newton notes not only that the death was sudden but also remarks on the fact that a messenger was present in the house who had come the day before to say that Thomas Palmer's brother-in-law, John Andrews, the husband of Thomas's (and William's) sister Mary (b 1733) had died in Lutterworth. John and Mary had married in Olney in 1757. In Snooke's diary for 1769 he notes the death of Thomas Palmer in Olney. Newton later reveals that the death of the man in Lutterworth was, disturbingly, suicide by drowning.