Samuel Palmer

Samuel Palmer (1741-1813) was educated at Daventry Academy (1758-62) under Dr. Caleb Ashworth, an admirer and correspondent of Anne Steele, who, escorted by Philip Furneaux, paid a visit to Broughton in 1763 to meet her. After a year as the afternoon preacher at the Independent (formerly Presbyterian) congregation at Mare Street, Hackney, Palmer became William Langford’s assistant at the Independent meeting at the Weigh-House, London. In 1767, Palmer returned to Mare Street (the congregation later moved to St. Thomas’s Square) and remained pastor until his death in 1813. Palmer’s most prominent publications were The Protestant Dissenters’ Catechism (1772) and The Nonconformist’s Memorial (2 vols, 1775-78).