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Mary Palmer (née Reynolds; 9 February 1716 – 27 May 1794) was a British author from Devon who wrote ''Devonshire Dialogue'', once considered the "best piece of literature in the vernacular of Devon." She was the mother of painter Theophila Gwatkin and sister of the artists Sir Joshua Reynolds and Frances Reynolds and of the pamphleteer Elizabeth Johnson.
File:CountessOfInchiquin ByThomasPhillips AfterJoshuaReynolds.jpg, Mary O'Brien, Countess of Inchiquin, by Thomas Phillips after original by Sir Joshua Reynolds,
''Life and times of Sir Joshua Reynolds''
London: J. Murray. * James Frederick Palmer. (1837)
''A Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect (in three parts) by A Lady to which is added a Glossary''
London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman. {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Mary English women writers 18th-century British women writers 18th-century British writers 1716 births 1794 deaths People from Plympton 18th-century English women 18th-century English people
Mary Palmer (née Reynolds; 9 February 1716 – 27 May 1794) was a British author from Devon who wrote ''Devonshire Dialogue'', once considered the "best piece of literature in the vernacular of Devon." She was the mother of painter Theophila Gwatkin and sister of the artists Sir Joshua Reynolds and Frances Reynolds and of the pamphleteer Elizabeth Johnson.
Origins
Mary was the eldest daughter and third child of Samuel Reynolds, master of the Plympton Earlgrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
, Devonshire, by his wife, Theophila Potter. She was seven years older than her brother Joshua Reynolds and her fondness for drawing is said to have influenced him when a boy. In 1740 she provided £60, half of the premium paid to Thomas Hudson the portrait-painter, for Joshua's pupilage, and 9 years later advanced money for his expenses in Italy.Lee, Elizabeth. Mary Palmer. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Vol.43. Joshua Reynolds painted two portraits of his sister Mary, one made about 1747, the other when she was aged about 60 years of age. Both portraits descended to her great-grandson, George Stawell of Great Torrington.
Their other siblings included the artist Frances Reynolds and Elizabeth Johnson.
''Devonshire Dialogue''
Mary Palmer was the author of ''Devonshire Dialogue'', considered by the '' Dictionary of National Biography'' in 1895 to be the "best piece of literature in the vernacular of Devon". It gives an account of the customs, characters and dialect unique to western England. Written in the middle of the 18th century, it was shown to friends and extracts were published in periodicals during her lifetime, without being attributed to her. A portion appeared in 1837 with a glossary by her grandsonJames Frederick Palmer
Sir James Frederick Palmer (7 June 1803 – 23 April 1871) was a medical practitioner, Victorian pioneer, first President of the Victorian Legislative Council and Mayor of Melbourne.
Early life
Palmer was born in Great Torrington, Devonshire ...
(1803–1871), son of John Palmer. A complete version was edited by her daughter Theophila Gwatkin in 1839, and another edition was published in 1869.
Marriage
On 18 July 1740 Mary Reynolds married John Palmer (1708–1770) ofGreat Torrington
Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same region) is a market town in Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to ...
, Devonshire, a lawyer who served thrice as Mayor of Great Torrington. In 1752 he built a house in Great Torrington now known as Palmer House
The Palmer House – A Hilton Hotel is a historic hotel in Chicago's Loop area. It is a member of the Historic Hotels of America program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Palmer House was the city's first hotel with elevators ...
, and it was there that Dr. Samuel Johnson stayed with the Palmers when visiting Devonshire with Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Children
John and Mary Palmer had five children, two sons and three daughters: * Joseph Palmer (1749–1829), Dean of Cashel, and author of ''A Four Months' Tour in France''. He resided at Beam House, Great Torrington. *John Palmer (1752–1827), Honorary Canon of Lincoln Cathedral *Mary II Palmer (1750–1820), who together with her sister Offy spent much time in London with their uncle, Sir Joshua Reynolds. He had great affection for them, painted their portraits, and bequeathed Mary nearly £100,000 in his will. In 1792 she married Murrough O'Brien, 5th Earl of Inchiquin (1726–1808), later 1st Marquis of Thomond. Mary died without issue in 1820 and left as her heir her brother John Palmer. *Theophila ('Offy') Palmer (1757–1848) married in 1781 Robert Lovell Gwatkin of Killiow, Cornwall. *Elizabeth Palmer (1758–1784) married William Salkeld at Great Torrington, Devon, on 26 April 1781.Petworth House
Petworth House in the parish of Petworth, West Sussex, England, is a late 17th-century Grade I listed country house, rebuilt in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s to the design of the architect Anthony Sa ...
, Sussex
File:MaryPalmerByJoshuaReynolds.png, Mary O'Brien, Countess of Inchiquin, painted before 1785 by her uncle Sir Joshua Reynolds. Collection of Fairfax House, City of York.
File:TheophilapalmerAfterReynolds.JPG, Theophila Palmer, mezzotint by John Raphael Smith of original by Sir Joshua Reynolds, published 1778, British Museum, 2006, U.214
File:TheophilaPalmerJohnRaphaelSmith1777AfterReynolds.jpg, Theophila Palmer, mezzotint by John Raphael Smith of original by Sir Joshua Reynolds. 1767, published 1777, National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG D2540.
Notes
References
Further reading
* Charles Robert Leslie, Tom Taylor. (1865)''Life and times of Sir Joshua Reynolds''
London: J. Murray. * James Frederick Palmer. (1837)
''A Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect (in three parts) by A Lady to which is added a Glossary''
London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman. {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Mary English women writers 18th-century British women writers 18th-century British writers 1716 births 1794 deaths People from Plympton 18th-century English women 18th-century English people