Edwardian album

The collection consists of two albums of Edwardian photographs, purchased by the City Museum from a local dealer in 1980. The albums contain over 1000 photographs - many of Plymouth and local area interest, lots of naval subjects, and a number of photographs taken in and around London and Kent. There are also some photographs taken abroad during holidays or whilst on shore-leave.

Although the mounted photographs are small, they are mostly unique and good quality paper prints, many with captions. The content of both albums is now available online. There are just so many photographs and such a mix of subjects - often with unique social, local and maritime history interest. Please read on for more information - or just dip into the albums and step back into the Edwardian age.

About the photographer - John H. Palmer RN

A detailed study of each image and every caption has enabled the City Museum to identify the owner and compiler of the albums. This was John Henry Palmer R.N. (1865 to?1951). It seems likely that John Palmer took most of the photographs.

John Henry Palmer was born in Plymouth on 1 July 1865, the son of an R.N. seaman from Devonport. He joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman in 1881, and his record details many attachments to the Devonport training establishment HMS Defiance and, occasionally, HMS Cambridge. He became a Petty Officer in 1894. In 1901 Palmer was serving aboard HMS Tribune as Petty Officer 1st Class.

John H. Palmer is pictured above (left), with medals* and (right) aboard HMS Montagu, with camera.

(*Palmer's medals are his RN Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, Egypt Medal (1882 to 1889), the Khedive's Star (1882) and two Temperance medals)

In 1903, Palmer joined the Royal Naval Reserve at Devonport, but as a time served specialist in torpedo gunnery, Palmer appears to have retained an important training role; including service aboard the ill-fated HMS Montagu in 1905 to 1906 and an involvement with the subsequent attempts at salvage. Between 1916 and 1919, Palmer again served with R.N.R. at Devonport.

John Henry Palmer was twice married; first, in 1891, to Plymouth born Florence Elizabeth (1870 to 1897) and then, in 1903, to Chatham born Edith (1880 to 1951). In 1891 Palmer was living with wife Florence at 66 Cambridge Street, Plymouth. By 1911, now married to Edith, he had moved to 31 Clonmore Street, Southfields, Wandsworth, London. Evidently, the Palmer's returned to Plymouth - and it could be 'our' John Henry Palmer who died in 1951, aged eighty-six - then living on Ladysmith Road, Plymouth.

Summary of album's contents

The online catalogue of the Edwardian albums has used these broad subject headings:

Devon and Cornwall; Family; Holidays; London and South East; Royal Navy; Royal Palaces; Sports; 'Terra Nova'. There are sub-headings within these categories to help fine tune your search.

There are some subject 'cross-overs'. For example, the 'Devon and Cornwall' category is largely of Plymouth and Devonport subjects, but Plymouth interest photographs can also be found in the 'Royal Navy' and 'Sports' categories.

Please do not limit yourself to looking only for photographs of Plymouth and its environs. The album includes photographs of the Suffragettes marching in London, canal haulage and hop picking in Kent. The Palmers visited the Terra Nova before she sailed with Scott to the South Pole. The category 'Royal Navy (Shore Leave)' also includes a few photographs of Canada, the Caribbean, Ireland, Malta and Spain.

Devon and Cornwall

London and South East

Sports

Terra Nova

Royal Naval interest

The online catalogue category 'Royal Navy' has the following subject sub-headings: Boats; Funerals; On Board; Ship Launch; Ships; Shore Leave; Submarines;Training; Training Ships; Wreck of HMS Montagu. Once again there is some subject 'cross-over', so it pays to search carefully.

The scope of Palmer's R.N. career and interests, and his associated photographic opportunity, is reflected within the collection. Palmer was in Plymouth when HMS Hibernia, HMS Temeraire and HMS Lion were built and launched. He witnessed the funeral cortege for the crew of the Submarine A8. Torpedoes and torpedo training feature strongly.

Ships pictured - variously at sea, at anchor and sometimes in dry dock include: Albion (1898); Amphitrite (1898); Andromeda (1897); Apollo (1891); Argyll (1904); Blake (1889); Carnarvon (1903); Canopus (1897); Colossus (1910); Confiance (tug); Crescent (1892); Cumberland (1902); Defence (1907); 'Diadem Class' Cruiser; Duncan (1901); Exmouth (1901); Fervent (1895); Glory (1899); Hibernia (1905); Jupiter (1895); King Alfred (1901); Leander (1882); Linnet (tender); Lion (1910); Monmouth (1901); Niobe (1897); Ocean (1898); Patrol (1904); Proserpine (1896); 'River Class' Destroyer; Sentinel (1904); Sharpshooter (1888); Temeraire (1907); Theseus (1892); Torpedo Boats 86, 98, 99 100 and 111; Tribune (1891); Triumph (1905); Vindictive (1897). Named submarines include A7, C14 and C16, in company with HMS Pigmy.

HMS Montagu

Perhaps the most important naval group record Palmer's time aboard HMS Montagu (1901). There are numerous onboard and crew group photographs, plus an important series taken with the ship aground on Lundy Island in 1906 - and of the salvage attempts. It seems Palmer also submitted a selection of these wreck and salvage photographs to 'Jane's Fighting Ships' - who published eight of them in 1907.

It was Plymouth City Museum's acquisition of the brass 'M' of Montagu that had led to Plymouth’s initial added interest in purchasing the Palmer album.

Digitisation

These Edwardian albums have long been a 'treasure trove' for reference images; used in local history books and museum exhibitions etc. The content has also long deserved the wider on-line access now offered - thanks to 'Plymouth Pictured', a digitisation and cataloguing project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The digitisation was prioritised because of the poor condition of the albums. Digitisation has ensured that each image is now copied and catalogued individually, at the same time capturing the relevant page layouts and page order, complete with captions. As a result, the original album and photographs can be archived and are no longer subjected to regular handling.

Can you help?

If you have additional, or corrected, information relating to any of the photographs in the Palmer albums, or about John Henry Palmer himself, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery would love to hear from you. Please email museum@plymouth.gov.uk.

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