Person:John Palmer (128)

John Palmer's move to Rothesay followed the disruption in the Church of Scotland in 1843. The Church of Scotland was an established church and Presbyterian. A group within the church decided that the clergy in each parish should be chosen by the congregation rather than by the "heritors", the people who financed the upkeep of the church and appointed and paid the minister. The group that broke away, the Free Kirk, included about one-third of all the congregations throughout Scotland.

Rothesay was a town where more than half the congregation decided to form a Free Kirk. Among those who left the established churh were the minister and the teacher in the church-run school. The remnant of the High Church school was left without these vital members of staff and a search proceeded for replacements. One of the Rothesay heritors was the Second Marquess of Bute whose family also held lands in the vicinity of Southwick in Kirkcudbrightshire. Hence, the young Southwick schoolmaster with a wife and family of five children in a country school was invited to take up the post in the town.

John Palmer remained teaching at Rothesay for the rest of his life, taking on other voluntary positions such as Clerk of the Session for the church, and, later, becoming an elder. When civil registration arrived in 1855 he was appointed Burgh Registrar. In addition, he was an enumerator for the censuses of 1851, 1861 and 1871. In April 1881, although not in good health and on the brink of retiring from teaching, he was Census Registrar.

The Rothesay school grew during John Palmer's sojourn. By the 1860s he had a staff of about half a dozen and there was a campaign to build a larger school. The school was not completed until 1877 when staff and pupils (including his own young grandson and namesake) marched through the town from the old school to the new.

When, in early 1881, John Palmer notified the school board of his intention to retire, the town decided to hold a "jubilee" or celebration for him. This was scheduled for the first Saturday in June. Such was the state of his health that he had been down in Derbyshire taking the waters at Buxton and just returned to Rothesay, but was unable to attend his jubilee. He died the following week, aged 69. (Source: The Buteman newspaper)

(sources: The Buteman (weekly Rothesay newspaper), various issues from 1881 and also from 1878; a biography of John Palmer written by Jess Sandeman for a local historical group in the 1980s; Rothesay High Church Session Records 1843-1881).

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Scotland. Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. (Ancestry.com)
   Original data: Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

   Name: John Palmer, male, age: 0
   Birth Date: 23 Aug 1811
   Baptism Date: 31 Aug 1811
   Baptism Place: Balmaghie, Kirkcudbright, Scotland
   Residence Place: Balmaghie, Kirkcudbright, Scotland in 1811
   Father: William Palmer, Mother: Margaret Neilson

   Baptismal record also seen in person at the Scottish Record Office in Edinburgh. Formal registration number not recorded.

2. ↑ Scotland. Census Office. Census returns of Scotland for 1841. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1952)
   Kirkcudbrightshire, Colvend (parish 861), Enum Dist 6, page 13.

   Household Schedule: Cushat Grove, Southwick, Colvend, Kirkcudbrightshire
   John Palmer, 29, schoolmaster, born in county
   Mary Palmer, 27, born in county
   William Palmer, 5, born in county
   John Palmer, 3, born in county
   Jannet Palmer, 2, born in county
   Margaret Palmer 2 months, born in county

3. ↑ Scotland. Census Office. Census Returns of Scotland for 1851
   Buteshire, Rothesay (parish 558), Enum Dist 21, page 1, schedule 1.

   Household Schedule: 4 Bishop Street, Rothesay
   John Palmer, head, mar, 39, burgh & parochial schoolmaster, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Balmaghie
   Mary Palmer, wife, mar, 37, [no occ'n], born Kirkcudbrightshire, Colvend
   John Palmer, son, 13, scholar, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Colvend
   Janet Palmer, dau, 11, scholar, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Colvend
   Margaret Palmer, dau, 9, scholar, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Colvend
   Isabella Palmer, dau, 6, scholar, born Buteshire, Rothesay
   Robert Palmer, son, 4, born Buteshire, Rothesay
   Thomas G Palmer, son, 9mths, born Buteshire, Rothesay
   Elizabeth Clifford, serv, u, 17, household servant, born Lanarkshire, Glasgow

   Page number cut off on image, but schedule number is recorded as "1", so assumed to be page 1. It is possible that John Palmer was the enumerator. The Palmer residence was the flat above the schoolrooms, accessed from an internal stair at the back of the building.
   
   The address of 4 Bishop Street does not match with later addresses, but it is assumed that in 1851 the houses were enumerated from the opposite end of the street. There was also a period which may have included this census when the schoolhouse was under renovation and the Palmer family had to move temporarily to other accommodation.

   Rothesay censuses taken from ScotlandsPeople website.

4. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1861 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh)
   Buteshire, Rothesay (parish 558), Enum Dist 21, page 4, schedule 26.

   Household Schedule: 38 Bishop Street, Rothesay
   John Palmer, head, mar, 49, born schoolmaster, Kirkcudbrightshire, Balmaghie
   Mary Palmer, wife, mar, 47, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Southwick
   Margaret Palmer, dau, unm, 19, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Southwick
   Isabella Palmer, dau, unm, 16, born Buteshire, Rothesay
   Robert Palmer, son, 14, scholar, born Buteshire, Rothesay
   Samuel Palmer, son, 8, scholar, born Buteshire, Rothesay
   Mary E Palmer, dau, 4, scholar, born Buteshire, Rothesay

   Rothesay censuses taken from ScotlandsPeople website.

5. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1871 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh)
   Buteshire, Rothesay (parish 558), Enum Dist 21, page 4, schedule 24.

   Household Schedule 24. (21 numbered as 27 Bishop Street), the parish schoolhouse
   John Palmer, head, mar, 59, teacher, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Balmaghie
   Mary Palmer, wife, mar, 57, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Southwick
   Margaret Palmer, dau, unm, 30, teacher's daughter, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Southwick
   Mary Palmer, dau, unm, 14, teacher's daughter, born Buteshire, Rothesay

   Rothesay censuses taken from ScotlandsPeople website.

6. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1881 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh)
   Buteshire, Rothesay (parish 558), Enum Dist 20, page 10, schedule 54.

   Household Schedule: 37 Bishop Street
   John Palmer, head, widr, 69, teacher, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Balmaghie
   John Palmer, son, widr, 43, mariner, born Kirkcudbrightshire, Southwick
   Mary Palmer, dau, unm, 23, [no occ'n], born Bute, Rothesay
   John G. Palmer, grandson, 8, scholar, Bute, Rothesay
   Janet H. Maitland, serv't, unm, 19, domestic servant, born Lanarkshire, Glasgow

   Rothesay censuses taken from ScotlandsPeople website.

7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Teaching career.

   (1) Kirkgunzeon, Kirkcudbrightshire: first teaching post circa 1830
   
   (2) Southwick, Kirkcudbrightshire: followed his brother Robert at the school there in 1829. (At which time his brother moved to Currie in Midlothian with his wife and 5 children.)
   
   (3) Rothesay, Bute: moved to Rothesay in 1844 following his appointment as burgh schoolmaster, remained in that post for the rest of his life.

8. ↑ ^8.0 8.1 Baptismal record also seen in person at the Scottish Record Office in Edinburgh. Formal registration number not recorded.
9. ↑ John Palmer's gravestone still exists in the cemetery at Rothesay High Church, however it has been very badly weathered over the 140 years since it was erected. It is a memoral not only to him, but to his wife and all their children that predeceased him.