UNTIL 1989, the Church Times was owned, and often
edited, by successive generations of the Palmer family.
George Josiah Palmer (1828-92), the founder and first editor of
the Church Times, was the eldest son of a printer, also
called George Josiah Palmer (1801-81), and a strong supporter of
the Catholic revival in the Church of England in and from the
1830s.
The founder's mother, Charlotte (1801-38), was a daughter of
John Hatchard (1768-1849), an Evangelical publisher, and founder,
in 1797, of Hatchards, the Piccadilly bookseller.
Palmer followed his father's High Anglicanism, worshipping at
what became All Saints', Margaret Street, from 1839, although his
maternal grandfather contributed to his school fees, and secured
him a partnership in the printing company that he subsequently
worked for.
Palmer joined his father's printing business, and eventually
became its manager. He went on to establish his own business in
Bloomsbury, in 1852, but this was unsuccessful. He was forced to
move, in 1860, to smaller premises at 32 Little Queen Street,
Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Here, Palmer led a precarious business existence, where he
printed and became known for his High Church output. But this was
to cause tensions with the Evangelical Hatchards, for whom Palmer
was also printing. Consequently, orders from his relatives
gradually ceased. The link between the two families was not strong
enough to overcome such a fundamental ecclesiastical gulf, and as a
result his business declined further.
AGAINST this background, Palmer decided to launch his own
popular newspaper to cater for the Catholic interest within the
Church of England. From the Little Queen Street premises, he edited
and printed the first, eight-page edition of the Church
Times, which appeared on Saturday 7 February 1863.
Palmer had six sons. The eldest, George Hatchard Palmer
(1852-1875), the intended heir, was a journalist on the paper for a
while, but preferred to become a priest. He died a few months
before his ordination.
Consequently, three of Palmer's other sons, Henry, Hubert, and
Frederick (normally referred to as Fred or FB), took over from
their father on his retirement, and were to spend most or all of
their working lives with the Church Times.
Henry Palmer (1854-1930) was a priest, with seven young
children, when George Palmer was asked by Henry for the editorship,
or was offered it (it is unclear which) on his retirement. This
caused friction, initially, with Fred (1862-1947). There were no
lasting effects, however, and Henry remained editor until the First
World War.
Little is known about Henry. He had a gentle disposition,
echoing, apparently, a trait of St Francis, as birds were said to
settle on his shoulder. Completely in character, he sought no
special coverage (nor was any provided) in the Church
Times on his death. After Henry stood down from the editorship
at the end of 1914, the family did not resume editorship until
1968.
Little is also is known about Hubert Palmer (1857-1939), even
though, as the paper's chief reporter in the late 19th century, he
covered the anti-Ritualistic trials and the jailing of priests
which arose from the Public Worship Regulation Act (1874).
Fred Palmer (1862-1947) joined the paper in September 1879, soon
after leaving school, starting as a typesetter (a skill he drew on
during the General Strike of 1926). It was a lifelong commitment,
and he maintained some involvement with the business until his
death. In 1914, he became the sole proprietor of the Church
Times when he bought out Henry and Hubert.
FRED made the enterprise a public limited company in 1934. He
was devoted to the newspaper. Having proposed to his second cousin,
Ethel Stevenson, on a Wednesday (and secured her acceptance), he
left her immediately for the office, as this was the day when the
paper went to press. Nevertheless, he used office staff to deliver
love letters to his fiancée in Streatham, as he did not trust the
post.
As his wife, Ethel discussed the paper's contents critically
every Sunday afternoon, and was herself a director of the
Church Times from 1934 until her death in 1952, by which
time Christopher, their only child, had succeeded his father as
managing director.
Christopher Palmer (1896-1969) had started working for the
newspaper in 1922, undertaking assignments such as covering the
Oberammergau Passion Plays of that year and 1930. But he preferred
the business side of the company.
He took over day-to-day management responsibilities from his
father in 1940, and therefore steered the paper through the Second
World War, alongside fire-watching duties.
In the post-war era, it was Christopher who appointed Edward
Heath, the future Conservative Prime Minister, as news editor of
the Church Times. Heath held the post between February
1948 and September '49, although it did not appear in his Who's
Who entry.
Christopher Palmer handed over the management of the paper to
his son Bernard in 1957, although he remained chairman until 1962.
He was on the governing body of the SPCK, and was a great
traveller, besides being an enthusiastic cyclist and
bee-keeper.
DR BERNARD PALMER (born 1929) recalls memories of his family,
and visiting the newspaper's offices from childhood. But it was as
managing director that he entered what he calls the "turbulent"
1960s; and he left the decade as editor.
But Bernard held the position until 1989, when the Church
Times passed from family control to Hymns Ancient &
Modern, a Christian charitable trust. His contributions were
many.
There were to be many lasting legacies - not least the
continuing broadening of the paper's focus, coverage, and appeal.
But there is a more personal legacy, too. The dedication in his
Gadfly for God: A history of the "Church Times" is to his
wife, Jane, whom, but for this newspaper (on which she was briefly
a reporter), he would never have met.