Thomas Fyshe Palmer

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Thomas Fyshe Palmer ( July 1747 in Ichwell , Bedfordshire , England , † June 2, 1802 in Guam ) was an English Unitarian and political reformer. He was against the monarchy and campaigned for more civil rights in England, in the process he came into conflict with the authorities. In court, he was charged with sedition sentenced to seven years permanent deportation to Australia. He is one of the five so-called Scottish martyrs who campaigned for civil rights against the monarchy.

Early life

Thomas Palmer was the son of Henry Fyshe, who took the name Palmer on inheritance, and his wife Elizabeth, a daughter of James Ingram of Barnet. In his early childhood he was tutored by a priest. He later went to Eton College and from 1765 he studied at Queens College , Cambridge . There he completed his studies with a Bachelor of Arts , Master of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity , a theological degree. He was ordained in 1771 . He disagreed with the Church of England and converted to Unitarianism. For the next ten years he preached in Dundee and other Scottish cities. He wrote several treatises under the pseudonym Anglo-Scotus and became an advocate of liberal theses under the influence of the French Revolution and the American War of Independence . He was an opponent of the monarchy and advocated reform of parliamentarism. As a result, he came into conflict with the authorities and was deported to the Australian convict colony for seven years for sedition.

Convict Colony Australia

In April 1794 he was transported to Port Jackson on the Surprize , a ship of the Second Fleet , with three more so-called Scottish martyrs Thomas Muir of Huntershill , William Skirving and Maurice Margarot . On this ship, Palmer and Skirving were accused of preparing a mutiny. As punishment, they were deprived of amenities, such as a separate room for their stay, and were given half a ration of food for five months until their arrival.

The stay in Sydney was freer for political prisoners than for the other convicts who had to work hard. As a political prisoner he was able to buy a house with land and become economically independent. Agriculture, however, was not effective. Palmer became the partner of John Boston and James Ellis, two free settlers who arrived with him on the Surprize . Together they founded the trading company Boston & Co., one of Australia's early companies that traded between Australia and Norfolk Island , as well as along the Bass Strait . They brewed beer, made soap and built the first merchant ship to be keeled in Australia. The trade was probably conducted without the knowledge or permission of Governor John Hunter . Palmer was close friends with George Bass , the colony's chief doctor and explorer.

After his sentence had expired, he, Boston and Ellis bought the Spanish warship El Plumier and set sail for England in Sydney in January 1801 . They had many problems with this desolate ship and reached Guam in January 1802. There it was found that the ship was no longer seaworthy. Palmer died of cholera in Guam on June 2, 1802 . He was buried in a pirate cemetery on the beach. In 1804 his body was exhumed by an American captain and buried in Boston .

Aftermath

Palmer did not appreciate the methods employed by the English colonial government and criticized the methods of Governor Hunter. He described the life of the Aborigines sensitively and understood their life and customs. He was one of Australia's earliest pioneers in commerce, manufacturing and shipbuilding.

Palmer is counted among the Five Scottish Martyrs . The Political Martyrs Monument , a 27 meter high obelisk made of sandstone , which in the Old Calton Burial Ground on Calton Hill in Edinburgh was established in August 1844 will contribute, together with the four other Scottish martyrs his name. This is also the case on a metal memorial in Huntershill Village and also on another memorial at the Nunhead Cementary in Surrey .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Palmer, Thomas Fyshe (1747-1802) , on adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved November 13, 2016
  2. ^ A b Robert Hughes: The Fatal Shore, the Epic of Australia's founding . P. 180. Button. New York 1987. ISBN 0-394-50668-5
personal data
SURNAME Palmer, Thomas Fyshe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English Unitarian and political reformer
DATE OF BIRTH July 1747
PLACE OF BIRTH Ichwell , Bedfordshire , England
DATE OF DEATH June 2, 1802
Place of death Guam