Career
Born in Melbourne, he received a primary education before becoming a bank clerk and later a flour-miller and grazier. He sat on Euroa Shire Council and was the leader of the Kyabram Reform Movement, a conservative rural group that aimed to reduce the number of state parliamentarians. In 1906 he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Echuca, defeating the sitting member for the abolished Moira, Thomas Kennedy, by just 32 votes.
Palmer joined the Commonwealth Liberal Party in 1909 and the Nationalist Party in 1917, and held Echuca until his death in 1919.