Robert Palmer (British writer)

The Honourable Robert Palmer
Palmer in 1911
Born	(1888-09-26)26 September 1888 London, England
Died	21 January 1916(1916-01-21) (aged 27) Hanna defile, Ottoman Empire
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1913–1916
Rank	Captain
Unit	Hampshire Regiment
Known for	Writing and legal work
Battles/wars	First World War Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad Battle of Wadi Battle of Hanna
Memorials	Basra Memorial, altarpiece at Winchester College
Alma mater	University College, Oxford

The Honourable Robert Stafford Arthur Palmer (26 September 1888 – 21 January 1916) was a British Army officer, barrister and poet. Palmer was born into an aristocratic family. He was the son of William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne, grandson of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, and cousin to Sir Edward Grey. Palmer was educated at Colet Court and Winchester College and developed an interest in the Church of England and law at an early age. He won a scholarship to University College, Oxford, where he studied classical moderations and literae humaniores (classics). At university he was president of the Oxford University Church Union and the Oxford Union debating society. In between studies he volunteered at the Oxford House Church of England settlement and campaigned in support of the Liberal Unionist Party.

After graduation Palmer made a trip to India, an account of which was published as A Little Tour in India. From 1912 he served as governor at Edghill House in Sydenham, a school providing education to the poor. He turned down an offer to become dean of Divinity at New College, Oxford, to pursue a career in law. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1913 and in 1914 prosecuted his first case on the Western Circuit.

The First World War interrupted Palmer's short legal career. He had joined one of the Hampshire Regiment's Territorial Force battalions as a second lieutenant in 1913 and was mobilised shortly before Britain joined the war. He was promoted to lieutenant and posted with his unit to India where he received the temporary rank of captain. He commanded a draft of men sent for service with another of his regiment's battalions in the Mesopotamian campaign in August 1915. A football injury prevented him from accompanying his men during the advance on Kut. Palmer recovered sufficiently by the end of December to join the force sent to try to relieve the siege of Kut, where the first force had been surrounded. He was killed during the defeat at the Battle of Hanna. A poem Palmer had composed on the campaign was published in The Times shortly before his death. He is remembered on the Basra Memorial and by an altarpiece at Winchester College.