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William was born in a large house in Station Road, Rugeley on 6th
August 1824, the sixth of seven children born to Sarah and Joseph
Palmer.
When
he was still a boy he was playing on the banks of to the canal, that ran
past his home, when he accidentally fell in. A courageous school friend
jumped in and rescued him from drowning.
His
education
At the age of ten he went as a day scholar to Rugeley Free Grammar School
where he was taught by the Reverend Thomas Bonney M.A. The school was in
the next building to Old Mrs. Palmer's house. There is one account that
says that in school Palmer was a bully and always had too much money. He
would rob his sisters pockets and take from his mother's purse. Other accounts
say that he was - "the best of Mrs. Palmer's Bunch".
His
father was a strict man but when he died William was twelve years old and
from then on his mother just let him run wild.
He
left school when he was seventeen. (See His Employment)
As
a child William lived in the house that his father had built for them beside
the canal and opposite St. Augustine's Church. The house still stands beside
the ruined Old Chancel the former parish church for Rugeley but a road
has now been built beside the house on the land between the house and the
canal.
Old Mrs. Palmer remained living in this house after the trial and the execution
until her death in 1861.
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Introduction
