Born in King Street, South Shields on 3rd November 1822.
In 1851 Charles and his brother George started a shipyard near Jarrow, which at that time
was a pit village which only had a population of about 1,000 people.
The first iron vessel built at this yard was a paddle tug called Northumberland, launched in 1852.
On 30th June 1852 the John Bowes was launched from here. John Bowes was the first iron screw collier
to be built and could carry 650 tons of coal. This experiment was a complete success and
revolutionised the way coal could be carried to London. John Bowes could be loaded within
four hours, travel to London in forty eight hours and return to the Tyne within twenty four
hours. The round trip could be sucessfully completed within five days. Previous to this two
average sized collier brigs would take more than a month to complete this much work.
The yard went from strength to strength - around 1000 ships were built in Jarrow at Palmer's
Shipyard from 1852 until 1933.
Palmer also revolutionised the shipbuilding industry by using rolled armour plate instead of
forged armour plate. At Jarrow the first rolled armour plate mill was used to manufacture
"Palmer's Rolled Plates".
Sir Charles was also one of the first to realise the value of Cleveland ironstone, which was smelted
in blast furnaces at Jarrow from 1860.
He introduced the co-operative principle for the benefit of his workmen
and promoted the welfare of Jarrow.
From 1874 he was Member of Parliament for North Durham and subsequently for the Jarrow Division.
In 1875 he became Jarrow's first mayor.
In 1886 he was made a baronet.
In 1870 the Palmer Memorial Hospital was presented by Charles Palmer to the people of Jarrow in
memory of his first wife, Jane. He was married three times.
On January 30th, 1904 a statue of Palmer which still stands in Jarrow, was unveiled by Lady
Palmer.
It's inscription reads:
Sir Charles Mark Palmer, Baronet.
Born at South Shields
November 3rd 1822
Founder of the Palmer Works and of
the Town of Jarrow, of which
he was the first Mayor in 1875
Originator of the first screw collier
built at Jarrow in 1851
Member of Parliament for North Durham from
1874 and subsequently for the
Jarrow Division.
This statue erected in 1903 by the
workmen of Palmers company and a few
friends, commemorates a life devoted to
social advancement of the working
classes, the prosperity of Jarrow, and
the industrial progress of Tyneside.
Sir Charles Mark Palmer, Baronet, M.P. died on 4th June 1907, aged 84 years.
