Thomas Palmer (convict)

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Thomas Matthews Palmer (1824–1893) was a convict transported to Western Australia. After the expiry of his sentence, he became the second ex-convict in Western Australia to be appointed a teacher.

Born in the United Kingdom in 1824, Thomas Matthews worked as a clerk but was convicted of forging a money order and sentenced to ten years' penal servitude. He was transported to Western Australia on board the Sea Park, arriving in April 1854. Palmer was issued with a ticket of leave on arrival, and was appointed assistant superintendent of convict road parties. In 1855 he received a conditional pardon, and moved to Albany. In January 1858 he married Elizabeth Thomas, and later that year was appointed a school teacher, becoming only the second expiree convict to be appointed a teacher in Western Australia, after John Hislop. He taught for over thirty years, retiring in 1891. He was also active in public affairs, and Erickson claims that he was "the only expiree in the district to attain a position of respectability in the town". He died in 1893.

[edit] See also

• Ex-convict school teachers in Western Australia

[edit] References

• Erickson, Rica (1983). "Schoolmasters", in Erickson, Rica (ed): The Brand on His Coat. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 0-85564-223-8. 

Persondata
NAME	Palmer, Thomas Matthews
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	convict
DATE OF BIRTH	1824
PLACE OF BIRTH	United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH	1893
PLACE OF DEATH	Albany, Western Australia