William Palliser
Encyclopedia
Major
Sir
William Palliser CB
MP
(18 June 1830 – 4 February 1882) was an Irish-born politician and inventor, Member of Parliament
for Taunton
from 1880 until his death.
, by his marriage to Anne Gledstanes, a daughter of John Gledstanes of Annesgift, County Tipperary. After Rugby School
, he was educated first at Trinity College, Dublin
, to which he was admitted in 1849, and next at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
, where he matriculated
in 1851. He later attended the Staff College
at Sandhurst
.
He was a brother of Captain John Palliser
, a geographer and explorer.
in Jan 1854. In 1854, he was granted a patent
for the invention of "improvements in projectiles for fire-arms and ordnance generally". He was then described as "William Palliser, of Comragh in the county of Waterford
, Esquire
".
In April 1855 Palliser was commissioned as an ensign
into the Rifle Brigade. He was promoted Lieutenant on 1 August 1855 and in 1857 was appointed an Instructor of Musketry. He saw active service in the Crimean War
after the fall of Sebastopol
. He was transferred with the rank of Lieutenant to the 18th Light Dragoons in 1858, promoted Captain in 1859 and Major in 1864, before retiring from the regular British Army
in 1871, after seven years on half-pay.
In 1870, he was one of two directors of The Land and Sea Telegraph Construction Company Ltd. as it applied to be wound up, the other being Augustus Anson VC MP. Palliser was then "of No. 126 Belgrave-road, Pimlico
."
Palliser patented 21 ordnance-related inventions, including the armour-piercing Palliser shot
. He designed the "Palliser conversion" technique which was used successfully to convert many of Britain's obsolescent but still serviceable smoothbore
muzzle-loading guns into more modern rifled muzzle-loaders ("RML") in the late 1860s and the 1870s.
In 1868 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath
and in 1873 was knighted by Queen Victoria
at Osborne House
.
In 1875 he became a Lieutenant Colonel
in the 2nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers.
Palliser was a Conservative
Member of Parliament
for Taunton
, in Somerset
, from 1880 until his death.
He developed the Barons Court estate in London, part of which was sold after his death and became the Queen's Club
.
. He died in 1882 of heart disease and was survived by his wife and four children. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery
, London. One of his children was Lady Wallscourt; another was Hugh Arbuthnot Palliser (1879-1932) who married first 1908 Anna Elizabeth Dickensen (divorced) and second Julia May Caffrey (1895-1964; four children incl William John Hugh Palliser [1926-2009]).
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
William Palliser CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(18 June 1830 – 4 February 1882) was an Irish-born politician and inventor, Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
from 1880 until his death.
Early life
Born in Dublin on 18 June 1830, Palliser was the fourth of the eight sons of Lieutenant Colonel Wray Bury Palliser, of Derryluskan, County TipperaryCounty Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
, by his marriage to Anne Gledstanes, a daughter of John Gledstanes of Annesgift, County Tipperary. After Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
, he was educated first at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, to which he was admitted in 1849, and next at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich.- Foundation :...
, where he matriculated
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
in 1851. He later attended the Staff College
Staff college
Staff colleges train military officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career...
at Sandhurst
Sandhurst
Sandhurst is a small town and civil parish in England of 7,966 homes and 20,803 inhabitants , primarily domiciliary in nature with a few light industries...
.
He was a brother of Captain John Palliser
John Palliser
John Palliser was an Irish-born geographer and explorer. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was the son of Colonel Wray Palliser and a brother of Major Sir William Palliser , all descendants of Dr William Palliser, Archbishop of Cashel .From 1839 to 1863, Palliser served in the Waterford Militia,...
, a geographer and explorer.
Career
Palliser was admitted a member of the Inner TempleInner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in Jan 1854. In 1854, he was granted a patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for the invention of "improvements in projectiles for fire-arms and ordnance generally". He was then described as "William Palliser, of Comragh in the county of Waterford
County Waterford
*Abbeyside, Affane, Aglish, Annestown, An Rinn, Ardmore*Ballinacourty, Ballinameela, Ballinamult, Ballinroad, Ballybeg, Ballybricken, Ballyduff Lower, Ballyduff Upper, Ballydurn, Ballygunner, Ballylaneen, Ballymacarbry, Ballymacart, Ballynaneashagh, Ballysaggart, Ballytruckle, Bilberry, Bunmahon,...
, Esquire
Esquire
Esquire is a term of West European origin . Depending on the country, the term has different meanings...
".
In April 1855 Palliser was commissioned as an ensign
Ensign
An ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...
into the Rifle Brigade. He was promoted Lieutenant on 1 August 1855 and in 1857 was appointed an Instructor of Musketry. He saw active service in the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
after the fall of Sebastopol
Sebastopol
Sebastopol is a former spelling and frequent variant of Sevastopol, the port on the Crimean peninsula.Sebastopol may refer to the following:Places:* Sebastopol, California, USA* Sebastopol, Mississippi, USA...
. He was transferred with the rank of Lieutenant to the 18th Light Dragoons in 1858, promoted Captain in 1859 and Major in 1864, before retiring from the regular British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in 1871, after seven years on half-pay.
In 1870, he was one of two directors of The Land and Sea Telegraph Construction Company Ltd. as it applied to be wound up, the other being Augustus Anson VC MP. Palliser was then "of No. 126 Belgrave-road, Pimlico
Pimlico
Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as a southern extension, Pimlico is known for its grand garden squares and impressive Regency architecture....
."
Palliser patented 21 ordnance-related inventions, including the armour-piercing Palliser shot
Palliser shot
Palliser shot was invented by Sir William Palliser and hence its name. It was an early British armour-piercing artillery projectile, intended to pierce the armour protection of warships being developed in the second half of the 19th century.-History:...
. He designed the "Palliser conversion" technique which was used successfully to convert many of Britain's obsolescent but still serviceable smoothbore
Smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...
muzzle-loading guns into more modern rifled muzzle-loaders ("RML") in the late 1860s and the 1870s.
In 1868 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
and in 1873 was knighted by Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
at Osborne House
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
.
In 1875 he became a Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
in the 2nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers.
Palliser was a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Taunton
Taunton (UK Parliament constituency)
Taunton was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors from 1295 to 2010, taking its name from the town of Taunton in Somerset...
, in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, from 1880 until his death.
He developed the Barons Court estate in London, part of which was sold after his death and became the Queen's Club
Queen's Club
The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. Founded in 1886, the Queen's Club was the world's first multipurpose sports complex and named after Queen Victoria, its first patron...
.
Private life
In November 1868, Palliser married Hanna Maria Perham (1843-1923), eldest daughter of George Perham. In 1880 he was living in Earl's Court Square, KensingtonKensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
. He died in 1882 of heart disease and was survived by his wife and four children. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery is located near Earl's Court in South West London, England . It is managed by The Royal Parks and is one of the Magnificent Seven...
, London. One of his children was Lady Wallscourt; another was Hugh Arbuthnot Palliser (1879-1932) who married first 1908 Anna Elizabeth Dickensen (divorced) and second Julia May Caffrey (1895-1964; four children incl William John Hugh Palliser [1926-2009]).
See also
- Palliser shotPalliser shotPalliser shot was invented by Sir William Palliser and hence its name. It was an early British armour-piercing artillery projectile, intended to pierce the armour protection of warships being developed in the second half of the 19th century.-History:...
- RML 64 pounder 71 cwt gunRML 64 pounder 71 cwt gunThe RML 64 pounder 71 cwt guns were rifled muzzle-loading guns converted from obsolete smoothbore 8-inch 65 cwt shell guns. "71 cwt" refers to the gun's weight rounded up to differentiate it from other "64-pounder" guns : 1 cwt = 112 pounds....
: a gun made using Palliser's conversion - RML 80 pounder 5 ton gun : conversion of ML 68-pounder to RML 80-pounder using Palliser's method