File NLW MS 5850C - Transcript of a ballad

Historian Alfred Neobard Palmer (1847-1915) was born in Thetford, Norfolk, and began his career as a pharmacist. Having moved to Wrexham in 1880, Palmer soon embarked on his enthusiastic involvement in the local history of the area, an involvement which would remain with him for the rest of his life. He addressed local historical societies, contributed to historical and antiquarian pubilcations such as the Archaeologia Cambrensis, and published essays and articles on local history which include The History of Ancient Tenures of Land in the Marches of North Wales (1885) and The History of the Town of Wrexham (1893). Despite being dogged by ill health, Palmer succeeded in exploring nearly all the aspects of antiquarian interest in the counties of Denbighshire and Flintshire and had even begun to investigate the antiquities of Merionethshire. He remained in Wrexham for the remainder of his life and died there in 1915.