Eleanor Palmer


Eleanor Palmer was an English philanthropist who established a charity to help the poor of Chipping Barnet and Kentish Town, now parts of London. Her charity still exists and owns and runs almshouses and residential homes for the elderly.

Life

She was the daughter of Edward Cheeseman, a lawyer and administrator who became Cofferer and Keeper of the Wardrobe to King Henry VII, and his wife Joan Lawrence. Her brother was Robert Cheeseman, a member of Parliament for Middlesex.
Her first husband was Edward Taylor and her second husband was John Palmer, younger son of Richard Palmer and his wife Margery Harthill. He held the manor of Rugmere, which is now the district of Chalk Farm, and she held lands in the manors of Tottenhall and Cantlowes.
She is reported to have had eight children, of which those with John Palmer known to have married are:
She died on 29 February 1558, and was buried in St John the Baptist Church, Chipping Barnet.

Her charity

Her memorial plaque in Chipping Barnet church records that she "Dyd geve tow acares of medow ground in Kentishe towne holden of ye prebent of cantelous unto yet use of the poore of this town and of Kentishtowne for ever".
Her charity is today run as two separate funds, the Eleanor Palmer Trust in Chipping Barnet and East Barnet, and The Estate Charity of Eleanor Palmer in Kentish Town. Rents from land owned by the charity support its activities and the trust additionally owns and runs almshouses and residential accommodation for the elderly. In 1999, The Samuel and Rebecca Byford Charity of Chipping Barnet was merged into the Eleanor Palmer Trust.
Eleanor Palmer Primary School in Kentish Town is built on land she gave.