Arnold Palmer

Arnold Palmer was part of the family that made its fortune from the Huntley and Palmer biscuit company, formed in 1841 by Joseph Huntley and George Palmer and. Despite the interesting duplication of their names he is no relation to the famous golfer of the same name.

The son of Ernest, the First Baron Palmer of Reading, Arnold was educated at Winchester College before graduating from St John’s, Oxford, in 1908 with a BA. He then worked with the National Gallery and was invested as an Honorary Member of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours. He wrote articles on drawings for the Oxford University Press and this led to him eventually turning to his next love of writing books, and he had many published works, some with interesting sounding titles like: Introduction to the Ladies, Moveable Feasts, Tales without Morals, Riches, My Profitable Friends, Winchester 1900-1905 (about his old school days), and many more.

Palmer never had a distinguished fives or real tennis (jeu de paume) career but was selected for the 1908 Olympic jeu de paume competition. However, he was defeated at the first hurdle despite taking a set off Arthur Page in a 3-1 defeat.