RISE AND FALL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3441, 10 March 1932, Page 3

RISE AND FALL

STAMP KING’S DEATH. Mr. William Joseph Palmer, the stamp “king” of the ’nineties and the first man to make a fortune of £260,000 out of the sale of rare stamps, has died penniless in the workhouse infirmary at Challey, Sussex, at the age of 78, says the “Daily Mail.”

When he was buried in a simple grave in Lewes Cemetery his son and a woman relative were the only mourners. Only three humble wreaths mark the last resting place of the man who was once the friend of princes and millionaires, gave thousands of pounds to charity, and built up a business which was known to philatelists in all parts of the world. As Mr. Palmer lay dying he told the nurses that once he owned a four-storey shop in the Strand and had a priceless collection of stamps. He said that the Queen and the Prince of Wales came to his shop. The nurses thought he was de--lirious, and not until his son, Mr. John Palmer, who works as a fitter in an engineering works at Lewes, came did they know that he had been telling them the truth. Mr. Palmer, who lives in St. Anne’s Crescent, Lewes, said his father began collecting stamps at the age of seven, when he found a blue Cape of Good Hope triangular in the street and sold it for 6d. He then collected as many stamps as he could and exhibited them in the windows of local tradesmen, sharing his profits. “His premises in the Strand were known to stamp collectors everywhere,” said Mr. Palmer. “His stock was worth £25,000, and when the business was at its height his fortune must have been over £250,000. He had a town and country house. “The business began to fail. My father was very generous and gave away large sums of money. Other stamp shops prospered; his declined. We became poor and we came to Lewes... That was about 25 years ago.

“All the stamps he had when he died were some 3d. assorted packets.