The Richest East India Merchant- The Life and Business of John Palmer of Calcutta, 1767-1836

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The background to this book goes back to the early days of my academic career, as a PhD student at the University of Birmingham in the late 1970s. My dissertation topic was British imperialism in south-east Asia during the Late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, focusing particularly on the role of trade in promoting British interest in the region from the principal British possessions in India, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. The main actors were the agency houses, those peculiar and colourful organisations which combined banking, trade, agency shipping and plantation agriculture to establish themselves as the wealthiest and most powerful commercial interests influencing British policy during the period. Leaders in the field such as the biographer of Thomas Stamford Raffles, C.E. Wurtzburg, and the historian Nicholas Tarling, identified John Palmer & Company as probably the agency house which was most active in south-east Asia. Pursuing their lines of research I was introduced to the extensive collection of John Palmer's correspondence in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Even at the time, I was most surprised that this rich archive had not been used to produce a dedicated biography or business history of the most prominent and wealthiest British merchant in the east, a man described by no less than a Governor-General as 'the Prince of Merchants". Certainly the sixty volumes of letters were about much more than the dry transactions of a complex business, they contained the details of a rich and eventful family and social life, offering fascinating insights into Anglo-Indian colonial society during an early and turbulent period. The trajectory of my career meant that I did not have another opportunity to resume my interest in Palmer until 1998, when to my relief and astonishment I discovered that the potential of his papers had still not been realised. It was then, with support from Edge Hill College, my employer at the time, that I embarked upon the research which is the foundation of this book.

I have tried to organise the work so that personal, social and commercial aspects of John Palmer's life are all covered; so rich are the sources that to have confined my efforts to a clinical analysis of the evolution of his firm would have been to do them a grave injustice. I have attempted to write a book that is rather more than a traditional business history. My aim has been to capture the man's personality, values, attitudes, relationships and the social milieu in which he moved. It is therefore part biography and part business analysis. The combination is not merely whimsical or aesthetic. It is clear that most of the principles by which John Palmer conducted his business were governed by personal and social considerations. Trust, a vital ingredient for a global business at a time of primitive communications, was based upon kinship, social connection, affection and was frequently shaped or distorted by racial attitudes. In this respect, the personal and social dimension are indispensable for understanding what drove the business forward, how it worked, and why it managed to survive for so long.

In the first chapter, I set out the broader historical context of John Palmer's life: the rise and development of East India Company rule in India, the Company's conquest of new territories and the growth of its trade to China and south-east Asia, together with an explanation of the emergence of the agency houses. The contours and behaviour of British society in India are also outlined. The second chapter introduces the reader to the unfolding of Palmer's life and career, as well as his personality and the factors which shaped it. Chapter three provides an analysis of the business of John Palmer & Co., identifying the main groups of investors and clients, and exploring how Palmer conducted his commercial relationships with clients and partner firms in India, the east and London. The management structures and strategies of the firm are a central theme here. The fourth chapter focuses upon John Palmer's family and social life, and his relationships with the Indian community. A central theme is how domestic, social and racial considerations shaped the operation of the firm's business interests. In chapter five, John Palmer's political influence is examined and evaluated. In particular, his role in promoting British imperial power in south-east Asia, and his indirect involvement through his half brother in the financial affairs of Hyderabad, one of the Indian states, are used as case studies to explore the extent and limitations of his political reach. Chapter six follows the last ten years of the firm to its fall in 1830, and offers an analysis of the internal feuds and commercial errors which led to the catastrophic failure of John Palmer & Co. The consequences of this momentous event are also explored. The final chapter traces the last few years of John Palmer's life, and offers some thoughts on the significance.