Frank Palmer
Talented carpenter
and
Kingham artist
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This page is dedicated to my late Uncle Frank Palmer who worked for Lainchburys from the age of 14 in 1940 until it closed in 1987
A young Frank
A young Frank
Frank is in the back row 4th from the right
Frank is in the back row 4th from the right
Charles Frank Palmer was born on 22nd June 1926 in London, he moved to Kingham as a baby. He spent the rest of his life living in Kingham until he passed away on the 9th of March 2016. His Father Charles Palmer was a soldier in the Guards. Frank never knew his father, something which he regretted all of his life. His grandfather was William Stayt of Kingham, Known as Our Bill. (Our Bill was immortalised in the book entitled "Our Bill" written by Frederick Grisewood)
Frank at work in Lainchburys when it was nearing closure
From a very early age Frank was an enthusiastic artist, a hobby that he pursued for the rest of his life. during the day he was a skilled carpenter working in the Lainchbury factory (he lived in a Lainchbury house next door) in summer evenings and weekends you would often find him sitting in a gateway somewhere with a painting on his easel with a pallet of paint in one hand and a brush in the other. He created many 100's of paintings mostly prized by villagers and visitors to the village.
Every year during Oxford art week he would open his house to visitors where they could view the lovely pictures he had painted. He was also very proud to have a picture accepted by the Royal Academy and was able to put that fact on the back of his artworks.
Frank was a self taught artist and was a member of both Banbury Art Society and Deddington art group. When Lainchburys closed in 1987 Frank spent most of his spare time painting.
Stocks well by Frank Palmer (photo kindly supplied by Ros Salmons)
A few examples of Franks work
Ringers cottage Kingham painted by Frank in 1991.
Image was kindly supplied by Graham Hoverd who lived in Ringers cottage.
Delightful painting of Bledington Mill, painted by frank in 2004. Kindly supplied by Carolyn Loukidis. The mill and bakehouse were lived in by her Grandparents.
One of Franks earlier works from 1962, this painting was kindly given to me by Jean Greenway, it hung in her late mother Elsie Sollis's house for many years.
Another delightful painting by Frank.
This time it is a picture of a lovely cottage at Ascott under Wychwood.
The copy was kindly supplied by Michael Pearce who commissioned Frank to do the painting.
Frank always visited the places he wanted to paint and painted on scene so to speak and would have visited a few times to complete the picture.
Frank was very stubborn about painting on site, he did not approve of doing a painting from a photograph which is a shame as I know others who take a photo of a subject then paint it at home which I think is perfectly fine.
Just to say that like my family, Michael Pearce once lived in Kingham, in fact he lived in New road Kingham on the opposite side of the road to us!
The four paintings below - painted by Frank Palmer are owned by Rebecca Catling who kindly allowed me to display them here.
Above left - Chastleton Oxfordshire. Above right - Ruined cottages Great Tew Oxfordshire (1981).
Below Left - Bliss Tweed Mill Chipping Norton (1994). Below Right - Clover cottage Sandford St Martin (1983)
The five masterpieces below were painted by Frank for Ralph Price who has kindly allowed me to display them here.
They all feature the small village of Adlestrop situated a short distance from Kingham. Ralph tells me that he met Frank when he was painting the Field shelter (picture below) Frank readily agreed to sell Ralph the painting. Ralph who has lived in the area all his life subsequently commissioned Frank to paint the other four delightful pictures shown below.
Adlestrop house & church 1990.
Adlestrop Post office.
Left Adlestrop house 1990.
Right The field Shelter 1989.
The bus shelter containing the sign taken from the disused Adlestrop station (painted 1989)
Alongside the painting I have shown a photograph I took on a cycle ride in 1990 so you can see how much detail Frank included in his paintings.
Adlestrop was made famous by poet Edward Thomas who wrote about the now abandoned station when his train stopped there in June 1914 just before the first world war. Sadly He was killed in France in 1917.
The relevant two verses of the poem are shown right under a picture of Edward Thomas.
Yes. I remember Adlestrop—
The name, because one afternoon of
heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.
The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop—only the name.
One of Franks early paintings. This one is of Brixham Harbour in Devon. painted in 1959
Frank's Mother E.M. Palmer was also an artist who created many paintings of Kingham and other subjects. although not in the same league as Frank's work - her paintings were very detailed and were very popular with Kingham folk. As a Child I remember her showing me how she made her own paintbrushes by cutting off bits of her hair so her pictures were very personal!
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