Palmer came to Queensland in 1857 from Wollongong and went west from Bowen in the search for new pastoral land in 1864. He established a sheep station, Conobie, on the western bank of the Cloncurry River and subsequently switched to cattle. He continued this pioneering life until his death in 1899. Palmer represented his district, known as Burke then Carpentaria, in the Queensland parliament until he retired at the general election of 1893. The financial crisis of 1893, ticks and the dwindling market for cattle led to the loss of Conobie and Palmer died in government service at Rockhampton. He published several articles on the Australian Aborigines in the the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland and the Proceedings of the Royal Socety of New South Wales
