Palmer , family , Barons Palmer of Reading

Samuel Ernest Palmer, 1st Baron Palmer of Reading (1858-1948) was a Vice-President and Member of the Council of the Royal College of Music; and elected its first Fellow in 1921. He was raised to the peerage in 1933 for his services to music. In 1903 he endowed the Royal College of Music Patron's Fund with £20,000 for `the encouragement of native composers by the performance of their works'The first use of the funds was to give public concerts of new chamber and orchestral works. A selection committee chose some eight works from a range of 42, for the first performance at St James' Hall on 20 May 1904. Works by Gustav Holst and Arnold Bax featured in the first two concerts. In 1925, he supplemented his Patron's Fund with a Fund for Opera Study, as well as contributions to the fabric of the building. The Fund also gave assistance to young musicians studying abroad and for the publication of compositions. Following World War One, the evening concerts were replaced by daytime concerts in the RCM hall (effectively open rehearsals), the first being performed on 13 Nov 1919. By 1928 there had been 75 such performances, receiving good public attendance and press coverage.