William Palmer

William Palmer (6 August 1824 – 14 June 1856), also known as the Rugeley Poisoner or the Prince of Poisoners, was an English doctor found guilty of murder in one of the most notorious cases of the 19th century. Charles Dickens called Palmer "the greatest villain that ever stood in the Old Bailey". Palmer was convicted for the 1855 murder of his friend John Cook, and was executed in public by hanging the following year. He had poisoned Cook with strychnine and was suspected of poisoning several other people including his brother and his mother-in-law, as well as four of his children who died of "convulsions" before their first birthdays. Palmer made large sums of money from the deaths of his wife and brother after collecting on life insurance, and by defrauding his wealthy mother out of thousands of pounds, all of which he lost through gambling on horses. Early life and suspected poisonings William Palmer was born in Rugeley, Staffordshire, the sixth of eight children of Sarah and Joseph Palmer. His father worked as a sawyer and died when William was aged 12, leaving Sarah with a legacy of £70,000. As a seventeen-year-old, Palmer worked as an apprentice at a Liverpool chemist, but was dismissed after three months following allegations that he stole money. He studied medicine in London, and qualified as a physician in August 1846. After returning to Staffordshire later that year Palmer met plumber and glazier George Abley at the Lamb and Flag public house in Little Haywood, and challenged him to a drinking contest. Abley accepted, and an hour later was carried home, where he died in bed later that evening; nothing was ever proved, but locals noted that Palmer had an interest in Abley's attractive wife.