Herbert William Palliser [also known as Herbert W. Palliser] was born in Northallerton, Yorkshire, England on 17 May 1883. After initially training as an architect in Harrogate, Yorkshire, he studied at Central School of Arts and Crafts in London from 1906 to 1911; and at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London from 1911 to 1914.
He subsequently worked as a sculptor, stone carver and wood engraver. Havong trained as an architect it is unclear if he practised the profession.
He exhibited at the New English Art Club and Royal Academy in London; the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; Leeds City Art Gallery; and at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
Palliser was elected a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1922, and a Fellow of of the Royal Society of British Sculptors (FRSBS) in 1943, He was also a member of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society.
Between 1931 and 1948 he was an assistant teacher of modelling at the Royal College of Art in London.
Notable among Palliser's sculptural commissions were the War Memorial in Calcutta (1924); the Cobra Fountain in New Delhi (1932); and the Roosevelt Memorial in Westminster Abbey, London (1946).
He lived in Harrogate, Yorkshire; and later in London and died in Golders Green, London on 9 October 1963