Elias William Palmer was born in Camberwell, Surrey [now London], England on 13 January 1909. He trained as an architect at Regent Street Polytechnic in London and subsequently set up a practice in London in 1933.
In the 1950s he formed E. William Palmer & Partners. The practice had offices at 8, The Town, Enfield, London in 1959 in 1963; and The Sudios, 101 Fotheringham Road, Enfield, Middlesex in 1976
Palmer was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1939. By the early 1960s he had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA).
Palmer's address was given as 15 Queen Anne's Grove, Edmonton, Middlesex in 1934 and 1939; Clock Chambers, London Road, Enfield, Middlesex in 1939; and 13 Youl Grange Link Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex in 1986. He died on 18 December 1986
Flats in London and Brighton, Sussex; 30, 32, 34 & 36 Chichester Drive East, Saltdean, East Sussex (1934); and a factory for Tetley in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire.
Tollington Court, a residential block in Tollington Park, north London designed by Palmer in 1937 is described in Flats: Municipal and Private Enterprise. London: Ascot Gas Water Heaters Ltd., 1938
Flats: Municipal and Private Enterprise. London: Ascot Gas Water Heaters Ltd., 1938 pp. 144-149