It was a bit of a task to work out some sort of history for the Soldier Palmer but here’s a lengthy preamble which will hopefully do it justice.
The Soldier Palmer that we know today is the evolved form of what is undoubtedly an ancient pattern. But the true origins of the soldier palmer, its inventor and place of invention are sadly lost in the mists of time. However, we can tease out pointers from a few sources that will hopefully guide us in the direction of a satisfactory theory. The palmer was a well known style of dressing in the days of Izaak Walton. He cites a few extracts from Thomas Barker’s book, “Barker’s Delight” (1651).
“
Mr. Barker commends several sorts of palmer-flies; not only those ribbed with silver and gold but others that have their bodies all made of black; or some with red and a red hackle”.
From that we can take it that the fly is possibly as old as the mid 17th century. But what is less clear is the designation of “red”. Red is an old word, still in use today which often meant auburn or horse chestnut brown as in Red Game, Red Kite, Red Deer, Irish Red Setter and of course, red hair. So just because we see “red” in a dressing description, it doesn’t necessarily mean the red we might mean today. Indeed, the term “red palmer” has often been a linked with the soldier palmer and caused much confusion through the ages. In early writings, the term actually refers to the hackle colour rather than the body colour. So what we really ought to be looking for is something that directly mentions “soldier” in the title.
In 1645 The English Army started to wear red coats. These were originally a madder red. Scarlet was only worn by sergeants and officers. It’s unlikely though that a fly would suddenly appear so soon after the new uniforms were issued. People need time to make associations with things. So a guess could be made that by 1700 there could have been a red fly with “soldier” in the title. Unfortunately there seems to be little written evidence of it as pattern dressings in those days were all rather vague.
In 1841 James Dalziel Dougal wrote in “Salmon and Trout Angling” of the palmer. His first mention of it takes the form of a plain hackled fly of a red or black hackle which by the sound of it is dressed much like a modern loch ordie. In other words just a hackle. He then goes on to describe a sea trout pattern with a
red palmer and a red or orange body with gold tinsel. Again, from the description it is clear that the term “red palmer” means the hackle colour, not the body. Even at this late date there is no mention of “soldier” anywhere in the text.
Over in Ireland, in 1845 James O’ Gorman fleetingly mentions a “soldier” in his “The Practice of Angling” but goes into no detail about the dressing. However, by 1855 the great Wicklow and London fly dresser, William Blacker, gives a dressing for what he calls the “soldier fly” (possibly the one mentioned by O’ Gorman) in his outstanding work “Blacker’s Art of Fly Making Comprising Angling and Dyeing of Colours”.
# 7.
The Soldier Fly.
The body is made of scarlet-coloured mohair, ribbed with
fine gold twist and two black-red cock hackles run up over the body from the tail, a small furnace hackle round the throat and a darkish starling wing. The dark red furnace hackle has a dark mark round the edges. The black-red, I believe, can be taken as being a very dark red game.
However, Blacker then goes on to say that a peacock herl body can also be used which once again muddies the soldier/red palmer water. Nevertheless, this is the first pattern I can find so far where scarlet and “soldier” is used, as opposed to red, which, as already mentioned, could be a misnomer by today’s standards.
Consequently it is my belief that it was around the early to mid 19th century that the “Soldier Palmer” proper was born, no doubt a product of the Victorian zeal for exactitude. A melding of the attributes of a much older pattern with the name of a newer one to give us a wingless Soldier Fly (much like a wingless Wickham’s) or Soldier Palmer.
Who actually coined the term is still a mystery.
By the early part of the 20th century the soldier palmer and red palmer were recognised patterns in their own right as shown here from the dressing given in Wooley,s “Modern Trout Fly Dressing (1932).
The above is just a theory borne of some research and a little imagination, everyone please chip in with your tuppence worth if you have any documented evidence. It would be nice to trace the named pattern as far back as possible.
Below is a history of the patterns development in my own fly box. Top row: Late 70s/ early 80s, late 80s/ early 90s, all cock hackle.
Bottom row: Late 90s/ early 00s, this seasons revisionist pattern, both with dark brown hen hackle shoulder.
Over to you guys for the variants. Yes, you know who you are.
The Classics: Soldier Palmer.
And I'll buy it too.... life's too short to do the research..... we've got you anyway 
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