Painter and decorative artist, born in Hanley, Staffordshire, son of William Palin, engraver. After a five-year apprenticeship to the Potteries firm Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, Etruria, Palin won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art. He later studied in Rome and Paris. He joined the RBA in 1905, acting as honorary secretary, 1911–13, becoming its vice-president, 1914. Showed extensively at the RA Summer Exhibition, also Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, RP and elsewhere. During the 1930s he painted often in Walberswick, Suffolk.