Philip Parker MP (bef. 1601 - 1675)

Born before 1601 in London, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 22 Jun 1675 after age 74 in Erwarton, Suffolk, England [uncertain]

Biography

Philip Parker MP was born in the City of London, England.

Overview

Sir Philip Parker was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1648. He was the son of Sir Calthorpe Parker of Groton, Suffolk and his wife Lady Mercy Soame, daughter of Sir Stephen Soame, at one time Lord Mayor of London. He was a university graduate, a lawyer, and a knight of the realm. In 1618 on his father's death he came into possession of the family estate at Erwarton, Suffolk, England and was High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1637. In April 1640 Sir Philip was elected Member of Parliament for Suffolk in the Short Parliament. He was re-elected in November 1640 for the Long Parliament and sat there until 1648. He married Dorothy Gawdy, daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Gawdy of Claxton, Norfolk. The couple had six children: three sons and three daughters. He died in Erwarton in 1675.^[1] The village of Erwarton can be seen in Saxton's Map of Essex, 1576; it lies on the Shotley Peninsula, 6 miles south-east of Ipswich, the county town of Suffolk, and 3 miles north-west of Harwich in Essex, across the River Stour.

Portion of Saxton's Map of Essex, 1576

Early life

Philip Parker was born into a wealthy, privileged, influential English family at the start of the 17th century. He was the eldest son of Sir Calthorpe Parker and Lady Mercy (Soame) Parker, who had married on 27 February 1598 at the church of St Pancras, Soper Lane, London, England. ^[2] Philip was baptised in the same church on 9 April 1601. ^[3] However he spent much of his life at the family residence of Erwarton Hall, Suffolk.

Erwarton Hall

Philip Parker had six brothers and two sisters: Anne Parker (1604-1680), Stephen (about 1606 - about 1629), Calthorpe (about 1607 - about 1675), Henry (about 1608 - before 1684), William (born about 1610), Mary (born about 1612), Nathaniel Parker (about 1613-1684), and Thomas (born about 1615). (See Research notes.) Anne married John Barrett Gurdon (1595-1679), MP for Ipswich in the Long Parliament of 1640, where he sat alongside his brother-in-law, Sir Philip. Stephen died young, probably in Aleppo in present-day Syria, where he made his will in 1628; ^[4] in it he left instructions for his watch to be returned to Sir Philip. Nathaniel owned substantial estates in East Bergholt, Suffolk; on his death in 1684 he bequeathed woods there to his nephew, the eldest son of Sir Philip. ^[5] When Sir Calthorpe died, he left his eldest son Philip a substantial inheritance in his will of 1619: ^[6] the manor of Erwarton and all the income derived from it.

Career

As a wealthy young man, Philip Parker went up to Cambridge University to enrol on 18 April 1618 as a Fellow Commoner at Queens' College. ^[7] He went on to be admitted in 1621 to the Inner Temple in London to train there as a lawyer, and was created a Knight Bachelor at Newmarket, Suffolk on 19 November 1624, thereby becoming Sir Philip Parker. ^[8]

In 1637 Sir Philip was appointed High Sheriff of Suffolk. ^[9] The sheriffs ^[10] were the monarch's personal representatives in the counties, but there was some overlap with the duties of Lord-Lieutenant. Their duties gradually passed to the Justices and Coroners, and the Lord-Lieutenant became the monarch's representative. However, at that time and in that role, Sir Philip would have been responsible for collecting Ship Money in Suffolk.^[11] This was a tax imposed by King Charles I of England, without recourse to Parliament. Levied from 1634 to 1640 in maritime areas and later elsewhere to finance the navy, it was a major cause of the English Civil War.

Sir Philip Parker was elected, together with Sir Nathaniel Barnardiston, as Member of Parliament for Suffolk in the Short Parliament of April/May 1640. ^[12] Sir Philip and Sir Nathaniel were re-elected in the Long Parliament that was convened by King Charles on 3 November 1640. ^[13] Political tensions between King and Parliament at this time erupted in the English Civil War, as supporters of the Royalist cause fought those of the Parliamentarian cause over the period 1642-1651. Sir Philip was a staunch supporter of the Parliamentarian cause. However, when the New Model Army under Oliver Cromwell exerted its will on Parliament, Sir Philip lost his seat on 6 December 1648 as a result of Pride's Purge.

Family life

When Philip Parker's father died in 1618, he and his younger siblings were all aged under 21 and neither of his sisters was yet married.^[6] Sir Philip's already substantial wealth was further enhanced following two events. Firstly, he married Dorothy (Gawdy) Parker (1605-), ^[7] daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Gawdy MP (1577-1639) of Claxton in Norfolk, from a long-established and wealthy family in East Anglia. (See Research notes.) Secondly, his mother Lady Mercy Parker, as a widow who had not re-married, bequeathed to her eldest son in her will of 1636: ^[14] lands in the manor of Great Wenham in Suffolk, all her cattle, and "one other dozen of my silver plate trenchers", a trencher being a large plate for serving or cutting food. ^[15]

Sir Philip and Lady Dorothy had six children: three sons and three daughters. Their eldest son, Philip Parker Bt (abt.1625-1690), became a lawyer and MP like his father; he was created a baronet on 16 July 1661. He succeeded his father on the latter's death on 22 June 1675. ^[1] Their other sons were Calthorpe and Robert, their daughters were Mercy, Dorothy and Mary. (See Research notes.) In his will, executed on 14 June 1664 but not proved until 18 June 1686, ^[16] Sir Philip bequeathed manors and other property to Philip, £2000 to Dorothy, £1500 to Mary and £400 to Robert.

Research notes

• As with many pre-1700 sources, the spelling of names of people and of places is quite variable. Even today, Erwarton in Suffolk is also known as Arwarton. ^[17]
• The names and the vital details of Philip's siblings are taken from the Person entry for his mother, Lady Mercy (Soame) Parker, on the FamilySearch website: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/K8V5-MYM However, sources for the information there are almost completely lacking. Some of the details can be confirmed from other sources, particularly the wills of Sir Calthorpe Parker (1619), ^[6] Lady Mercy Parker (1636), ^[14] Stephen Parker (1629), ^[18] and Nathaniel Parker (1684). ^[19]
• The Gawdy family has an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, brief details of which are mentioned in an extract from the 2004 article by Joy Rowe at https://www.oxforddnb.com/search?q=gawdy&searchBtn=Search&isQuickSearch=true (accessed 14 April 2022): "Gawdy family (per. c. 1500–1723), gentry, rose to prominence in Norfolk in the third quarter of the fifteenth century thanks to successful careers in the law and to a series of multiple marriages which brought dowries in land as well as in cash."
• In his will written in 1664, ^[20] Sir Philip names four of his children then living: his sons Philip and Robert, and his daughters Dorothy and Mary. He also mentions his "loving brothers", Henry Parker Esq. and Nathaniel Parker Esq., who are to be his executors. In his 1684 will, ^[21] Nathaniel leaves inheritances to "my niece Mercy Parker, ... my niece Dorothy Parker, ... and my niece Mary Parker, daughters of my late brother Sir Philip Parker Kt ...".

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Cokayne, George E.C. Complete Baronetage, vol. 3, p.229. Exeter, Devon, England: Pollard & Co. Ltd., 1903. [Available at: https://archive.org/details/cu31924092524390]
2. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NL4B-8XH : 13 March 2020), Calthrop Parker, 1598.
3. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NP27-WWP : 20 March 2020), Philip Parker, 1601.
4. ↑ Will of Steven Parker of Arwarton, Suffolk. (The National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D880399: [accessed 5 April 2022]), Ref: PROB 11/155/592, Date: 16 May 1629
5. ↑ Will of Nathaniel Parker of East Bergholt, Suffolk. (The National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D749897: [accessed 5 April 2022]), Ref: PROB 11/377/119, Date: 16 August 1684
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Will of Sir Calthrope Parker of Ewarton, Suffolk. (The National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D907302: [accessed 5 April 2022]), Ref: PROB 11/133/79, Date: 26 January 1619
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} A Cambridge Alumni Database (ACAD) – unique identifier: PRKR618P. [Available at: https://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/Documents/acad/enter.html]
8. ↑ Shaw, William Arthur. The Knights of England, p.187. London: Sherratt & Hughes, 1906. Available online at: https://archive.org/details/knightsofengland02shawuoft/page/n195/mode/2up?q=parker [accessed 25 April 2022]
9. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "High Sheriff of Suffolk," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=High_Sheriff_of_Suffolk&oldid=1081434086 (accessed April 11, 2022).
10. ↑ Markwell, F.C. & Saul, Pauline. The Family Historian's Enquire Within, 3rd edition, p.168. Newbury, Berkshire, England: Countryside Books, 1988.
11. ↑ Herber, Mark. Ancestral Trails, 2nd edition, p.539. Stroud, Gloucestershire, England: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 2004.
12. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "List of MPs elected to the English parliament in April 1640," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_MPs_elected_to_the_English_parliament_in_April_1640&oldid=1081620178 (accessed April 14, 2022).
13. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "List of MPs elected to the English parliament in November 1640," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_MPs_elected_to_the_English_parliament_in_November_1640&oldid=1081613648 (accessed April 14, 2022).
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Will of Dame Merrie Parker, widow of Great Wenham, Suffolk. (The National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D877509: [accessed 5 April 2022]), Ref: PROB 11/172/324, Date: 9 December 1636
15. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Trencher (tableware)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trencher_(tableware)&oldid=1072709748 (accessed April 14, 2022).
16. ↑ "Will of Sir Philipp Parker of Great Wenham, Suffolk." (The National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D745327: [accessed 5 April 2022]), Ref: PROB 11/383/340, Date: 18 June 1686
17. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Erwarton," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Erwarton&oldid=1059085792 (accessed April 9, 2022).
18. ↑ Will of Steven Parker of Arwarton, Suffolk. (The National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D880399: [accessed 5 April 2022]), Ref: PROB 11/155/592, Date: 16 May 1629
19. ↑ Will of Nathaniel Parker of East Bergholt, Suffolk. (The National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D749897: [accessed 5 April 2022]), Ref: PROB 11/377/119, Date: 16 August 1684
20. ↑ "Will of Sir Philipp Parker of Great Wenham, Suffolk." (The National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D745327: [accessed 5 April 2022]), Ref: PROB 11/383/340, Date: 18 June 1686
21. ↑ Will of Nathaniel Parker of East Bergholt, Suffolk. (The National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D749897: [accessed 5 April 2022]), Ref: PROB 11/377/119, Date: 16 August 1684

Acknowledgements

This profile has been improved by a member of the England Project's Orphan Trail.