Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet, of Shenstone

Infobox Military Person
name= Sir William Parker
lived= 1 December 1781 – 13 November 1866
placeofbirth=Almington, Staffordshire
placeofdeath=


caption= Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker Bt
nickname=
allegiance= flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
serviceyears=
rank= Admiral of the Fleet
branch=
branch
commands= First Naval Lord
unit=
battles= Napoleonic Wars
awards= GCB
laterwork=
Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet, GCB (1 December 1781 – 13 November 1866) was born at Almington, Staffordshire, England. He was not related to the previous Admiral Sir William Parker. His father, George Parker, was the second son of Sir Thomas Parker, who had been Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. Sir Thomas Parker's nephew (by marriage to his daughter Martha) was John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent.

Naval career

William Parker entered the Royal Navy in February 1793 as a captain's servant on the HMS "Orion", serving under Captain John Thomas Duckworth. The "Orion" was part of the Channel fleet under Lord Howe and took part in the Battle of The Glorious First of June. When Captain Duckworth was assigned to another ship, "Leviathan", Parker followed him, and sailed with him to the West Indies where Duckworth appointed him acting lieutenant of the frigate "Magicienne". In May 1798 he was appointed to the "Queen", flagship of Sir Hyde Parker, and on May 1 1799 became acting captain of the "Volage". During the next few months he cruised in the Gulf of Mexico and the coast of Cuba.

In 1800 he returned to England and then spent nearly a year in the North Sea with the blockade fleet off Brest. He became Post Captain in October 1801. In November he assumed command of HMS "Amazon", which he commanded for nearly 11 years. He was attached to the fleet under Admiral Lord Nelson and accompanied the fleet to the West Indies. The "Amazon" was then sent on a cruise westward and therefore missed the Battle of Trafalgar. She was later attached to a squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren, participating in the capture of the French ships "Marengo" and "Belle Poule". Parker was almost constantly on the move with the "Amazon", mainly along the coast of Spain and Portugal, until January 1812 when the ship was paid off.

Parker purchased Shenstone Lodge near Lichfield, where he lived for the next 15 years. In 1827, however, he returned to sea as captain of HMS "Warspite", and acted in 1828 as senior officer off the coast of Greece. In December that year he was appointed to command the royal yacht. On 22 July 1830 he was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral and in April 1831 was appointed second in command of the Channel Squadron, under Sir Edward Codrington. In September 1831 he was detached on an independent command on the Tagus, aboard "Asia" where he went to protect British interests during the Portuguese Civil War. When he returned to England he was appointed one of the Lords of the Admiralty. He left the Admiralty in 1841, and was appointed commander-in-chief in China. Parker sailed for Hong Kong and assumed command of the squadron on 10 August 1841. The British proceeded to capture Amoy, Ningpo, Woosung and Shanghai, ending with the seizure of Chin-kiang-foo and closing the entrance to the Grand Canal on July 21 1842. Parker received a G.C.B. in 1843, a good-service pension in 1844 and a baronetcy in 1841. In November of that year he had been appointed Vice-Admiral and in 1845 was commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. In 1846, because of his knowledge of Portugal and its politics, he was appointed to command the Channel Fleet. In 1848, however, he returned to the Mediterranean. In 1852 he attained the rank of Admiral and returned to England.

He continued to be active, serving as a consultant on a variety of projects. In 1863 he became an Admiral of the Fleet. He died on 13 November 1866 from complications from bronchitis. He was buried in his parish churchyard near his home at Shenstone Lodge, and a monument to his memory was erected in Lichfield Cathedral.

References

*cite book | first=J. K. | last=Laughton | chapter=Parker, Sir William, first baronet (1781–1866) | editor=rev. Andrew Lambert | title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2004 | url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21348 | accessdate=2007-04-13