J. H. Parry

John Horace Parry (born in Handsworth, England, on 26 April 1914 - died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 1982) was a distinguished maritime historian, who served as Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs at Harvard University.

Early Life and Education

John Parry was the son of a teacher, Walter Austin Parry and his wife Ethel Piddock. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge, where he also completed his Ph.D. in history in 1938. On 18 March 1938, he married Joyce Carter. Together they had three daughters and a son. His academic career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served as an officer in the Royal Navy in 1940-1945, rising to become a lieutenant-commander. For his war service, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1942.

Academic career

Upon demobilization, Parry returned to Clare College, Cambridge, where he was tutor in history 1945-1949. He served additionally as senior proctor, 1947-48 and university lecturer in history, 1946-1949. In 1949, he was appointed professor of modern history at the newly established University College of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica, an appointment he held until 1956.

In 1954-55, he was visiting professor at Harvard University, then returned briefly to Jamaica before being appointed principal of University College, Ibadan, Nigeria in 1956. Parry remained in that post until 1960, when he was selected as principal of the University College of Swansea. In 1963 he became vice-chancellor of the University of Wales, Cardiff, where he remained until he was selected as Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs at Harvard University.

Awards and Honours

*Officer of the Order of the British Empire, 1942
*Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, 1960
*Honorary L.L.D., University of Ceara, 1964
*Commander of the Order of Alfonos X of Castile, 1976

Published Works

*"The Spanish theory of empire in the sixteenth century" (1940, 1949, 1974, 1978)

*"The audiencia of New Galicia in the sixteenth century : a study in Spanish colonial government" (1948, 1968)

*"The sale of public office in the Spanish Indies under the Hapsburgs" (1953)

*"Europe and a wider world, 1415-1715" (1949, 1966); reprinted as "The establishment of the European hegemony, 1415-1715 : trade and exploration in the age of the Renaissance" (1961)

*"A short history of the West Indies", by J.H. Parry, P.M. Sherlock, A.P. Maingot (1956, 1960, 1963, 1971, 1987)

*"The cities of the Conquistadores" (1961)

*"The age of reconnaissance" (1963, 1966, 1973)

*"The Spanish seaborne empire" (1966, 1973, 1977, 1990)

*"The European reconnaissance: selected documents"(1968)

*"The discovery of the sea" (1973)

*"Trade and dominion : the European oversea empires in the eighteenth century" (1971, 1974, 2000)

*"The discovery of the sea" (1974, 1975, 1981)

*"The discovery of South America" (1979)

*"Romance of the sea" (1981)

*"New iberian world : a documentary history of the discovery and settlement of Latin America to the early 17th century", edited, with commentaries by John H. Parry and Robert G. Keith ; with the assistance of Michael Jimenez (1984)