Nicholas Parker (MP) explained
| Nicholas Parker |
| Honorific-Suffix: | Kt. |
| Constituency Mp: | Sussex |
| Term Start: | 1597 |
| Term End: | 1598 |
| Birth Date: | 1547 |
| Birth Place: | Ratton, Willingdon |
| Death Date: | 9 March |
| Resting Place: | St. Mary the Virgin, Willingdon |
| Resting Place Coordinates: | 50.7997°N 0.2541°W |
| Children: | with Catherine: |
Sir Nicholas Parker (1547 – 9 March 1620), eldest son of Thomas Parker of Ratton and Eleanor, daughter of William Waller of Groombridge, was a military commander during the reign of Elizabeth I. He was Sheriff of Sussex in 1586-87, again in 1593-94, and was elected MP for Sussex in 1597.
Career
Parker is first mentioned as commanding the soldiers on board Henry Ughtred's galleon Leicester in Edward Fenton's voyage in 1582 and afterwards served in the army in the Low Countries. He was Sheriff of Sussex, in 1586-7 and 1593-4. He became deputy lieutenant of Sussex in 1587 and was knighted by Lord Willoughby in 1588.
Parker was master of the ordnance for Willoughby's forces In France in 1589, and was dispatched to Brittany in 1594. He was elected MP for Sussex in 1597. In 1597 he commanded a company of troops in the islands' voyage under Essex, and in October of that year was appointed to command in Sussex, on threat of invasion.
In 1598, he was appointed deputy lieutenant of Cornwall and governor of Pendennis Castle. In 1602, he was named in the charter of the Virginia Company as one of the adventurers, and another of them, Adrian Moore, married his daughter, Anne.
He was governor of Plymouth from 1601 to 1603, succeeding Sir Ferdinando Gorges.
Marriages and issue
Parker married three times.
- He married firstly, around 20 January 1573, Jane, daughter of Sir William Courtenay (d. 1557) of Powderham and Elizabeth, daughter of John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester by his first wife, Elizabeth Willoughby; Jane was sister to Sir William Courtenay (d. 1630) and stepdaughter to Henry Ughtred, son of Sir Anthony Ughtred and his second wife, Elizabeth Seymour, sister of Jane, third consort of Henry VIII.
- He married secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of John Baker;
By his first two marriages he had no issue.
- He married thirdly, Catherine, daughter of Sir John Temple of Stowe, Buckinghamshire, by whom he had five sons and two daughters:
- Anne Parker, married firstly, Adrian Moore of Odiham, Hampshire and secondly, Sir John Smith.
Death
He died 9 March 1620 at the age of 73 and was buried in the family chapel in Willingdon church. Following his death, a monument was erected in the Willingdon parish church, showing an effigy of him and his three wives.[1] It is one of a group of monuments to the Parker family spanning nearly 150 years.
Sources
- Borman . T. . Tracy Borman . Parker, Sir Nicholas . First Published 2004 . 3 January 2008 . 10.1093/ref:odnb/21328.
- Book: Burke . John . John Burke (genealogist) . Burke . John Bernard . Bernard Burke . 1841 . A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland, and Scotland . 2nd . London . Printed for Scott, Webster, and Geary . .
- Book: Foster . Joseph . Joseph Foster (genealogist) . London Marriage Licences, 1521-1869 . From Excerpts by the Late Colonel Chester, D.C.L. . 1887 . . London .
- Book: Fuidge, N. M. . Hasler, P. W. . Ughtred, Henry (by 1534-aft. Oct. 1598), of Southampton and Ireland . Members. The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1558–1603 . http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/ughtred-henry-1534-1598 . 1981 . History of Parliament Online.
- Parker, Nicholas . Laughton . John Knox . John Knox Laughton. 43 . 264–265.
- Web site: Llewellyn . Nigel . East Sussex Church Monuments - 1530 to 1830 - Archive of Photographs: Willingdon, St. Mary the Virgin . Sussex Record Society . sussexrecordsociety.org . 6 September 2020 . 2014 .
- Book: R.C.G. . Hasler, P.W. . 1981 . The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1558–1603 . Parker, Sir Nicholas (1547-1620), of Ratton and Willingdon, Suss. . http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/parker-sir-nicholas-1547-1620 . History of Parliament Online.
- Book: Shaw . W.A. . William Arthur Shaw . Burtchaell . B.D. . George Dames Burtchaell . The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of Knights Bachelors, Incorporating a Complete List of Knights Bachelors Dubbed in Ireland . II . London . Sherrat and Hughes . 1906 . .
- Book: Swales, R.J.W. . Bindoff, S.T. . 1982 . The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558 . Parker, Thomas II (by 1527-80), of Ratton, Willingdon, Suss. . http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/parker-thomas-ii-1527-80 . History of Parliament Online.
- Book: Vivian, J. L. . The Visitations of the County of Devon, Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564, to 1620, with additions by J. L. Vivian . Exeter . H.S. Eland . 1895 .
External links
Notes and References
- http://www.sussexparishchurches.org/spc_V31/east-sussex/16-east-sussex-e-g/182-eastbourne-st-mary-willingdon St Mary, Willingdon
