Stephen Stanley Parker

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Stephen Stanley Parker (24 May 1817 – 1904) was an early settler and pioneer of Western Australia and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council.

Parker was born in Lyminge, Kent, and came to the Swan River Colony with his father Stephen Parker and his family, in February 1830. Stephen Parker (senior) had intended to be associated with land dealings with Thomas Peel on behalf of some English investors, however these did not come to fruition and instead he took up a land grant in Guildford. After several years, the family moved to York, where they established a 2,500 acre (1,010 ha.) property called 'Northbourne'.

In 1844, he married Elizabeth Sewell and they later purchased a 4,000 acre property in York which proved highly lucrative. From there, he acquired several other leases in the York district and in 1858 established a flour mill in the town. In the 1860s, he was made a Justice of the Peace by Governor Sir Frederick Weld was for eight years the chairman of the Roads Board and was a member of the town council.

In (about) 1874, he was appointed as a nominee member of the Legislative Council by Governor Sir William Robinson and held the position for eight years. Stephen Stanley Parker retired in February 1882 and moved to Perth to live.

After his retirement, he became a member of the Aborigines Protection Board and was a trustee of the Church of England diocese in Western Australia.

[edit] Family

He was the father of Stephen Henry Parker (1846-1927), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1906 to 1914.

[edit] References

Kimberly, W.B. (compiler) (1897). History of West Australia. A Narrative of her Past. Together With Biographies of Her Leading Men. Melbourne: F.W. Niven.
G. C. Bolton, Wendy Birman, 'Parker, Sir Stephen Henry (1846 - 1927)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition, Copyright 2006, updated continuously, ISSN 1833-7538, published by Australian National University