| Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker Bt GCB |
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Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker Bt |
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| Born | 1 December 1781 Almington, Staffordshire, England |
| Died | 13 November 1866 |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1793–1857 |
| Rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
| Commands held | Second Naval Lord East Indies and China Station Mediterranean Fleet First Naval Lord Plymouth |
| Battles/wars | Napoleonic Wars First Opium War |
| Awards | GCB |
Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet, GCB (1 December 1781 – 13 November 1866), was a Royal Navy officer. He was born in 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 and son-in-law (by marriage to his daughter Martha) was John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent.
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William Parker entered the Royal Navy in February 1793 as a captain's servant on the HMS Orion, serving under Captain John Thomas Duckworth.[1] 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.[1] In May 1798 he was appointed to the Queen, flagship of Sir Hyde Parker, and on 1 May 1799 became acting captain of the Volage.[1] During the next few months he cruised in the Gulf of Mexico and the coast of Cuba.[1]
In 1800 he returned to England and then spent nearly a year with the blockade fleet off Brest.[1] He became post captain in October 1801.[1] In November he assumed command of HMS Amazon, which he commanded for nearly 11 years.[1] 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 at the Action of 13 March 1806.[1] 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.[1]
Parker purchased Shenstone Lodge near Lichfield, where he lived for the next 15 years.[1] In 1827, however, he returned to sea as captain of HMS Warspite, and acted in 1828 as senior officer off the coast of Greece.[1] In December that year he was appointed to command the royal yacht.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1] When he returned to England he was appointed one of the Lords of the Admiralty.[1] He left the Admiralty in 1841, and was appointed commander-in-chief of the East Indies and China Station.[1] Parker sailed for Hong Kong and assumed command of the squadron on 10 August 1841.[1] The British proceeded to capture Amoy, Ningpo, Woosung and Shanghai, ending with the seizure of Chinkiang and closing the entrance to the Grand Canal on 21 July 1842.[1]
Parker was appointed GCB in 1843,[1] a good-service pension in 1844[1] and a baronetcy in 1841.[1] In November 1841 he had been appointed Vice-Admiral and in 1845 was Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet.[1] In May 1846, because of his knowledge of Portugal and its politics, he was given the additional command of the Channel Squadron[2] while still remaining in charge of the Mediterranean.[1] He was briefly (for a week) First Naval Lord in July 1846[3] but gave up the role due to ill health.[1]
In 1852 he attained the rank of Admiral and returned to England.[1] He served as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth from 1854 to 1857.[1] 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.[1]
In 1810 he married Frances Anne Biddulph; they had two sons and six daughters.[1]