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PARKER, Anthony (1657-93), of Gray's Inn and Bradkirk Hall, Kirkham, Lancs.
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Family and Education
bap. 1 Apr. 1657, 1st s. of Christopher Parker (d.1695) of Bradkirk Hall by Catherine, da. of Ralph Laud of Blakeney, Norf. educ. Trinity, Oxf. 1674; G. Inn 1674, called 1681. m. settlement 20 Oct. 1681 (with £15,000) Mary, da. of Sir Thomas Stringer of Enfield, Mdx., 1s. 2da.1
Offices Held
Freeman, Preston 1678, 1682; commr. for assessment, Lancs. 1689-90, j.p. and dep. lt. 1689-d.; steward, honour of Clitheroe 1691-d.2
Biography
Parker’s ancestors, it was claimed, had been tenants of Bradkirk Hall ‘time out of mind’, but little is known of them before the 17th century. His grandfather, one of the Earl of Derby’s gentlemen, was the only Protestant inhabitant of Kirkham of any standing. His father, a Presbyterian elder, bought the freehold from the treason trustees in 1652 with the ‘consent and assistance’ of the 8th Earl; he conformed after the Restoration and was active in local administration until removed from the commission of the peace in 1687. Parker was elected to the Convention on the Stringer interest, and was presumably reckoned a Tory, although he did not vote to agree with the Lords that the throne was not vacant. No committee work can definitely be attributed to him, and he was probably inactive. He was re-elected for Clitheroe in 1690, but died of drink on 3 Apr. 1693. His son Christopher represented the borough from 1708 to 1713.3
Ref Volumes: 1660-1690
Author: Irene Cassidy
Notes
- 1. H. Fishwick, Hist. Kirkham (Chetham Soc. xcii), 180-1.
- 2. Preston Guild Rolls (Lancs. and Cheshire Rec. Soc. ix), 150, 191; Lancs. RO, QSC 103; W. S. Weeks, Clitheroe in 17th Cent. 203.
- 3. Fishwick 137, 138, 178-9; HMC Le Fleming, 203; Weeks, 204; HMC Lords, ii. 223; Jolly’s Note Bk. (Chetham Soc. n.s. xxx), 116.