Life
He was born in Ratton, Sussex, where his father Sir Nicholas Parker was a justice of the peace and MP. His mother was Kathryn Temple, sister of Sir Thomas Temple, 1st Baronet, of Stowe. Thomas Parker, who represented Seaford in the Long Parliament, was his brother. His background was Winchester College, St Edmund Hall, Oxford (M.A. 1628) and Lincoln's Inn (called to the bar in 1637). He was a nephew, by marriage, and associate of William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, and his early works are close to the direct political concerns of this patron. He was a cousin of the regicide, James Temple.
He was secretary to the Parliamentary Army in 1642, and secretary to the House of Commons with John Sadler in 1645. At the same time he was secretary to Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, who emerged in 1642 in a prominent position as Parliamentary military leader. Parker's Observations upon some of his Majesty's late answers and expresses (1642) has been called the "single most influential tract of the period".
Correspondence of King Charles and Queen Henrietta Maria was captured after the royalist defeat at the Battle of Naseby in 1645. It was published, 39 letters being made public, edited and annotated by Parker, Sadler and Thomas May, as The Kings Cabinet Opened. The tactic adopted in this work of mild annotation, allowing Charles's words mostly to speak for themselves, proved itself effective.
After the death of Essex, in 1646, he took a position in Germany, as agent in Hamburg for the Merchant Adventurers. From this period dates his economic pamphlet, On a free trade, in support of mercantilism. He also became concerned with the political and military situation in Ireland. He wrote pamphlets on it, becoming on his return an apologist for Henry Ireton. From 1649 he was secretary to Oliver Cromwell's army, serving in Ireland, and is presumed to have died there.
In 1649, he with Henry Robinson argued for 'engagement', a kind of loyalty oath to be imposed by the victorious Parliamentary side to ensure recognition of its authority. He was an opponent of John Lilburne, the Leveller, and wrote in support of jury trial, a system attacked by Lilburne.
Read more about this topic: Henry Parker (writer)
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