Thomas Gambier Parry - Descendants

Descendants

Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (1848 – 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.

On the death of Hubert Parry in 1918, his half-brother Ernest Gambier Parry (1853-1936) succeeded to the family estate at Highnam. Major Gambier-Parry, in addition to his military service, was an artist, author, and musician. He was born on 25 October 1853, and was at Eton from 1866 to 1871. Having served in the Volunteers and Militia, he joined The Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1874 and the Devon Yeomanry 10 years later. In the Eastern Sudan Expedition of 1885 as a special service officer, he was seriously injured and was promoted major for services in the field. For services in World War One, when he was commandant of No. 6 Red Cross Hospital, Oxfordshire, he was made an O.B.E. in 1918. He was a county magistrate and president of the Gloucester Children's Hospital founded by his father.

Major Gambier-Parry was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy and other exhibitions, and served on the Gloucester Committee of the Three Choirs Festival. Among his published works were Suakin, 1885, Sketches of a Yachting Cruise, Day-dreams, The Pageant of my Day, Murphy: A Message to Dog-lovers, Allegories of the Land, The Spirit of the Old Folk Life of Reynell Taylor, and Ainslie Gore: A Sketch from Life. He married in 1882, Evelyn Elizabeth, R.R.C., daughter of the first Lord Haldon. They had two sons. The elder, Thomas Robert, a versatile scholar and botanist, who became Keeper of the Oriental Department of the Bodleian, died in February 1935; the younger, Thomas Mark, was known for his studies in French biography.

Thomas's grandson, Michael Gambier-Parry (1891–1976), also became a soldier serving in both World Wars. As a Captain in World War I he was awarded the Military Cross. In World War II he was Aide-de-Camp to the King, then Head British Military Mission to Athens in 1940. In 1941 General Officer Commanding 2nd Amoured Division, North Africa. He was captured at Mechili in April 1941. In September 1943 he escaped with other officers. He retired in 1944.

Another grandson, Brigadier Richard Gambier-Parry (1894-1965), served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers in World War I and was mentioned in dispatches twice. He was recruited by Admiral Hugh Sinclair to form Section VIII, the communications section of the Secret Intelligence Service. This organised communications with SIS agents, the wireless interception network that served Bletchley Park and the wireless network that got the Ultra intelligence to commanders in the field. After World War II he was Director of Communications for the Foreign Office and SIS.