SIR WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY*

• Main Authors: R. N. Rudmose Brown, S Ir, William Edward Parry, British Admiral
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cornwallis; Parry; Arctic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.694.3627; http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic12-2-98.pdf

Parry, a physician of some celebrity of Devonshire descent. Educated at Bath Grammar School, he was a forward child, quick to learn, with an ear for music, and tall and athletic. His parents intended that he should study medicine; his going to sea was largely due to the chance that a friend of the family was Admiral W. Cornwallis. In June 1803 the Admiral agreed to take the boy on board his flagship Ville de Paris as a volunteer. War with France in those days made the Navy keen on recruits of any age. Parry had never seen the sea before the day of joining and had no strong leanings toward a naval career, but he soon made good and won the esteem of his officers. His ship was engaged in patrolling the Channel in the blockade of French ports, especially Boulogne, from which was expected Napoleon’s invasion of England. Only on one occasion, however, was there a brush with the enemy. Early in 1806 Parry was appointed a midshipman in the frigate Tribune, which also patrolled the French coast. In 1808 he was transferred to the