PARKER, Christopher (c.1684-1713), of Clitheroe, Lancs. and Tuppindence, Kent

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, 2002
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1708 - Apr. 1713

Family and Education

b. c.1684, o. s. of Anthony Parker*.  educ. G. Inn 1698; Christ Church, Oxf. matric. 16 July 1703, aged 18.  m. Margaret, da. of William Broome of Tuppindence, s.psuc. fa. 1693; gdfa. 1695.1

Offices Held

Biography

Parker succeeded to the family seat at Bradkirk Hall on his grandfather’s death, but, like his father, he owed his initial influence in Clitheroe elections to his relationship with the Stringers. In 1706 he began to form an interest at Clitheroe in alliance with his Whig uncle Thomas Stringer*, and after Stringer’s sudden death that year Parker contested the ensuing by-election with the Whig Daniel Harvey*, nephew to the lord of the manor, the Duke of Montagu (Ralph Montagu†). After a double return, the elections committee decided for Harvey, and the House concurred. Stringer’s will had given Parker first refusal of the burgages Stringer owned at Clitheroe, and it seems likely that he took advantage of the offer as he was returned unopposed in 1708. He made little impact upon the House, and during his first session of parliamentary service was granted a month’s leave of absence. In early 1710 he was listed as voting both for and against the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell. Returned unopposed in 1710, Parker was classed as a Tory in the ‘Hanover list’, and although his parliamentary activity is difficult to identify due to the presence of namesakes in the 1710 Parliament, he was listed both as a ‘Tory patriot’ who in 1711 voted against the continuation of the war and as a ‘worthy patriot’ who had helped detect the mismanagements of the previous administration. By January 1713 Parker was seriously ill, and died in April. In his will he left his Yorkshire and Lancashire estates to his uncle, Alexander Parker, and his sister, the wife of Thomas Stanley of Cross Hall in Latham, Lancashire. Alexander’s son, Thomas Parker, exercised the family interest, unsuccessfully, for the last time in 1715. The Bradkirk Hall estate was sold in 1723.2

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Authors: Eveline Cruickshanks / Richard Harrison

Notes

  • 1. H. Fishwick, Hist. Kirkham (Chetham Soc. ser. 1, xcii), 180–1.
  • 2. Bagot mss at Levens Hall, Edward Harvey* to James Grahme*, 6 Apr., 6 May 1706; HMC Kenyon, 438–9; Luttrell, Brief Relation, vi. 128; PCC 201 Eedes; 257 Leeds; Fishwick, 179–81.