PARRY, Henry (1561-1616)

Parry’s father, a Herefordshire native, was chancellor of Salisbury diocese under Edward VI, deprived under Queen Mary, but reinstated in the opening months of Elizabeth’s reign. Parry later recalled that his father ‘kept a sumptuous house, spent above his revenue, was careful to prefer such as were men of hope’, and had him act in plays ‘to embolden him’. In his will of March 1571, Chancellor Parry commended his son’s education to his diocesan, John Jewel^†, but as the latter died only four months after his chancellor, he is unlikely to have played any significant part in the future bishop’s upbringing. Parry inherited his father’s books and a reversionary interest in leasehold lands near Old Sarum, Wiltshire, and was elected to a scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1576.20 Fasti, vi. 1, 10; Manningham Diary ed. R.P. Sorlien, 87; PROB 11/54, f. 86r-v; Al. Ox. His contemporaries at Corpus included such Calvinist critics as Richard Hooker and Edwin Sandys^‡ (later archbishop of York), but he himself was an orthodox Calvinist, publishing a translation of Zacharius Ursinus’ lectures on the Heidelberg Catechism (1587), which became a standard textbook at Oxford, and arguing the case for perseverance in faith for his doctoral theses in 1596. He was said to have had ‘a rare gift ex tempore in all his school exercises’, and held a fellowship at Corpus from 1586.21 C.M. Dent, Protestant Reformers in Eliz. Oxf. 186, 189, 226; J. Harington, A Briefe View of the State of the Church of Eng. (1653), 152. Harington’s editor misidentified the bishop in question as Giles Thompson^*, Parry’s successor as bp. of Gloucester.

Parry resigned his fellowship in 1592, shortly after he married. Instituted to a series of Kentish rectories under the patronage of John Whitgift^†, archbishop of Canterbury, by the autumn of 1596 he held the rectories of Sundridge and Chevening in commendam, giving him sufficient wealth to be rated at £20 towards a Privy Seal loan to the crown.22 CCEd; Al. Ox. (Henry and George Parry, sons of Bp. Parry); Staffs. RO, D593/S4/20/11. In 1594 he published a Latin sermon he had preached at Oxford three years earlier, which he dedicated to William Herbert^*, later 3rd earl of Pembroke. From 1598 he regularly preached at court, where he was ‘greatly respected and reverenced’, becoming one of the queen’s chaplains in 1602.23 H. Parry, Victoria Christiana (1594); McCullough, (suppl. cal. 78, 80, 82, 87, 92-5); Harington, 152. As one of the two chaplains in ordinary during March 1603, he was an eye-witness to the queen’s final weeks, preaching in the Chapel Royal on the day before her death: a large contingent of the Privy Council heard ‘a very learned, eloquent, religious and moving sermon’; while his prayers for the queen ‘left few eyes dry’. It was planned that he would publish a funeral eulogy for the queen, or deliver a sermon to King James on his arrival in London, but he is not known to have performed either task.24 Manningham Diary, 205-8, 245; McCullough, (suppl. cal. 94-5).

Parry continued as a royal chaplain under James, and was collated to the deanery of Chester in 1605. This post was clearly a sinecure, as he retained his Kentish livings. On 10 Aug. 1606 he preached in Latin before the king, Queen Anne, Prince Henry and Christian IV of Denmark at Rochester Cathedral. Dudley Carleton^* (later Viscount Dorchester) reported that Parry ‘lost himself’ in a complex philosophical peroration, but his sermon was nevertheless widely admired.25 Fasti, xi. 43; McCullough, (suppl. cal. 130); Carleton to Chamberlain ed. M. Lee, 91; T. Birch, Ct. and Times of Jas. I, i. 65; Harington, 152-3. Parry subsequently reinforced his standing at court by dedicating a fresh edition of his old Oxford sermons to Prince Henry (1606), and an edition of John Rainolds’ disputations with a Catholic priest to King Christian (1610).26 H. Parry, De Regno Dei et Victoria Christiana (1606), sigs. A2-4; J. Rainolds, Summa Colloquii Johannis Rainoldo cum Johanne Harto ed. H. Parry (1610), sig. ¶1-2. For the latter, see Harl. 7002, f. 213.

Although Whitgift was long dead, Parry may have been recommended for the see of Gloucester by another of the archbishop’s former protégés, Thomas Ravis^*, whose translation to London in May 1607 created the vacancy. Worth only £284 p.a., Gloucester was the poorest of the English dioceses. Consequently, Parry was allowed to retain his two Kentish benefices in commendam, although he surrendered the deanery of Chester.27 Trans. Congregational Hist. Soc. (1913-15), vi. 56; CCEd; Fasti, xi. 43. The surviving evidence suggests that he was a conscientious diocesan administrator. He issued articles for the primary visitation of his diocese within days of his appointment, and conducted his next visitation, in 1610, in person, preaching before those he ordained. He regularly presided over the diocese’s consistory court, personally examined curates for their sufficiency before confirming their appointment, and sought to restrain the fees charged by his officials.28 K. Fincham, Prelate as Pastor, 86-7, 113, 115-16, 119, 130, 161, 169, 171, 183. The 1607 visitation articles were copied from those used by Richard Vaughan^* in his visitation of London in 1605: Vis. Articles and Injunctions of the Early Stuart Church I ed. K. Fincham (Church of Eng. Rec. Soc. i), 48-9. He also assigned a rent charge of £20 to the poor of Gloucester. However, his modest income from the episcopal estates apparently led him to demand substantial entry fines from his tenants.29 Fincham, 74; C2/Jas.I/W21/72.

Having been consecrated shortly after the prorogation of Parliament in 1607, Parry did not take his seat in the Lords until February 1610. He attended almost three-quarters of the sittings during the spring session, but, perhaps because he missed the keynote speech on the crown’s finances delivered on 15 Feb. by the lord treasurer, Robert Cecil^*, 1st earl of Salisbury, he was not involved in negotiations over the Great Contract. Instead, he was named to two committees for the bill to discourage the assignment of private debts to the crown, and another to avoid the assignment of private leases to the crown.30 LJ, ii. 601b, 623a, 632b. He presumably played some part in the debates on religious legislation, as he was appointed to a subcommittee for investigating measures to discourage clerical non-residence and pluralism, and also to the committee for the bill against scandalous ministers.31 Ibid. 587a, 641b. He was included on committees for a number of local bills relating to the west of England, including one for the improvement of Minehead harbour, Somerset, and another for repair of a weir on the River Exe in Devon. He was also named to the committee for a private bill regarding the estates of Sir Henry Crispe, which lay on the Isle of Thanet, near his own living of Monkton.32 Ibid. 577b, 586b, 623a. He absented himself from the Lords for several days while preparing for a sermon, probably preached in the Chapel Royal on 22 April. Sir Richard Paulet^‡ noted that the text, from Ecclesiastes, was about God’s purposes for the world; in the present age, Parry said, ‘knowledge was ambitiously desired and we not left unsatisfied … but our practise in God’s commandments but little seen, and without practice the least knowledge is too much’. Paulet did not record that Parry was making any contemporary application of this text, but the bishop’s approach clearly suggested the need for careful deliberation in the negotiations over the Great Contract.33 ‘Paulet 1610’, f. 7v; Fincham, 300.

Shortly after the prorogation of Parliament, Parry was nominated to the bishopric of Worcester, vacated by the death of Gervase Babington^*. The episcopal income of his new see was three times as large as that of Gloucester, but even so, he continued to hold the rectory of Sundridge, Kent in commendam; this arrangement must have raised his income to almost £1,000 per annum. However, his new wealth also encouraged his successors at Gloucester, Giles Thompson^* and Miles Smith^*, to prosecute him over alleged dilapidations to the episcopal estates.34 Fasti, vi. 106; Worcs. RO, 009.1/BA2636/6(ii), accts. 1612-17, ff. 25, 33, 39v. Parry remained in London for the autumn session of Parliament, attending the Lords every day they sat. He was named to attend two conferences with the Commons, at the first of which the Commons were pressed to indicate whether they would accept the Great Contract. The second, which took place after the bargain collapsed, was held to ascertain whether some other form of supply might be voted. Parry was also named to two bill committees, one for preservation of timber – a perennial problem on ecclesiastical estates – and the other to confirm duchy of Cornwall leases.35 LJ, ii. 669a, 671a, 677a, 678a.

As at Gloucester, Parry was an assiduous diocesan, permanently resident in his episcopal palaces at Worcester and Hartlebury, Worcestershire. He was twice employed as an arbitrator by Worcester corporation, but when the corporation applied for a new charter in 1615 he entered a caveat in the signet office, as Bishop Babington had previously objected to the aldermen’s plans to encroach on the liberties of the cathedral close. In the event, Parry allowed the grant to pass, shorn of any expanded jurisdiction.36 Chamber Order Bk. of Worcester, 1602-50 ed. S. Bond (Worcs. Hist. Soc. n.s. viii), 6-8, 114, 121. Liberal with his hospitality, despite his rigorous Calvinism, he often entertained the anti-puritan county elites, including Sir Thomas Bromley^‡, Sir John Pakington^‡ and Thomas Windsor^*, 6th Lord Windsor, engaging musicians and players to entertain his guests.37 Worcs. RO, 009.1/BA2636/6(ii), accts. 1612-17, ff. 9, 22v, 27-8, 33v.

Parry played an active role in the elections for the 1614 Parliament, attending the Worcestershire county election on 11 Mar., which saw the return of Sir Thomas Bromley^‡ and Sir Samuel Sandys^‡ (an episcopal tenant and brother of his Cambridge contemporary Sir Edwin Sandys^‡). He also presumably backed the return of James Button^‡, his diocesan surveyor, for the newly enfranchised borough of Bewdley, which lay near Hartlebury Castle.38 Ibid. f. 35v; HP Commons 1604-29, iii. 369. Plagued with increasing health problems, he attended only half the sittings of the brief parliamentary session, and was named to just one bill committee, for the endowment of Monmouth grammar school. His health clearly improved after the dissolution, as he was able to conduct his diocesan visitation in person in late July.39 Worcs. RO, 009.1/BA2636/6(ii), accts. 1612-17, ff. 33, 35, 39; HMC Hastings, iv. 248; LJ, ii. 711b.

Parry’s health finally collapsed in the autumn of 1616. In October a doctor was summoned from Oxford, but, despite expensive treatment, the bishop died of a stroke on 10 December; he was mourned by George Carew^*, Lord Carew (later earl of Totness) as a ‘good, godly and learned prelate’.40 Worcs. RO, 009.1/BA2636/6(ii), accts. 1612-17, ff. 61-2; Ath. Ox. ii. 193; Fincham, 69. ‘Camden Diary’ (1691), 21 mistakenly claims that he died in November. In his will, drafted two years before his death, he left £500 and most of his library – he was an avid bibliophile – to his eldest son Henry, £300 apiece to his other two sons, and a dowry of £400 to his unmarried daughter, Pascha. His widow Elizabeth, who spent over £50 on funeral blacks, was appointed executor. She fought off a challenge from her eldest son, securing a grant of probate on 31 May 1617.41 Worcs. RO, 009.1/BA2636/6(ii), accts. 1612-17, ff. 64-5; PROB 11/129, ff. 289v-90v.