William Parker (died 24th September 1618) was an English captain and

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

, and also

Mayor of Plymouth This is a list of some notable mayors and all the later lord mayors of the city of Plymouth in the United Kingdom. Plymouth had elected a mayor annually since 1439. The city was awarded the dignity of a lord mayoralty by letters patent dat ...

. He was born near Plymouth and was a member of the lesser gentry but he became one of the owners of the Merchants househttp://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/creativityandculture/museums/museummerchantshouse/museummerchantshistory.htm & in 1601 became mayor of Plymouth before becoming a privateer in the services of Queen Elizabeth. In 1587 he sailed in consort with Sir Francis Drake during Drake's raid on raid on Cadiz, Spain. In the 1590s Captain Parker sailed the West Indies taking several prizes. He also plundered Puerto Cortés in Honduras in 1594 and 1595. After 1596, as owner of his own vessel, he partnered with Sir

Anthony Sherley Sir Anthony Shirley (or Sherley) (1565–1635) was an English traveller, whose imprisonment in 1603 by King James I caused the English House of Commons to assert one of its privileges—freedom of its members from arrest—in a document known as ...

, but this relationship ended when after a time no prizes were taken. Leaving Captain Sherley behind, Captain Parker attacked Campeche in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Captain Parker was wounded in the attack but survived and succeeded in capturing a frigate carrying silver which was en route to San Juan De Ulua. Captain Parker next captured Portobello in February 1601. Portobello was a very important port being the departure point from which Peruvian treasure left for Spain. Captain Parker then sailed to Panama and plundered Saint Vincent in the Cape Verdes. He also captured and held for ransom the Cubagua pearl-boats and captured a Portuguese slave ship. His successes secured for him a prominent position in Plymouth, where he was looked upon as a hero of sorts and elected mayor in 1601. He became a founding member of the

Virginia Company The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the object of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day Mai ...

in 1606. Captain Parker was made Vice-Admiral and left on an expedition to the East Indies, but died on the voyage to Bantam on 24 Sept. 1618.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, William 1617 deaths Mayors of Plymouth English privateers Year of birth unknown Military personnel from Plymouth, Devon