Thomas Chase Parr (1802–1883) was a British officer of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

Bombay Army The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. It was established in 1668 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 transferr ...

. He ended his military career with the rank of full general.

Life

He was the son of John Owen Parr I, eldest son of

John Parr John Stephen Parr (born 18 November 1952) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, best known for his 1985 single " St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" for the 1985 movie St. Elmo's Fire, charting at No.1 in the US and No.6 in the UK, and ...

of Liverpool, by his wife Elizabeth Mary Patrick, daughter of Thomas Patrick. John Owen Parr I was a merchant in the African trade and an insurance broker of

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is a insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gover ...

in partnership with his brother-in-law, Thomas Chase Patrick, who however were declared bankrupt in August 1808. Parr was an

cadet for the 1818 season. In the

113th Infantry The 113th Infantry were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment traces their origins to 1800, when they were raised as the 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry. The regiment's first action was in Egypt duri ...

, he took part in the Bani Bu Ali expedition of 1821, and was present at the night attack on Sur. As a young Ensign, he survived a notorious attack by a man-eating tiger in 1825, an event described by his companion James Outram, who shot the tiger. Parr commanded the Marine Battalion 1833–1835, and the 7th Bombay Native Infantry, in particular in the 1845 operations in the Southern Mahratta country against the rebellion there. Then Parr took furlough, an extended period in which he married and started a family. His arrival in the United Kingdom in November 1845 was reported, his rank then being a major in the 7th Native Infantry. The ''East-India Register and Army List'' for 1847 has him as a lieutenant-colonel with the 1st European Regiment, on furlough. On 22 February 1849 he was presented to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

at a

levée A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural or artificial, alongside the banks of a river, often intended to protect against flo ...

, by Thomas Pemberton Leigh. In March 1849 he was given leave to remain in the United Kingdom. Parr's wife gave birth to a daughter in

Bhuj Bhuj () is a city and the headquarters of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Etymology According to legend, Kutch (Kachchh) was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to King B ...

, in 1851. In the 1856 ''East-India Register and Army List'', Parr was listed as colonel, commandant at Kurrachee (

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

), and on furlough. He was Colonel of the 2nd European Regiment during the Indian Mutiny. On leaving India, Parr took with him the colours of the 7th Bombay Native Infantry. By the late 1860s, he was living in

Harrow-on-the-Hill Harrow on the Hill or Harrow-on-the-Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) ...

. He moved to Kent around 1873–4, leaving the colours to the church at Harrow. He died at

Bickley Bickley is a district and a local government electoral ward in South East London, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located 10.4 miles (16.7 km) south east of Charing Cross, bordering Elmstead to the north, Chislehurst to the n ...

on 15 June 1883.

Family

Parr married in 1846 Harriet Pott, second daughter of Charles Pott of Freelands. Freelands was a house owned by Samuel Scott as part of his Sundridge Park estate, near

Bromley, Kent Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

, from 1818. The Pott family were long-term tenants, to 1876. The children of the marriage included: *Charles Chase Parr (died 1897, aged 49). He married in 1872 Katherine Anne Millar; their daughter Olive Katherine Parr was the writer

Beatrice Chase Beatrice Chase (5 July 1874 – 3 July 1955) was the pen name for a British writer known during the first half of the 20th century for her Dartmoor-based novels. Her real name was Olive Katharine Parr, and she claimed to be directly descended fro ...

. *Alfred Arthur Chase Parr (1849–1914), naval officer.

Cape Parr Cape Parr () is a large snow-covered cape along the west side of the Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick ...

in Antarctica was named after him. *Willoughby Chase Parr, third son, cleric. Father of Martin Willoughby Parr. * Percivall Chase Parr, fourth son. *Harriet Bertha, married 1876 Robert Hebert Quick. *Emily Oliver, artist. The Rev. Canon John Owen Parr II (1798-1877), vicar of

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

, was his elder brother. He married firstly in 1821 Maria-Elizabeth Wright, by whom he had nine children; secondly in 1857 his sister-in-law, Mary Emily Pott, youngest surviving daughter of Charles Pott; and thirdly in secret in 1858 his domestic servant, Alice Stewardson, an alliance which was to lead to scandal.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parr, Thomas Chase 1802 births 1883 deaths British East India Company Army generals Parr family (Liverpool)