William Parry ( bap. 2 May 1687 – 14 September 1756) was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

priest and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

Life

Parry was baptised at St. John's Church,

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was educated at

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

matriculating Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

on 19 February 1706 and obtaining degrees of BA in 1709, MA in 1712 and BD in 1719. He was a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of Jesus College from 1714 to 1727. Parry was ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

on 29 May 1712 and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on 21 September 1712, both ordinations being carried out by the

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft, following the Confirm ...

, William Talbot, at

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Christ Church Cathedral is a cathedral of the Church of England in Oxford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Oxford and the principal church of the diocese of Oxford. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, a colle ...

. On 27 September 1712, he was appointed rector of

Tellisford Tellisford is a village and civil parish north-east of Frome in the county of Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Woolverton. History The village was known as ''Tefleford'' in 1001 and ''Tablesford'' in 1086 meaning ''Theabu ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, resigning in 1715. From 1726 onwards, he was rector of

Shipston-on-Stour Shipston-on-Stour is a town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in southern Warwickshire, England. It is located on the banks of the River Stour, Warwickshire, River Stour, points of the compass, south-southeast of Stratford-up ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, and was buried there after his death on 14 September 1756. He had elegant handwriting, admired by his contemporaries for its resemblance to well-executed

typography Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

. He transcribed some manuscripts located now in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

in Oxford, and wrote out a copy of the statutes of Jesus College, preserved in their archives. He frequently mentioned in correspondence to friends a project of his, namely creating an alphabetical catalogue of ancient and modern coins. His letters often included verses of poetry, and his verses were also published in ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

''.

References

1687 births 1756 deaths Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford 18th-century English Anglican priests English antiquarians {{ChurchofEngland-clergy-stub