Sir James Parker (28 March 1803 – 1852) was a British barrister who became Vice Chancellor of the High Court. Parker was born in Glasgow, the son of Charles Stuart Parker and his wife Mary Rainey. He was educated at

Glasgow Grammar School The High School of Glasgow is an independent, co-educational day school in Glasgow, Scotland. The original High School of Glasgow was founded as the choir school of Glasgow Cathedral in around 1124, and is the oldest school in Scotland, and t ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he stood seventh wrangler in the Tripos in 1825. He contributed ''Arithmetic and Algebra'' in fours parts (1827–1830) to the Library of Useful Knowledge (authorship by a Mr. Parker, AM, is identified in an edition in 1847, and clinched, for example, in advertisements on 16 January and 17 July 1860 in ''Publishers' Circular and Bookseller's' Record'' ). In 1829, he was called to the bar at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

and was an equity draftsman and conveyancer. He practiced on the Northern circuit and became

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1844. Parker purchased the estate of

Rothley Temple Rothley Temple, or more correctly Rothley Preceptory, (pronounced ''Rowth-Ley'') was a preceptory (a religious establishment operated by certain orders of monastic knights) in the village of Rothley, Leicestershire, England, associated with both ...

from his father-in-law

Thomas Babington Thomas Babington of Rothley Temple (; 18 December 1758 – 21 November 1837) was an English philanthropist and politician. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, alongside more famous abolitionists such as William Wilberforce and Hannah More. An a ...

in 1845. Parker became a

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

of the High Court in 1851 and received a knighthood. However he died the following year at the age of 49 from angina pectoris and was buried in the chapel at Rothley. Parker married Mary Babington, third daughter of Thomas Babington in 1829. Their daughter Susan Emma Parker married

Archibald Smith Archibald Smith of Jordanhill (10 August 1813, in Greenhead, North Lanarkshire – 26 December 1872, in London) was a Scots-born barrister and amateur mathematician. Early life and education He was the only son of James Smith FRSE (178 ...

and their son James Parker was a successful rower. Parker was the uncle of

Charles Stuart Parker Charles Stuart Parker (1 June 1829 – 18 June 1910) was a British academic, writer and Liberal politician. Life Parker was the eldest son of Charles Stewart Parker (1800–1868), merchant, of Aigburth, Liverpool, and Fairlie, Ayrshire, and hi ...

MP. An obituary notice appeared in the issue of ''Gentleman's Magazine'' for October, 1852.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, James 1803 births 1852 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British barristers