Robert Townley Parker (1793–1879) was a Unionist

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the

United Kingdom House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

constituency of Preston. He was the son of Thomas Townley Parker, Esq. of the cadet brand of the

Towneley family The Towneley or Townley family are an English (UK) family whose ancestry can be traced back to Anglo-Saxon England. Towneley Hall in Burnley, Lancashire, was the family seat until its sale, together with the surrounding park, to the corporatio ...

Towneley Hall Towneley Park is owned and managed by Burnley Borough Council and is the largest and most popular park in Burnley, Lancashire, England. The main entrance to the park is within a mile of the town centre and the park extends to the south east, cov ...

. He inherited

Cuerden Hall Cuerden Hall is a country mansion in the village of Cuerden near Preston, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. The Hall was formerly a family home between 1717 and 1906, and used by the Army until the 1960s. In 1985 it became ...

, near

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 local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

on his father's death. He presented a petition related to the

Maynooth Grant The Maynooth Grant was a cash grant from the British government to a Catholic seminary in Ireland. In 1845, the Conservative Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, sought to improve the relationship between Catholic Ireland and Protestant Britain by in ...

affair to prevent Roman Catholic Members of Parliament from Voting on Church matters, complaining about duties on English goods in France and Belgium. Townley Parker was elected

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

Mayor of Preston in 1861–2. He was also a prominent Freemason. Whereas most Freemasons Lodges are named after areas or moral virtues, Townley Parker had the unusual honour of having not one but two Masonic Lodges named for him; namely Townley Parker Lodge 1032, which currently meets at Cunliffe Hall in Chorley and Townley Parker Lodge 1083, which meets in Manchester.

References

*Article features content from ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament - Volume I 1832-1885: A Biographical Dictionary of the House of Commons'',

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Robert Townley 1793 births 1879 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Mayors of Preston, Lancashire UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1852–1857 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Lancashire Hulme Trust