Richard Parker (mutineer)
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Richard Parker (16 April 1767 – 30 June 1797) was an English sailor executed for his role as president of the so-called "Floating Republic", a naval mutiny in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
which took place at the Nore between 12 May and 16 June 1797.


Early life and career

He was born in Exeter, the son of a successful baker, and was apprenticed as a navigator in 1779. From 1782 until 1793 he served on various ships of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
mainly in the
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and
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
service, achieving the rank of
master's mate Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master. Master's mates evolved into the modern rank of Sub-Lieutenant in t ...
and a probationary period as lieutenant. In December 1793 he was serving as a midshipman aboard when he refused an order to clear away his hammock at daybreak. The clearing of hammocks was a common obligation of ordinary seamen but was less routinely demanded of petty officers. Parker's refusal to follow the order led to a court martial for insubordination and a reduction to the rank of seaman. He was eventually discharged from the Navy in November 1794. Parker returned to Exeter to reunite with his wife Anne. He struggled to earn a living and was jailed for outstanding debts in early 1797. After three weeks in jail, he accepted a quota of £20 in return for reenlistment in the navy. His despair at the prospect was such that he attempted suicide on the way to the embarkation point at Sheerness by flinging himself overboard.


The Nore mutiny

Upon his arrival at the Nore, one of the bases of the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
fleet, Parker was assigned to the ship , which was widely regarded as one of the worst in terms of its squalid and overcrowded conditions. It was on the ''Sandwich'', on 12 May 1797, that the Nore mutiny broke out; Parker played no role in organizing the mutiny, but he was soon invited by the mutineers to join their ranks, and was subsequently appointed "President of the Delegates of the Fleet" due to his obvious intelligence, education, and empathy with the suffering of the sailors. His degree of control over the direction of the mutiny was limited; his role as president was largely symbolic, mainly involving supervision of the processions of delegates in boats that plied between the involved ships for communication and morale purposes. Despite the chaotic nature of the mutiny and his ill-defined powers, Parker did manage to exert control, as on 2 June when the sloop HMS ''Hound'' arrived at the Nore and was boarded by a party of delegates. The ''Hound''s crew and commander violently resisted this intrusion, but Parker's arrival and display of authority quickly convinced the captain to submit and join the mutiny. During the mutineers' blockade of the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
, only ships bearing a pass signed by Parker were allowed to pass without being stopped and searched.


Crisis and collapse

On 6 June he organized a meeting of the delegates with Lord Northesk to whom he handed a petition and a form of ultimatum that their grievances be addressed within a period of 54 hours, after which he warned "such steps by the Fleet will be taken as will astonish their dear countrymen". The increasing tension led to the desertion of the mutiny by several ships, and even some of the radical delegates began to sense the end and fled abroad. The fear that the by now thoroughly demonized Parker would also escape led to a reward of £500 (equivalent to £ in present-day terms) being posted for his arrest. When the delegates' deadline passed without reply, Parker ordered that the fleet sail for
Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...
on the morning of 9 June. However, no ship moved when the signal to sail was given and the mutiny was effectively over. Parker was arrested on 13 June, brought briefly to Sheerness under heavy guard, then taken to , the flagship of Commodore Sir
Erasmus Gower Admiral Sir Erasmus Gower (3 December 1742 – 21 June 1814) was a Welsh naval officer and colonial governor. Naval career Gower, aged 13, joined the Royal Navy in 1755 under the patronage of his uncle, Captain John Donkley. He was present at ...
, where he was court-martialled, found guilty of treason and piracy and sentenced to death. He was executed on board the amid much ceremony on 30 June 1797. His body was not publicly
gibbet A gibbet is any instrument of public execution (including guillotine, executioner's block, impalement stake, hanging gallows, or related scaffold). Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of cri ...
ted after death, contrary to the wishes of
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. Parker's wife
Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
, who had worked tirelessly to prevent his execution, later rescued his body from an unconsecrated burial ground and smuggled it into London, where crowds gathered to see it. After receiving Christian rites, it was buried in the grounds of
St Mary Matfelon The St Mary Matfelon church, popularly known as St Mary's, Whitechapel, was a Church of England parish church on Whitechapel Road, Whitechapel, London. The church's earliest known rector was Hugh de Fulbourne in 1329, and in the medieval period ...
Church,
Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
. An entry in the Burial Register for St Mary's, Whitechapel (aka St Mary Matfelon), dated 4 July 1797, reads: Richard Parker – Sheerness, Kent – age: 33 – Cause of death: Execution – This was Parker the President of the mutinous Delegates on board the Fleet at the Nore. He was hanged on board HMS Sandwich on the 30th Day of June.


Popular culture

The seafaring novels ''
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket ''The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket'' (1838) is the only complete novel written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The work relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, who stows away aboard a whaling ship called the ''Grampus' ...
'' (1838) by
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
and ''
Life of Pi ''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, India who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He ...
'' (2001) by
Yann Martel Yann Martel, (born 25 June 1963) is a Canadian author who wrote the Man Booker Prize–winning novel '' Life of Pi'', an international bestseller published in more than 50 territories. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and spen ...
each feature a character named Richard Parker, who briefly serves as an antagonist to the narrator. A song entitled ''The Death of Parker'' was collected at
St Merryn St Merryn ( kw, S. Meryn) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about south of the fishing port of Padstow and northeast of the coastal resort of Newquay. The village has a ...
, Cornwall, in 1905. Parker's story was the subject of the folk-punk song ''The Colours'' by
The Men They Couldn't Hang The Men They Couldn't Hang (TMTCH) are a British folk punk group. The original group consisted of Stefan Cush (vocals, guitar), Paul Simmonds (guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, keyboards), Philip "Swill" Odgers (vocals, guitar, tin whistle, melodica ...
. The song is sung from Parker's point of view, exploring his last thoughts as he is led to the scaffold. A
radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
, ''The Floating Republic'', by
Paul Bryers Paul Bryers (born 1 August 1955 in Liverpool) is a British film director, screenwriter and fiction author. Biography Paul Bryers studied Modern history, politics and economy at the University of Southampton. Later he joined the Daily Mirror’ ...
was broadcast on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
on Saturday 4th December 1982. Richard Parker was played by (actor) Brian Cox. Richard Parker also appears in the book ''Mutiny'' by Julian Stockwin, part of the author's Thomas Kydd series.


See also

* Anne McHardy Parker


References


Bibliography

*


External links


Further reading

*''The Floating Republic'' – Dobree and Manwaring (1935) {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Richard 1767 births 1797 deaths Military personnel from Exeter People executed by the Kingdom of Great Britain Executed people from Devon People executed by the British military by hanging Royal Navy sailors Royal Navy personnel who were court-martialled People executed for mutiny