General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Thomas Adams Parke, (13 October 1780 – 3 March 1858) was a career officer in the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. Associated with the Royal Marine Artillery (RMA) of the nineteenth century Royal Marines; he was for many years commandant of that corps. Toward the end of his long and distinguished service, he led the Woolwich Division of the Royal Marines as Colonel Commandant.

Personal life

Thomas Adams Parke was born in the civil parish of Fawley, Hampshire, on 13 October 1780, the son of Thomas Parke and his wife Mary. He married Eliza Maskal at Alverstoke, Hampshire on 9 November 1805. Upon his retirement, he lived in Portsmouth with his wife and one of their daughters, Mary Anne. One of his sons, Henry William Parke (1807–1891), was commissioned in the Royal Marine Artillery in 1822 and after spending almost forty years in the service retired with the rank of major general on full pay in 1859. Another son, Hamnett Parke (1811–1858), was a captain in the Royal Marine Artillery. "General Thomas Adams Parke, C.B., of the Royal Marines" died "at his residence, Hythe, near Southampton" on 3 September 1858. He was then 77 years old.

Service

He served in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

; his first notable action was the

Battle of Camperdown The Battle of Camperdown (known in Dutch as the ''Zeeslag bij Kamperduin'') was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797, between the British North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Batavian Navy (Dutch) fleet under Vice-Admiral ...

aboard HMS ''Triumph''. In 1812, he commanded two companies of artillery which supported the 1st and 2nd Battalions, Royal Marines in Spain. He was the Marine Artillery brigade commander when this force redeployed to North America in 1813 to fight in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, with a rocket detachment supplementing his original two companies.

Promotions, awards, and titles

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

, (H.M. Marine Forces) 19 May 1795. *

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

, (H.M. Marine Forces) 23 November 1796. *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, Royal Marine Artillery (

) 15 August 1805.Great Britain. War Office, ''A List of the Officers of the Army and of the Corps of Royal Marines'
p. 352.
1821. Accessed 5 September 2015. **Brevet

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, (Army List) 12 August 1819. *

, Royal Marine Artillery (

) 22 July 1830. *

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Royal Marine Artillery (

) 31 December 1832. *

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

, and 2nd Commandant

26 Apr 1838. * Colonel Commandant,

12 February 1842. **Brevet

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, (Army List) 11 November 1851. **Brevet

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

, (Army List) 20 June 1855. **Brevet

, (Army List) 2 February 1857. *

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

26 September 1831.London Gazette: Viewing Page 1970 of Issue 18854 published on the 27 September 1831. Page 2 of 2

/ref> * Naval General Service Medal (1847) with clasp "Camperdown". *Good service pension awarded 27 June 1857.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

Paul Harris Nicolas Paul Harris Nicolas (1 March 1790 – 1 May 1860) was a nineteenth-century British historian, an accomplished, if little known, water colourist, a Royal Marines officer, and a veteran of the Battle of Trafalgar. Nicolas was the author of the two ...

, ''Historical Record of the Royal Marine Forces, Volume 2'', 1805–1842. London, Boone, 1845 – via Google Books * ''The Navy List corrected to the end of Dec 1814'', Great Britain, Admiralty – via Google Books * Hart's annual army list, militia list, and imperial yeomanry list 1840, London. John Murray – Google Book

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parke, Thomas Adams 1780 births 1858 deaths Royal Marines officers Royal Marines generals Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British military personnel of the War of 1812 Companions of the Order of the Bath Military personnel from Hampshire