Gordon Samuel David Parry, Baron Parry (usually Lord Parry) (30 November 1925 – 1 September 2004) was a Welsh Labour politician. He was created a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Parry, of

Neyland Neyland is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Cleddau and the upstream end of the Milford Haven estuary. The Cleddau Bridge carrying the A477 links Pembroke Dock with Neyland. Etymology The name of the town is ...

in the County of Dyfed on 21 January 1976 by the Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

Early life

The son of Reverend Thomas Lewis Parry and his wife, Anne Parry, Lord Parry's early childhood days were mostly spent around his father's church, Molleston Baptist Church in

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Park oc ...

. His university education was at

Trinity College, Carmarthen Trinity University College ( cy, Coleg Prifysgol y Drindod) was a Church University College in Carmarthen, Wales. The institution was founded in 1848 as the South Wales and Monmouthshire Training College, a teacher-training college. It change ...

Career

Lord Parry was a schoolteacher prior to going into politics, standing as a Labour Party candidate in the Pembrokeshire constituency. but before then, as a young teen, he was a regular at Bethesda Baptist Chapel,

, where his father was then pastor, and where today young Parry's name is preserved in the form of graffiti scratched into one of the pews.

Political career

Parry stood for election to Parliament on several occasions without success. He fought

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, being defeated by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

incumbent Peter Thorneycroft. He was beaten to the Labour nomination for the

1960 Ebbw Vale by-election The Ebbw Vale by-election on 17 November 1960 was a by-election for a single seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Caused by the death of Labour Party Deputy Leader Aneurin Bevan, the constituency was very safely held by Labour a ...

Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot (23 July 19133 March 2010) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Labour Leader from 1980 to 1983. Foot began his career as a journalist on ''Tribune'' and the ''Evening Standard''. He co-wrote the 1940 p ...

, and he contested three very close elections at

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...

and October 1974, each time coming within 1,500 votes of winning.

Legacy

Lord Parry was very active in travel and public works until the end of his life. His efforts reached around the world and today he is still fondly remembered in such far away locals as

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of G ...

, United States, where he was highly important in the early years and ultimate success of the Macon

International Cherry Blossom Festival The International Cherry Blossom Festival is held in Macon, Georgia every spring. Macon, known as the "Cherry Blossom Capital of the World," has around 300,000–350,000 Yoshino Cherry Trees that bloom around the city in late March every year. Th ...

. Among numerous other accolades, Lord Parry was presented with The Welsh American Heritage Medallion by the National Welsh American Foundation during formal ceremonies in September 2001 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, USA. BBC News presenter

Jamie Owen Jamie Owen (born 1967) is a Welsh journalist, broadcaster, writer and former BBC Wales Today presenter. He joined the BBC in 1989, first working at BBC Radio and then presenting BBC Wales Today between 1994 and 2018. He has presented other TV an ...

provided a tribute to him at his funeral at Bethesda Baptist Chapel. His funeral procession took place in

and for the event the town was closed to traffic. The procession was led by a full contingent of Welsh Guards, the streets were lined with silent well-wishers, and the Royal Air Force paid homage by a missing-man flyover at the cemetery. He was predeceased by his wife, Glenys, Lady Parry, and was survived by his daughter, The Hon. Cathy Parry Sherry.

References

BBC obituary
* Hancock, Simon, ''Chronicle of a Ministry'',CIT Brace Harvatt, Haverfordwest, 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Gordon 1925 births 2004 deaths Deputy Lieutenants of Dyfed Labour Party (UK) life peers People from Pembrokeshire Welsh Labour politicians Life peers created by Elizabeth II