John Parr (20 December 1725,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland (; , ) was a dependent territory of Kingdom of England, England and then of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1542 to the end of 1800. It was ruled by the monarchs of England and then List of British monarchs ...

– 25 November 1791,

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

) was a British military officer and

governor of Nova Scotia The following is a list of the governors and lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia. Though the present day office of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia came into being only upon the province's entry into Can ...

. He was the last Governor of the Colony of Nova Scotia, and first Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Nova Scotia. He is buried in the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

of St. Paul's Church.

Early life and family

Parr was born in

, Ireland, to Captain John Parr and Eleanor Clements, as part of the

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

aristocracy that had settled on the island during the 17th century. His mother Eleanor was the daughter of David Clements, of Rath Kenny, County Cavan, Ireland. His sister, Rachel Parr, married John Clements, who was the brother of Rt. Honorable Nathaniel Clements. His father fought at the battle of the Boyne, and won distinction at Blenheim, Marlborough's greatest victory. Through his father's line, the family claimed direct descent from Lord Parr, Baron Kendal, who was a well-known nobleman, in the north of England, in the reign of Henry VIII, whose arms of their family are to be seen in the Parr Chapel of Kendal Church, Westmorland. The eldest son of this nobleman emigrated to Ireland and settled in 1620 at Belturbet, County Cavan. In 1762, he married Sarah Walmsley, the second daughter of Richard Walmesley of "The Hall of Ince," Lancashire, and had five children, three sons and two daughters.

Education and military service

John Parr's family was heavily involved in the English military, including his brother Colonel Peter Parr, who was Lieutenant-Governor of

Fort George, Scotland Fort George is a large 18th-century fortress near Ardersier, to the north-east of Inverness in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. It was built to control the Scottish Highlands in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising ...

. He attended Trinity High School. At the age of 19, he joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

's 20th Regiment of Foot as an ensign and saw service in the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

. A subaltern officer, he was with the

Prince William, Duke of Cumberland Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (15 April 1721 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S./nowiki> – 31 October 1765) was the third and youngest son of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ire ...

, whose army marched through

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

against Charles Stuart's Jacobite rising at the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

in 1746. In 1755, he became adjutant to

James Wolfe Major-general James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of ...

, the colonel of the 20th Regiment of Foot. In 1759, during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, he was wounded at the Battle of Minden and spent six months in hospital. He was then stationed at

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

for six years and purchased the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1776, he resigned his regiment and in 1778 he received a

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, ...

as major of the Tower of London.

Governor of Nova Scotia

He was offered the position of

Governor of Nova Scotia The following is a list of the governors and lieutenant governors of Nova Scotia. Though the present day office of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, lieutenant governor in Nova Scotia came into being only upon the province's entry into Can ...

and took up his position as the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

was coming to an end and

United Empire Loyalists United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Quebec and Governor General, governor ...

were fleeing north to escape persecution. Parr arrived in Halifax with his family on 5 October 1782. His predecessor, Francis Legge, had been an absentee governor for six years since he had been recalled to England, and the colony had been under the stewardship of a succession of military lieutenant-governors. The last of them was Sir Andrew Hamond, who had expected to be named governor himself. Angry at Parr's appointment, he resigned shortly after the new governor's arrival and returned to England. Edmund Fanning, a recently arrived Loyalist, was named Parr's new lieutenant-governor. Parr immediately took over as colonel of the Royal Nova Scotia Volunteer Regiment. In 1786, when the colonial administration of

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

was reorganized, Parr had hoped to be named to the new positions of Governor-General of The Canadas and Governor-in-Chief of

but was disappointed when the positions went to Guy Carleton who was also elevated to the peerage as Lord Dorchester. The position of governor of the Colony of Nova Scotia was then abolished, and Parr was reappointed as the first

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of the Province of Nova Scotia,GOVERNORS OF THE COLONY OF NOVA SCOTIA 1710-1786
Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. Accessed 12 May 2025. with his superior being Lord Dorchester. Parr's administration oversaw the settlement of

Black Nova Scotians Black Nova Scotians (also known as African Nova Scotians, Afro-Nova Scotians, and Africadians) are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial history of the United States, Colonial United States as Slavery in the United S ...

, who were African-American Loyalists fleeing the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Parr was accused of "discriminatory practices and long delays" in the matter. He attempted to establish a

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

industry in Dartmouth (see

Quaker Whaler House The Quaker Whaler House is the oldest building in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (1785). Built by William Ray, a Quaker and cooper from Nantucket who moved to Dartmouth in 1785-86 as a whaler. Its materials and construction methods closely resembles Qua ...

), and was embroiled in the "judges' affair" in which lawyers accused him of appointing incompetent or biased jurists to the bench. Parr was under pressure to provide land and supplies for the new Loyalist settlers without bankrupting the treasury. The British government was inundated with complaints about the difficulties the Loyalists were facing and Parr's allegedly-unsympathetic attitude towards them. The stress of the position may have taken a toll on his health since he died in office at the age of 66. He funeral, with full military honours, was presided by the 20th Foot. He was interred in Halifax's St. Paul's Church.

Legacy

After him are named

Parrsboro Parrsboro is a community located in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada. A regional service centre for southern Cumberland County, the community is also known for its Parrsboro Harbour, port on the Minas Basin ...

, Nova Scotia, and Parr Street, Saint Andrews, New Brunswick.

References

''History of the XX Regiment''
*
Parr report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parr, John 1725 births 1791 deaths Governors of the Colony of Nova Scotia British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War British Army personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745 Lancashire Fusiliers officers Military personnel from Dublin (city)