Robert Parker (minister)
Encyclopedia
Robert Parker English Puritan
scholar and divine, who became minister of a separatist congregation in the Holland where he died while exiled for his heterodoxy. He was a descended from the Spencer family
of Althorp
, Northamptonshire
. The Reverend Cotton Mather
wrote of Reverend Parker as "one of the greatest scholars in the English Nation, and in some sort the father of all Nonconformists of our day."
, where he became a chorister in 1575. He was a demy there 1580-3, graduated B.A. 3 November 1582, was elected Fellow 1585-93 during which time he had got into trouble in 1588 for not donning the surplice, and proceeded M.A. 22 June 1587.
In 1591 Parker was beneficed as minister to the rectory of Patney
, Devizes
, being instituted on 24 January 1592, and resigning in 1593. From 1594 to 1605 he held the vicarage of Stanton St. Bernard. It appears from the preface to his treatise De Descensu Christi that Parker was a protégé of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
. In 1607 he was forced to leave the country to avoid prosecution before the court of high commission
, in consequence of his 'scholastic discourse against symbolizing.' With a reward on his head he escaped through Gravesend
.
Parker settled in Leyden. Henry Jacob
arrived there in 1610, and with the support of English merchants William Ames
was also brought in to oppose the Church of England. In Leyden, Holland Parker comes into the influence and friendship of Reverend John Robinson
, M.A. In the historiography of Congregationalism
, it has been argued that Parker and Jacob largely agreed on church polity, taking a moderate ('semi-separatist') line; but Parker's place was certainly contested. Georg Horn, later in the 17th century, wrote that John Robinson
's separatist views were softened by contact with Ames and Parker. William Bradford placed Ames and Parker in the tradition of Thomas Cartwright. Richard Clyfton
, however, attacked Parker as identified with the Brownist
Christopher Lawne
.
When Parker moved to Amsterdam
around 1611, there was friction with the dominant presbyterian minister John Paget
(d. 1640) at the English Reformed Church
. Paget later argued that Parker had adapted to and participated in the presbyterian discipline. Both William Best and John Davenport
, however, charge Paget with jealousy of Parker, who could preach in Dutch.
Parker left in 1613 for Doesburg
, Gelderland
, to preach to the garrison there, and died there about eight months after, in 1614, still in touch with Paget about returning.
, M.A. (1543 - 1591) and Mary Eydith Burge-Collins who had children Richard Parker, Anne Parker, Cuthert Parker, Marie Parker, William Parker and Edward Parker.
In 1589 Parker married Dorothy Stephens, daughter of Nicholas Stephens Esq. and Frances Brydges, and grand daughter of Lady Jane Spencer and Sir Richard Brydges
, Kt. Dorothy's sister Anne Stephens was the wife of Rev.William Noyes
and mother of Rev. James Noyes and Deacon Nicolas Noyes. Robert and Dorothy had children Reverend Thomas Parker, Sarah Parker Woodbridge and Elizabeth Parker Avery. Their son Reverend Thomas Parker along with his cousin Reverend James Noyes led a group of Wiltshire settlers aboard the Mary & John to New England in 1632 where they founded Newbury, Massachusetts
. Of their daughters, Sarah (1593–1663) married John Woodbridge V (1582-1778), rector of Stanton-Fitzwarren, Wiltshire, and was mother of John Woodbridge
and Benjamin Woodbridge
; Elizabeth published under her married name Elizabeth Avery and was a Fifth Monarchist, in the Dublin congregation of John Rogers
in 1653.
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
scholar and divine, who became minister of a separatist congregation in the Holland where he died while exiled for his heterodoxy. He was a descended from the Spencer family
Spencer family
The Spencer family are a British noble family descended in the male line from Henry Spencer, claimed to be a descendant of the cadet branch of the ancient House Le Despencer , male-line ancestor of the Earls of Sunderland, the later Dukes of Marlborough, and the Earls Spencer...
of Althorp
Althorp
Althorp is a country estate of about and a stately home in Northamptonshire, England. It is about north-west of the county town of Northampton. The late Diana, Princess of Wales is buried in the estate.-History:...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. The Reverend Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...
wrote of Reverend Parker as "one of the greatest scholars in the English Nation, and in some sort the father of all Nonconformists of our day."
Life
Parker was educated at Magdalen College, OxfordMagdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, where he became a chorister in 1575. He was a demy there 1580-3, graduated B.A. 3 November 1582, was elected Fellow 1585-93 during which time he had got into trouble in 1588 for not donning the surplice, and proceeded M.A. 22 June 1587.
In 1591 Parker was beneficed as minister to the rectory of Patney
Patney
Patney is a village in Wiltshire, England, located around 7 km south-east of Devizes. The A342 road runs just to the south of it.All significant local government services are provided by Wiltshire Council, with its headquarters in Trowbridge, and the parish is represented there by Brigadier...
, Devizes
Devizes
Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The town is about southeast of Chippenham and about east of Trowbridge.Devizes serves as a centre for banks, solicitors and shops, with a large open market place where a market is held once a week...
, being instituted on 24 January 1592, and resigning in 1593. From 1594 to 1605 he held the vicarage of Stanton St. Bernard. It appears from the preface to his treatise De Descensu Christi that Parker was a protégé of Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke KG was an English peer of the Elizabethan era.-Life:He was the son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Anne Parr. His aunt was queen consort Catherine Parr, last wife of King Henry VIII. Herbert was responsible for the costly restoration of Cardiff Castle...
. In 1607 he was forced to leave the country to avoid prosecution before the court of high commission
Court of High Commission
The Court of High Commission was the supreme ecclesiastic court in England. It was instituted by the crown during the Reformation and finally dissolved by parliament in 1641...
, in consequence of his 'scholastic discourse against symbolizing.' With a reward on his head he escaped through Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
.
Parker settled in Leyden. Henry Jacob
Henry Jacob
Henry Jacob was an English clergyman of Calvinist views, who founded a separatist congregation associated with the Brownists.-Life:...
arrived there in 1610, and with the support of English merchants William Ames
William Ames
William Ames was an English Protestant divine, philosopher, and controversialist...
was also brought in to oppose the Church of England. In Leyden, Holland Parker comes into the influence and friendship of Reverend John Robinson
John Robinson (pastor)
John Robinson was the pastor of the "Pilgrim Fathers" before they left on the Mayflower. He became one of the early leaders of the English Separatists, minister of the Pilgrims, and is regarded as one of the founders of the Congregational Church.-Early life:Robinson was born in Sturton le Steeple...
, M.A. In the historiography of Congregationalism
Congregationalist polity
Congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of church governance in which every local church congregation is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or "autonomous"...
, it has been argued that Parker and Jacob largely agreed on church polity, taking a moderate ('semi-separatist') line; but Parker's place was certainly contested. Georg Horn, later in the 17th century, wrote that John Robinson
John Robinson (pastor)
John Robinson was the pastor of the "Pilgrim Fathers" before they left on the Mayflower. He became one of the early leaders of the English Separatists, minister of the Pilgrims, and is regarded as one of the founders of the Congregational Church.-Early life:Robinson was born in Sturton le Steeple...
's separatist views were softened by contact with Ames and Parker. William Bradford placed Ames and Parker in the tradition of Thomas Cartwright. Richard Clyfton
Richard Clyfton
Richard Clyfton was an English Brownist minister, at Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, and then in Amsterdam.-Life:He is identified with the Richard Clifton who, on 12 February 1585, was instituted to the vicarage of Marnham, near Newark, and on 11 July 1586 to the rectory of Babworth, near Retford, and...
, however, attacked Parker as identified with the Brownist
Brownist
The Brownists were English Dissenters and followers of Robert Browne who was born at Tolethorpe Hall in Rutland, England in about 1550.-Origins:...
Christopher Lawne
Christopher Lawne
Christopher Lawne was an English merchant and Puritan of note, born in Blandford, Dorset, who emigrated to Virginia Colony on the Marygold in May 1618 and died the following year....
.
When Parker moved to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
around 1611, there was friction with the dominant presbyterian minister John Paget
John Paget
John Paget was an English nonconforming clergyman, who became pastor at the English Reformed Church, Amsterdam.-Life:He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, proceeding B.A. in 1595, and M.A. in 1598. After having held some other benefices, he was appointed in 1598 rector of Nantwich....
(d. 1640) at the English Reformed Church
English Reformed Church, Amsterdam
The English Reformed Church is one of the oldest buildings in Amsterdam, situated in the centre of the city. It is home to an English-speaking congregation which is affiliated to the Church of Scotland and to the Protestant Church in the Netherlands...
. Paget later argued that Parker had adapted to and participated in the presbyterian discipline. Both William Best and John Davenport
John Davenport (clergyman)
John Davenport was an English puritan clergyman and co-founder of the American colony of New Haven.-Early life:Born in Manchester, Warwickshire, England to a wealthy family, Davenport was educated at Oxford University...
, however, charge Paget with jealousy of Parker, who could preach in Dutch.
Parker left in 1613 for Doesburg
Doesburg
Doesburg Doesburg Doesburg (Dutch is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Gelderland. Doesburg received city rights in 1237 and currently has 11,602 inhabitants (1 January 2007, source: CBS). The city is situated on the right bank of river IJssel, at the...
, Gelderland
Gelderland
Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...
, to preach to the garrison there, and died there about eight months after, in 1614, still in touch with Paget about returning.
Family
Parker was born 1569 in Cholderton, Wiltshire, England to Robert ParkerRobert Parker
Robert Parker may refer to:*Robert Parker , English Puritan scholar and divine*Sir Robert Parker, 1st Baronet , English politician; Member of Parliament for Hastings, 1679–1685...
, M.A. (1543 - 1591) and Mary Eydith Burge-Collins who had children Richard Parker, Anne Parker, Cuthert Parker, Marie Parker, William Parker and Edward Parker.
In 1589 Parker married Dorothy Stephens, daughter of Nicholas Stephens Esq. and Frances Brydges, and grand daughter of Lady Jane Spencer and Sir Richard Brydges
Richard Brydges
Richard Brydges was an English politician.Sir Richard Brydges was the Member of Parliament for Berkshire from 1539 to 1540 and, at other times, for Ludgershall...
, Kt. Dorothy's sister Anne Stephens was the wife of Rev.William Noyes
William Noyes
Rev. William Noyes was an English clergyman, Rector of Cholderton, Wiltshire, England. He died before 30 April 1622, in Cholderton. He was matriculated, age 20, at University College, Oxford, 15 November 1588, being admitted to the B.A. degree 31 May 1592. He was instituted rector of Cholderton in...
and mother of Rev. James Noyes and Deacon Nicolas Noyes. Robert and Dorothy had children Reverend Thomas Parker, Sarah Parker Woodbridge and Elizabeth Parker Avery. Their son Reverend Thomas Parker along with his cousin Reverend James Noyes led a group of Wiltshire settlers aboard the Mary & John to New England in 1632 where they founded Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,666 at the 2010 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town , Plum Island and Byfield, home of The Governor's Academy , a private preparatory school.- History :Newbury Plantation was settled and incorporated...
. Of their daughters, Sarah (1593–1663) married John Woodbridge V (1582-1778), rector of Stanton-Fitzwarren, Wiltshire, and was mother of John Woodbridge
John Woodbridge
John Woodbridge VI was an English nonconformist, who emigrated to New England. He had positions on both sides of the Atlantic, until 1663, when he settled permanently in New England.-Life:...
and Benjamin Woodbridge
Benjamin Woodbridge
Benjamin Woodbridge was an English clergyman and controversialist, Harvard College's first-ever graduate, and participant in the Savoy Conference.-Life:...
; Elizabeth published under her married name Elizabeth Avery and was a Fifth Monarchist, in the Dublin congregation of John Rogers
John Rogers (Fifth Monarchist)
John Rogers was a Fifth Monarchist preacher of the 1650s, and later a physician.-Background:He was born at Messing in Essex, the second son of the clergyman Nehemiah Rogers, by his wife Margaret. Because of his religious views, he was turned out by his father in 1642. He returned to studies of...
in 1653.
Works
His works are:- A scholasticall Discourse against symbolizing with Antichrist in ceremonies, especially in the Signe of the Crosse [London], 1607, 2 pts.
- De Descensu Domini nostri Jesu Christi ad inferos libri quatuor ab auctore doctissimo Hugone Sanfordo Coomflorio Anglo inchoati, opera vero et studio Roberti Parker ad umbilicum perducti ac jam tandem in lucem editi, Amsterdam, 1611. In 1597 Henry Jacob heard Thomas BilsonThomas BilsonThomas Bilson was an Anglican Bishop of Worcester and Bishop of Winchester. He, along with Miles Smith, oversaw the final edit and printing of the King James Bible. He is buried in Westminster Abbey in plot 232 between the tombs of Richard the Second and Edward the Third...
, bishop of Winchester, preach at Paul's Cross on the article in the Apostle's creed relating to Christ's descent into hell. In the following year he published an answer. At Elizabeth's command, Bilson prepared his magnum opus in reply (1604). Bilson's doctrine was answered at home by Gabriel PowellGabriel PowellGabriel Powell was a Welsh Anglican priest, known for his strident anti-Catholic views.-Life:Powell was born in Ruabon, Denbighshire, Wales and baptised in January 1576...
, and abroad by Hugh BroughtonHugh BroughtonHugh Broughton was an English scholar and theologian.-Early life:He was born at Owlbury, Bishop's Castle, Shropshire. He calls himself a Cambrian, implying Welsh blood in his veins. He was educated by Bernard Gilpin at Houghton-le-Spring and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he matriculated...
. Parker's work was begun by Hugh Sanford, who, after labouring on it for two years, died, and Parker finished it after four years' work. In his epistle 'candido lectori' he claims that all Sanford's matter required rearranging. Parker derives Hades from Adam, and traces the whole Greek theogony to Hebrew roots and derivations. - De politeia ecclesiastica Christi et hierarchica opposita libri tres, in quibus tam verse disciplinae fundamenta quam omnes fere de eadem controversiae summo cum judicio et doctrina methodice pertractantur (Frankfort, 1616); a posthumous work, and incomplete. Paget claims the work as a portraiture of the presbyterian church organization.
- An Exposition of the pouring-out of the fourth Vial mentioned in the 16th of Revelation, London, 1650, a portion of which reappeared in The Mystery of the Vialls opened, another posthumous tract by Parker, London, 1651.