Wall tablet in St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, London, commemorating Captain Peter Parker RN d. 1814
Location
St Margaret's Church, Westminster, London, England
Transcript
'In the pious Hope of a glorious Resurrection, Pursued through Virtue, Faith and Valour / Here lie interred the Mortal Remains of / SIR PETER PARKER, Baronet, Aged XXVIII Years; / Captain of His Majesty's frigate Menelaus, / An accomplished Officer, and Seaman, who after landing with a part of his Crew, on the coast of AMERICA, / defeated an Enemy supported by Cavalry and Artillery, three times the number of his own Forces; / and in the moment of VICTORY, received a mortal wound, under which he continued to cheer his Men to follow up their triumph, until sinking under its fatal result, he fell into the arms of the Companions of his Glory, / and bravely surrendered on the Field of Battle, his own gallant Spirit to the Mercy of Heaven / He was the lineal descendant of three distinguished British Admirals; of whose Virtues and Valour, he was / alike the Inheritor. His great Grandfather was Admiral CHRISTOPHER PARKER. He was the eldest son of / Admiral CHARLES PARKER whose Father was the late Sir PETER PARKER Bart of Basinbourn Hall Essex / Admiral of the Fleet; and his maternal Uncle was the Honorable Admiral BYRON. / After fifteen years of active and intrepid toil in the service of his Country emulating the Heroism of / his Ancestry, he thus gloriously closed his earthly career Augt 30 1814 / The Officers and Crew of His Majesty's Ship Menelaus, on their return home, in testimony of their deep / affliction at the fall of their beloved Commander, and of their affection for his Memory, have erected / this Monument, as well to commemorate their grief, and reverence for those Virtues which so justly, endeared him to his Ship's company, as to attest to future times, their admiration of that / heroic Valour which distinguished him in Life and enobled him in Death. / STAT SUA CUIQUE DIES; BREVE ET IRREPARIBILE TEMPUS / OMNIBUS EST VITAE; SED FAMAM EXTENDERE FACTIS / HOC VIRTUTIS OPUS. -VIRG.'
Details
Type: Wall tablet
Position: West end of north aisle
Materials: Marble
Artists: Christopher Prosperi
Vessel: HMS Menelaus
Event
War of 1812
Event Category
1803-1815 Napoleonic War
People
Age: 28
Date of Death: 30/8/1814
Cause of Death: War casualty
Rank / Occupation: Captain RN
Organisation: Royal Navy
Extra
Bibliography: A.E. Daniell 'London Riverside Churches' (London, 1897) p. 171.
Recorder: The Arts Society (NADFAS) 1998
Photographer: Barbara Tomlinson