John Henry Parker

Parker worked between 1806 and 1884 across anthropologist, archaeologist, art historian, bookseller and photographer and 3 further recorded occupations. This article rests on 107 published texts and 30 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are Oxford. Work by John Henry Parker is recorded in the collections of J. Paul Getty Museum. Distinctions recorded are Companion of the Order of the Bath.

• Name — John Henry Parker • Born — 1 March 1806 • Birthplace — London, England • Died — 31 January 1884 • Place of death — Oxford, England • Resting Place — St Sepulchre's Cemetery, Oxford, England • Known for — Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum • Spouse — Frances Mary Hoskyns • Father — John Parker • Children — James Parker • Relatives — Joseph Parker (uncle) • Education — Manor House School • Employer — Ashmolean Museum • Occupation — Archaeologist; writer; publisher

He was born in London, the son of John Parker, a merchant there. He was educated at Manor House School, Chiswick, and was apprenticed in 1821 to his uncle, the Oxford bookseller Joseph Parker (1774?–1850). He succeeded to his uncle's business in 1832, and ran the firm successfully, the most important of his publications being perhaps the series of the Oxford Pocket Classics. Parker married Frances Mary Hoskyns on 7 February 1832, at St Lawrence's Church, Appleton (then in Berkshire, now in Oxfordshire). She was the daughter of James Williams Hoskyns, Fellow of Magdalen College, and Rector of Appleton from 1802 to 1844. The couple had a shared love of antiquarianism. Her father was very opposed to the marriage, though presumably eventually relented, as they married in his church. Frances died on 15 December 1854 after a short illness. In 1836, Parker published his Glossary of terms used in Grecian, Roman, Italian, and Gothic architecture, which, published during the Gothic Revival in England, had considerable influence in extending the movement, and supplied valuable inspiration to young architects. In 1848 he edited the fifth edition of Thomas Rickman's Gothic architecture, and in 1849 he published a handbook based on his earlier volume entitled Introduction to the study of Gothic architecture. The completion of Hudson Turner's Domestic architecture of the Middle Ages next engaged his attention, three volumes being published (1853–60). He published Medieval architecture of Chester in 1858 and Architectural antiquities of the city of Wells in 1866. Parker was one of the chief advocates of the restoration of ecclesiastical buildings. In 1863, he and the Oxford Diocesan Architect G.E. Street revised plans for the restoration of St. Andrew's parish church, Chinnor. Parker also designed the triplet of traceried lancet windows in the chancel of St. Nicholas the Confessor, Forest Hill. His son James Parker (1832 or 1833–1912) also practiced as an architect. Later, he devoted much attention to explorations of the history of Rome through excavations and succeeded in satisfying himself with the historical truth of much usually regarded as legendary. Two volumes of his Archaeology of Rome were published at Oxford in 1874 and 1876. In recognition of his work, Parker was decorated by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy and received a medal from Pope Pius IX. In 1869, he endowed the keepership of the Ashmolean Museum with a sum yielding £250 a year, and under the new arrangement, he was appointed the first keeper. In 1871, he was nominated CB. In Italy, one of Parker's principal projects was to compose an archive collection of photographs of the city's greatest monuments from the Renaissance era onwards. Employing local photographers the collection recorded not only Rome's greatest building and works but also detailed scenes of the late 19th-century archaeological excavations. He used many of these to illustrate his books. In 1893 the entire archive perished in a fire at the Palazzo Della Porta Negroni Caffarelli depriving modern archeologists of an invaluable source of material. Parker died in Oxford and is buried in St Sepulchre's Cemetery.