Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 43.djvu/392

 Oriel College, Oxford, he took a first in mathematics and second in literis humanioribus at Michaelmas 1816, and became fellow and tutor of Balliol College. In 1817 he took orders, and received the college living of St. Leonard's, Colchester, while still continuing his tutorial duties. He proceeded M.A. in 1819.

Chosen in 1824, by Bishop Coleridge, as archdeacon of Antigua, he resided in that island for some years, devoting himself to the work of preparing the negro for freedom. He was transferred in 1840, as archdeacon, to Barbados. On 21 Aug. 1842 he was consecrated to the bishopric in Westminster Abbey, receiving at the same time the degree of D.D. Although the diocese of Barbados was at this date shorn of the Leeward Islands, it still included the whole of the Windward Islands and Trinidad; and this involved the bishop in much travelling. An account of one of his tours, in the ‘Colonial Church Chronicle’ of 1848, gives a good idea of the indefatigable energy which he threw into the work of his scattered diocese. After nearly twenty years of such work he was suddenly struck down by illness. Returning to England for rest, he endeavoured to arrange for retirement on a pension; but as the difficulties in the way appeared insuperable, he went back to his post for some years longer, having his son Henry (see below) as his archdeacon from 1861, and obtaining his consecration as bishop-coadjutor in 1868. Breaking down again in 1869, he returned to England, and settled at Malvern, Worcestershire, where he died on 16 March 1870. He was buried at West Malvern.

Parry was physically far from robust, but he possessed indomitable will, singleness of purpose, and a cheerful disposition. He was a ‘moderate high-churchman.’

Parry published several sermons and tracts, the chief of which are: 1. ‘Parochial Sermons preached in the West Indies,’ Oxford, 1828. 2. ‘A Practical Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans,’ 1832, 12mo. 3. ‘The Apostleship and Priesthood of Christ; an exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews,’ London, 1834, 12mo. 4. Two sermons in Watson's collection, 1845. 5. ‘Ordination Vows,’ a series of sermons, 1846. 6. ‘Codrington College, Barbados,’ an account of the institution, 1847. 7. ‘The True Passover,’ London, 1868.

He married Louisa, daughter of Henry Hutton, rector of Beaumont, Essex.

His son, (1827–1893), bishop of Western Australia, born in 1827, was educated at Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1851; he was ordained the same year, and went out to his father's diocese as curate of Holy Trinity, Trinidad. In 1855 he went to Barbados as tutor of Codrington (Theological) College; in 1860 he was made archdeacon of Barbados, and on 10 May 1868 was consecrated as bishop-coadjutor to his father. On 20 May 1876 Parry was appointed to the see of Perth, Western Australia, and died at Bunbury, on a visitation, on 16 Nov. 1893. He was twice married.

[Times, 19 March 1870; Colonial Church Chronicle, vol. xxiv. 1870; Brit. Mus. Catalogue; Western Australia Papers, 16 Nov. 1893.]  PARRY, THOMAS GAMBIER (1816–1888), inventor of the ‘spirit fresco’ process, born on 22 Feb. 1816, was only child of Richard Parry and Mary, daughter of Samuel Gambier and niece of James, lord Gambier [q. v.] His father and his grandfather, Thomas Parry of Banstead, Surrey, were directors of the East India Company. Parry was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge, becoming B.A. in 1837, and M.A. in 1848. On leaving the university he purchased in 1838 the estate of Highnam, near Gloucester, where he resided for the remainder of his life. He raised Highnam from a small hamlet to an important parish with a beautiful church, built and endowed by himself. Having considerable skill as a painter, he adorned the walls of this church with frescoes of his own designing, and in order to insure their permanence he invented and employed a process to which he gave the name of ‘spirit fresco,’ and of which he published an account in 1880. This proved so successful that it was adopted by Sir Frederic Leighton in his frescoes at the South Kensington Museum, and by Ford Madox Brown in the town-hall at Manchester. In 1862 and the following years, during the restoration of Ely Cathedral, Parry painted mainly at his own expense, from his own designs, and unaided by other than mere mechanical assistance, the frescoes on the six eastern bays of the roof of the nave—a work of great difficulty, which occupied three years. In 1873 and 1874 he decorated the lantern of the same cathedral with similar frescoes, and later the roof of the baptistery. He also painted frescoes in St. Andrew's Chapel, Gloucester Cathedral, and the decorations on the roof of the nave in Tewkesbury Abbey, the work in every case being done gratuitously. Parry's experiments in fresco-painting mark a distinct epoch in the history of English art. Being recognised as the chief authority on decorative painting, he was appointed to report officially on ‘