The Times/1936/Obituary/Ernest Gambier Parry

SOLDIER, ARTIST, AND WRITER

Major Ernest Gambier-Parry died at his seat, Highnam Court, Gloucester, on Wednesday at the age of 82. He was half-brother of Sir Hubert Parry, Bt., the composer, on whose death in 1918 he succeeded to the family estate at Highnam. Major Gambier-Parry, in addition to his military service, was an artist, author, and musician.

The eldest surviving son of Thomas Gambier-Parry, J.P., D.L., whose artistic tastes he inherited, he was born on October 25, 1853, and was at Eton, in Mr. Evan's, from 1866 to 1871. He wrote "Annals of an Eton House with some Notes on the Evans Family," 1907. Having served in the Volunteers and Militia, he joined The Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1874 and the Devon Yeomanry 10 years later. In the Eastern Sudan Expedition of 1885m as a special service officer, he was seriously injured and was promoted major for services in the field. For services in the late War, he was commandant of No. 6 Red Cross Hospital, Oxfordshire, he was made an O.B.E. in 1918. He was a county magistrate and president of the Gloucester Children's Hospital founded by his father.

Major Gambier-Parry was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy and other exhibitions, and served on the Gloucester Committee of the Three Choirs Festival. Among his published works were "Suakin, 1885," "Sketches of a Yachting Cruise," "Day-dreams," "The Pageant of my Day," "Murphy: A Message to Dog-lovers," "Allegories of the Land," "The Spirit of the Old Folk," "Life of Reynell Taylor," and "Ainslie Gore: A Sketch from Life." Of these perhaps the most attractive is "The Pageant of my Day," a tranquil commentary on the remembered scenes of a long life. He married, in 1882, Evelyn Elizabeth, R.R.C., daughter of the first Lord Haldon; she died last year. They had two sons. The elder, Thomas Robert, a versatile scholar and botanist, who became Keeper of the Oriental Department of the Bodleian, died in February of last year; the younger, Thomas Mark, is known for his studies in French biography.

The funeral will be at Highnam Church to-morrow at 2.30.