The papers from the career of Captain Murray Thomas Parks include official service papers, 1876 to 1878; letters sent home, 1878 to 1890; and a midshipman's journal for HMS INVINCIBLE and HMS CRUISER, 1881 to 1882.

Administrative / biographical background
Murray Thomas Parks, son of Commander Murray Thomas Parks, entered the Navy as a naval cadet in 1876. He served as midshipman in HMS RALEIGH under Captain Charles T. Jago. He was midshipman in HMS INVINCIBLE and HMS CRUISER 1881 to 1882. He was appointed to the gunboat HMS WATCHFUL in 1884 and a commission lieutenant in 1885. In 1888 he was appointed to HMS COCKATRICE in the Mediterranean. In 1892 he became lieutenant in HMS MEDEA and in 1893 transferred to HMS PHOEBE on the Cape Station. He was promoted commander in 1896 and in the same year appointed to HMS UNDAUNTED on the China Station. He was appointed commander of HMS BLANCHE on the Cape Station in 1900 and in 1903 joined the Coast Guard Service. He was promoted captain and retired in 1908.