Correspondence from John Jervis, Admiral of the Fleet, Ist Earl St Vincent.

Administrative / biographical background
Parker was a nephew of Sir John Jervis (later Earl St. Vincent (q.v.)). He entered the Navy in 1793 as a captain's servant in the ORION and, as a midshipman, was present at the battle of the Glorious First of June 1794. He was then transferred with Captain (later Admiral) J.T. Duckworth (q.v.) to the LEVIATHAN and he went out to the West Indies in 1795. From 1796 to 1798 he was acting lieutenant of the MAGICIENNE and from 1798 to 1799 of the QUEEN, being promoted to lieutenant in 1799. He was appointed to command the VOLAGE and then the STORK, in which ship he returned home in 1800 and served for a year in the North Sea. He was promoted to captain in 1801 and during the following year commanded L'OISEAU, the HELDIN and the ALARM in home waters. Between 1802 and 1812 Parker was Captain of the AMAZON. He served in the Mediterranean under Nelson and sailed with him to the West Indies in 1805. From 1806 to 1810 he was employed mainly on the coasts of Spain and Portugal and from 1811 to 1812 in the Channel. Parker was then on half-pay until 1827 when he was sent to the Mediterranean in the WARSPITE, being Senior Officer in the Aegean in 1828. On his return home he was appointed Captain of the Royal Yacht Prince Regent until his promotion to rear-admiral in 1830. He was second-in-command, Channel Squadron, in 1831 and commanded a squadron on the coast of Portugal during the Carlist War, 1831 to 1834. He was knighted in 1834 and was a Lord of the Admiralty between August and December of the same year. From 1835 he again had a seat at the Board of the Admiralty until 1841, when he was promoted to vice-admiral and appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, where he brought the First Chinese War to a successful conclusion. In 1845 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, a post he held until 1852 and which, from 1846 to 1847, was combined with a command in the Channel during the Portuguese Civil War. In 1851 he was promoted to admiral. He was Commander-in-Chief at Devonport from 1853 to 1857 and was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet in 1863. See Admiral Sir Augustus Phillimore, 'The life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker' (3 vols, London, 1876-1880).