Henry Parkes 1839- 1926

1839. Henry Parkes was born in Antigua to John Parkes & Sarah Sowter on 9/11/1839 in Antigua. - circumstancial evidence involving another son, John Sowter Parkes

1851C. Woodhouse Grove School, Rawdon, Yorkshire : head William Lord is a Wesleyan Minister.Brother William, 13, is also there

 

Henry
Last name Parkes
Relationship Pupil
Marital status Unmarried
Sex Male
Age 11
Birth year 1840
Occupation Scholar
Birth place West Indies
Birth place as transcribed Antigua West Indies
Birth town -
Birth county -
House name School
Street Woodhouse Grove Yorkshire

~1860. Trained in Richmond, Surrey as a Wesleyan pastor / missionary

1861. Seems already to have left England again

1866-1867 Henry Parkes married Anne Wilson, almost certainly in China, but marriage not noted on Consular bmds, whereas the births of their 1st six children, 1867-1874, are .

"Rev. HENRY PARKES was sent to China by the English Wesleyan Missionary Society, and arrived at Canton on March 18th, 1864". 

During the next twelve years eight Missionaries were sent   to Canton, but of these only few were able to remain for any 
  thing like a considerable number of years. J. S. Parkes returned with broken health after four years of service (1860-1864),
 and J. H. Rogers (1865-1869) did the same. F. P. Napier was transferred after one year to Wuchang. E.Sinzininex also remained
 in the District for only three years(1873-1876). The other four, H. Parkes (1862-1881), J Gibson (1865-1879), S. Whitehead 
(1866-1875), T. G. Selby   (1868-1882), and F. J. Masters (1872-1882), were able to   remain longer,

 

1867-1879 they had the following children in Canton: Ellen Eliza Parkes 28/11/1867; Annie Elizabeth Parkes 15/12/1868; Sarah Emily Parkes 6/3/1870; Thomas Peers Parkes 4/8/1871; John Henry Parkes 17/9/1872; Alice Marion Parkes 19/2/1874 ; Mary H Parkes 1877 & Charles W Parkes 1879. During a return to England in 1874/5, James Frederick Parkes was born in Stroud. And Arthur Ernest Parkes was born Keighley Dec 1883 in Oxenhope, Yorkshire . This makes 10 children, but 1911C states 11 children, 4 dead ( pretty sure 2 of these were Ellen & John, both dying by 1874: within 3 weeks of each other & between Henry's 1st and 2nd letters back to the Methodist Missionary Society in London- this from "Who do you think you are?") .

1873. Extract from "Who do you think you are?"- about Rick Stein - see end of page

1882. He returns to England with his family

1883. Arthur Ernest Parkes was born Keighley Dec 1883 in Oxenhope, Yorkshire to Henry & Annie

1891C Henry Parkes, 51, Wesleyan Minister, is living 90 Cheriton Road Folkestone Elham

Henry Parkes Head Married Male 51 1840 AntiguaWest Indies Wesleyan Minister  
Anne Parkes Wife Married Female 47 1844 Hilltop West Bromwich Staffordshire, England -  
Anne E Parkes Daughter Single Female 22 1869 canton China -  
Thomas P Parkes Son Single Male 19 1872 China Photographers Assistant  
Mary H Parkes Daughter Single Female 14 1877 China -  
Arthur E Parkes Son Single Male 7 1884 Oxenhope Yorkshire, England -  
Caroline Cox Servant Single Female 18 1873 Kent, England Domestic Servant

3 sons, Thomas Peers 1871, James Frederick 1873 and Charles William 1879 missing. The last two likely at boarding school

1901C.Henry Parkes, 61, Wesleyan Minister, is living 2 Prospect Road, Upper Mitton, Droitwich Worcestershire

Henry Parkes Head Married Male 61 1840 -Antigua Wesleyan Minister  
Annie Parkes Wife Married Female 57 1844 West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England -  
Mary H Parkes Daughter Single Female 24 1877 -Canton -  
Charles W Parkes Son Single Male 22 1879 -Canton Under Graduate Camb Wr?  
Mary Beddoes Servant Single Female 19 1882 Cleobury Mortimer, Gloucestershire, England -

1901. Henry Parkes, Wesleyan minister of Buckfastleigh, gave an address at a harvest Thanksgiving in Totnes - FMP Newspapers

1903.Henry Parkes was Wesleyan Minister at Camelford- Royal Cornwall Gazette FMP Newspapers

1904 . Henry Parkes, who comes from Camelford, was new supernumerary at Beccles FMP Newspapers

1906. Henry Parkes was Wesleyan Minister Supernumerary for Finchley & Hendon - Barnet Press 11/8/1906 FMP Newspapers

1911C. Henry Parkes, 71, Wesleyan Methodist Minister, is living at 26 Trossachs Road, E.Dulwich , S E Camberwell . They had been married 44 years, 11 children, 4 dead . Implies they married ~1867

Henry Parkes Head Married Male 71 1840 Antigua W Indies Resident Wesleyan Methodist Minister  
Annie Parkes Wife Married Female 67 1844 Hill Top Bromwick -  
Rose Ethel Steward Servant Single Female 29 1882 Greenwich London Servant Domestic

1926. Henry Parkes, 86, normally of 37 HillCroft Terrace, Ealing dies in Stretham on 3/4/1926 - Lambeth Jun 1926. Probate to 2 sons, Thomas Peers Parkes, merchant, and Charles William Parkes, school inspector . Effects £ 1375

henry-probate

NOTE: lots of FMP Newspaper articles on his UK postings are on my computer Keyboard in Malta- will access these only in December 2018! . . . . .

1873 Letter

 

It’s 1873 and the Reverend Henry Parkes is in Canton, China, writing a letter to his boss, the General Secretary of a Methodist missionary society, in London.

“By next spring I shall have been resident ten years […] My objective in writing by this mail is to request permission to return home […] For myself, and more especially for my wife and family, I feel it’s necessary, soon, to have a change. In this view my medical advisor concurs.”

Henry is a Wesleyan Methodist minister and one of a small group of priests who have been asked to take Christianity to China following China’s defeat by the British in the second Opium War of 1856-60.

Henry and his new wife, Annie, and their children live on the eastern side of Canton Province (now known as Guangzhou), an area where smallpox, cholera typhoid and bubonic plague are endemic. Hundreds of thousands will die in the region over the next few years. With four children under the age of six, Henry is understandably concerned for the health and safety of his family.

Henry has now been in Canton Province for ten years, having arrived in China in August 1862 ( or 1864?) , after a five month voyage from Southampton. As a missionary, his job is not only to preach, but also to help establish schools, hospitals and orphanages. Apart from the Parkes and a few other missionary families, there are no other Europeans in the region.

In the aftermath of the Opium Wars, there is little love lost between the Chinese and the British. Henry and his family live under threat of attack. Mandarin Chinese is not an easy language to learn and the lack of communication with the people around them, in addition to getting used to the local food, manners and customs, means that life is extremely difficult.

Henry studied to become a Methodist missionary at Richmond College, London, but although well-versed in theology, he received no practical training in the life skills needed for coping with this new environment- but his father was also a missionary, albeit in the West Indies . As a result, the Parkes family are incredibly isolated.

Henry would have expected a response to his letter to take around six months to arrive by ship. From the wording of a second letter, written seven months later, it’s evident that no response has been received. In the meantime, two of Henry’s children have tragically died. Over the next ten years, Henry writes a number of letters to the General Secretary; in each, he requests permission to come home. In 1882, nearly twenty years after arriving in Canton Province, the Parkes are finally allowed to return to England ( not true- they allowed him back to England in 1874-5).

I have watched celebrity chef Rick Stein tell this story on episode three, disc 2. of Series 6 of “Who Do you Think You Are?”. Henry Parkes was Rick’s maternal great grandfather, and Rick traveled to Hong Kong to find out more about his life. Rick's maternal grandmother was Mary Henrietta Parkes , born Canton 1877. The scene in which he reads out this letter is incredibly moving.

Critique of the program! : http://www.bbc.co.uk/whodoyouthinkyouare/new-stories/rick-stein/index.shtml

"Who do you think you are?", series 6, which I have, has several photos of Henry, also his wife . Could include these if Richard ever show any interest!!

Thomas married by 1901C- in Northampton

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