Henry Parker, 10th Baron Morley, 11th Baron Marshal

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Sir Henry Parker, Lord Morley, was Lady Rochford’s father. Despite his important position in
the world of English literature, there is no full-length biography of Lord Morley.
The best biographical study is perhaps that by David Starkey.18 Morley was born in either 1476
or 1481. The 1476 date is based on his memorial plaque. The 1481 date is reported by most modern scholars, including Starkey and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.19
This date is based on the assumption that the dinner Henry Parker described in his often cited
Account of the Miracles of the Sacrament is the one which Margaret Beaufort gave to celebrate the
elevation of her friend William Smith as Bishop of Lincoln in 1496, when Henry described himself
as 15 years old.
His birthplace is unknown, though it may have been London where his father was a resident at
the time of Henry’s birth, or any of the Morley baronial properties demised to Henry’s parents. He
entered the household of Countess Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, in 1491 and remained
in her service until her death in 1509. Margaret Beaufort was fond of Henry Parker; used him as her
personal sewar, carver and cup-bearer at both public and private occasions; married him to her greatniece, Alice St. John; sent him to Oxford and took care of his young family while he studied there.
She even paid o his step-father, Sir Edward Howard, with a one-time disbursement of 500 marks “to redeem Master Parkers lands.” This payment was made in order to prevent Howard from completely gutting the Morley baronial estate which Henry was to inherit. Five hundred marks, approximately £335 was a huge amount of money at the time, approximately £163000 in 2005 pounds, and this can be used as a gauge to measure just how fond Margaret Beaufort was of Henry Parker.
His mother was Alice Lovell, from the baronial Lovell family of Titchmarsh and the heiress
of the combined Baronies of Morley and Rhie after the death of her only brother Henry Parker
inherited what remained of the estate and the right to the Lord Morley title in 1518 when his mother died. It appears that the baronial title was allowed to lapse since Henry Parker’s father, who was a courtier of Richard III and not highly favored by the Tudors, was never summoned to Parliament as Lord Morley in right of his wife. It seems likely that the Morley title and barony were revived by Henry VIII for Henry Parker, which suggests he was in the king’s good graces.
As Lord Morley, he held only minor and occasional roles in Henry VIII’s court. In 1520, he
attended the king on his visit with Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor at Gravelines and was one of
four barons who attended Queen Katherine at the Field of Cloth of Gold. In 1523, he was summoned to his first Parliament as Lord Morley, Baron of Rhie, and immediately after the king sent him at the head of a delegation of four to confer the Order of the Garter on Archduke Ferdinand of the Holy Roman Empire. He was appointed to sit on various commissions of peace, tax collection, drainage, etc. in the counties of Essex and Hertfordshire starting in 1530 and continuing for the rest of Henry VIII’s reign.
He was empaneled on the jury for the treason trial of the Duke of Buckingham in 1521 and
for all five of the rest of the treason trials by a jury of lords during Henry VIII’s reign. Two of those
trials were those of his son-in-law, George Boleyn and George’s sister, Queen Anne Boleyn. Of the six people executed in the fall of Anne Boleyn, Henry Parker had ties to half of them: Anne and George Boleyn, and also Henry Norris, who was Parker’s second cousin through the Lovell bloodline.
Henry Parker had no record of any kind of military service, which as Starkey points out is
remarkably odd for any of the English nobility given their collective conceit of being a warrior elite. In
the dedication to one of his expositions on the psalms in 1539 Morley wrote he was “unmete to do any bodily service” for his sovereign. Yet his portrait drawn by Dürer in 1523 shows a lean, handsome
man with a youthful face for one in his forties. We can only speculate if Morley had some disability
that prevented his participation in martial activities. If he did suffer some kind of disability or chronic
illness, it could not have been something that would prevent travel, long hours spent studying books, carrying the four year old future Queen Elizabeth during the baptism service for the newborn Prince Edward in 1537.
Henry Parker’s identity should not rely on his status as Lady Rochford’s father, for he is actually
one of the first of the Tudor men of letters, arguably the first from the Tudor nobility, from the
generation before Wyatt and the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was  rst English translator
of Plutarch’s Lives, decades before any other translator of Plutarch, and also the first to translate
Petrarch, producing Petrarch’s popular Trion in rhyming couplets32 as a New Year’s gift for Henry
VIII. His translation works were so substantial that they are still the subject of academic study today.
The printed version of Morley’s translation of the Trion was the only published complete English text
available to the Tudor and Elizabethan world until 1587 Given the predominance of the Petrarchian
triumph of virtues motif in Tudor and Elizabethan pageants and masques, the importance of Lord
Morley’s translation is greater than most modern readers will realize.
Henry Parker also translated Seneca, Cicero, Erasmus, and Boccaccio among others. In addition,
he wrote poetry and original works of religious commentary, one of which is the most quoted primary source on the life of Margaret Beaufort. While his roles in the Tudor court and government were mostly ancillary and minor, his place in English letters is as significant as it is undeservedly neglected.
He was born in the reign of Edward IV and died in the reign of one of his dearest friends,
Queen Mary. He had a ringside seat in the courts of six English Sovereigns – or eight if we include
Edward V and Jane Grey. Unlike the Howard and Boleyn factions at court to which he was closely
tied, he never lost the favor of any Tudor ruler and died peaceably in his own bed at Morley House in Great Hallingbury in 1556.

Epitaphium praeclari viri Henrici Parkar
Epitaph of that excellent man Henry Parker,
equitis aurati Morlei domini
knight, Lord Morley.
Henricus auratus eques Morlei Domin[us] vere nobilitatis specimen
Henry, knight, Lord Morley, (was) a true specimen of nobility
qua semper in de[us] opt[imus] max[imus]
that always (had) towards God Almighty,
parentes ac sanguine c[on]iunctos præstanti pietate
parents and kin, outstanding piety.
fuit marmore[um] hoc monum[en]tum comune supulchr[um] suis esse uoluit
He made this marble tomb as a common grave
Aui nam[que] at[que] auie
for grandfather, grandmother,
et parentis vtrius[que] clarissima[que] faemine vxoris
and both parents (and his) renowned wife
suae ossa ut sub hac mole c[on]der[en]tur e ecit
that under this tombstone (lit.: weight) their bones might be placed together (lit.: joined).
quo heroe viuente vere
(Th at) such a true hero lived (here)
a rmare licet multo illustrior[em] fuisse essexiam erat enim in c(o)etu
is to affi rm (that) Essex was rendered more illustrious by the company
nobilium g[em]ma veluti praeciosissima bonar[um] literar[um] splendor[em] :
of (this) noble gem, just as with the most precious bright learning (lit.: good letters),
omniq[ue] virtutum genere refulgens :
every kind of virtue shines.
cuius suauissimis manibus optabis hospes Quietem placidissimam
Will you, passer-by, pray for the repose for these gentle souls
vixit Ann(os) lxxx obijt A[nno] d[omini] M [ccccc] lvj m[en]se Nov[em][br]i
He lived 80 years. He died in the year of our Lord 1556 in the month of November
bene m[er][en]ti posuit
erected to one (who is) well-deserving
nepos et heres Henricus Parkar eques auratus Morlej Dominus
by grandson and heir Henry Parker, knight, Lord Morley

• 'Henry Parker, 10th Lord Morley1
• 'M, #80525, b. circa 1481, d. 27 November 1556
• Father Sir William Parker d. 1504
• Mother Alice Lovel b. c 1467, d. 23 Dec 1518
• ' Henry Parker, 10th Lord Morley was born circa 1481 at of London, Middlesex, England; Age 33+ in 1519.2 He married Alice St John, daughter of Sir John St John, Sheriff of Bedfordshire & Buckinghamshire and Sibyl ferch Morgan, before 1505.3,4 Henry Parker, 10th Lord Morley died on 27 November 1556 at Great Hallingbury, Morley, Essex, England.
• 'Family Alice St John b. c 1484
• Children
  • Sir Henry Parker, Master of Morley+5 d. 6 Jan 1552
  • Jane Parker6 b. c 1505, d. 13 Feb 1542
• Citations
• 1.[S11568] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, by George Edward Cokayne, Vol. IX, p. 221-224.
• 2.[S11568] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, by George Edward Cokayne, Vol. IX, p. 221.
• 3.[S11568] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, by George Edward Cokayne, Vol. IX, p. 223.
• 4.[S5] Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 628.
• 5.[S11568] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, by George Edward Cokayne, Vol. IX, p. 224-5.
• 6.[S16] Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. I, p. 387.
• From: http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p2680.htm#...
• ______________________
• Alice Lovel later Parker, suo jure Baroness Morley and de jure suo jure Baroness Marshal
• born c. 1467
• mar. (1) bef. 1486 Sir William Parker, Standard Bearer to King Richard III (d. after 1504)
• only child by first husband
  • '1. Hon Henry Parker, later 10th Baron Morley and de jure 11th Baron Marshal
• mar. (2) bef. Jan 1505/6 as his second wife Lord Edward Howard KG, Lord High Admiral of England 1513 (dsp. in a naval engagement off Brest 25 Apr 1513), 2nd son of Thomas [Howard], 2nd Duke of Norfolk, by his first wife Elizabeth Bourchier, widow of Sir Humphrey Bourchier and dau. and hrss. of Sir Frederick Tilney, of Ashwellthorpe, co. Norfolk
• died 23 Dec 1518
• 'suc. by son by first husband
• 'Henry [Parker], 10th Baron Morley and de jure 11th Baron Marshal
• 'born c. 1486
• 'mar. bef. 1505 Alice St John (bur. 23 Nov 1553 at Great Hallingbury, co. Essex), dau. of Sir John St John, of Bletsoe, co. Bedford (by his wife Alice Bradshaigh, dau. of Thomas Bradshaigh, of Haigh, co. Lancaster), 1st son and heir of Sir Oliver St John, of Penmark, co. Glamorgan, by his wife Margaret Beauchamp, de jure suo jure Baroness Beauchamp of Bletsoe (mar. (2) John [Beaufort], 1st Duke of Somerset, and was grandmother of King Henry VII), sister and hrss. of John [Beauchamp], 4th Baron Beauchamp of Bletsoe, and only dau. of John [Beauchamp], 3rd Baron Beauchamp, by his wife Edith Stourton, dau. of Sir John Stourton (NOTE: Alice St. John in other references is listed as dau. of Sibyl ferch Morgan & John St. John which make her a granddau. of Alice Bradshaigh & John St John)
• children
  • 1. Hon Sir Henry Parker, Page of the Chamber to King Henry VIII 1516, created a Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of Queen Anne Boleyn 1533 (dvp. 6 Jan 1551/2), mar. (1) 18 May 1523 Grace Newport, dau. and hrss. of John Newport, of Pelham Furneux, and had issue: ....
  • Hon Sir Henry Parker mar. (2) in or bef. 1549 Elizabeth Calthorpe (b. c. 1521; mar. (2) c 11 Nov 1552 Sir William Woodhouse, of Hickling, co. Norfolk (d. 22 Nov 1563), and (3) Dru Drury, of Norwich; d. 26 May 1578), dau. and hrss. of Sir Philip Calthorpe, of Erwarton, co. Suffolk, and had issue: ....
  • 2. Hon Francis Parker
  • 1. Hon Jane Parker, a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Anne Boleyn, Queen Jane Seymour, Queen Anne of Cleves and Queen Margaret Howard, charged with being procuress for Queen Margaret and attainted by Act of Parliament 11 Feb 1541/2 (b. c. 1510; d. by execution 13 Feb 1541/2), mar. c. 1526 Hon George Boleyn, styled Viscount Rochford, Cupbearer to the King 1526. Gentleman of the Privy Chamber 1527, Esquire of the Body 1528, Master of the Buckhounds 1528, knighted 1529, on embassies to France 1529, 1530, 1533 and 1534, cr. Baron Rochford c. 1530, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 1534-36, envoy to Calais 1535, a Commissioner to try Sir Thomas More 1535, Privy Councillor (sic?), arrested 2 may and attainted 15 May 1536 (dsp. by execution 17 May 1536), brother of Queen Anne Boleyn, only son of Thomas [Boleyn], 1st Earl of Wiltshire and 1st Earl of Ormonde, by his wife Lady Elizabeth Howard, 1st dau. of Thomas [Howard], 2nd Duke of Norfolk, by his first wife Elizabeth Bourchier, widow of Sir Humphrey Bourchier and dau. and hrss. of Sir Frederick Tilney, of Ashwellthorpe, co. Norfolk
  • 2. Hon Margaret Parker (d. 15 Nov 1558), mar. Sir John Shelton, of Shelton, co. Norfolk (b. c. 1509; d. 15 Nov 1558), 1st son and heir of Sir John Shelton, of Shelton, co. Norfolk, by his wife Anne Boleyn, dau. of Sir William Boleyn, of Blickling, co. Norfolk, and had issue
  • 3. Hon Elizabeth Parker
• 'died 27 Nov 1556 (bur. at Great Hallingbury, co. Essex)
• 'suc. by grandson
• From: http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/
• __________________________
• 'Henry PARKER (1º B. Morley)
• 'Born: 1476
• 'Died: 25 Nov 1556, Great Hallingbury, Essex, England
• 'Buried: 3 Dec 1556, Great Hallingbury, Essex, England
• 'Notes: brought up in the household of Margaret Beaufort. Lady Margaret paid five hundred marks to the new husband of his mother, Sir Edward Howard, to make sure that young Henry kept some family land.
• Father: William PARKER (Sir)
• Mother: Alice LOVELL (B. Morley)
• 'Married: Alice St. JOHN (B. Morley)
• Children:
  • 1. Henry PARKER (Sir)
  • 2. Jane PARKER (V. Rochford)
  • 3. Margaret PARKER
  • 4. Elizabeth PARKER
  • 5. Francis PARKER
• From: http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/PARKER.htm#Henry PARKER (1º B. Morley)
• ____________________
• 'Henry Parker1
• M, #567505
• Last Edited=9 Nov 2012
• ' Henry Parker married Alice St. John.1
• 'Child of Henry Parker and Alice St. John
  • 1.Mary Parker+1 b. 1500, d. 15 Nov 1558
• Citations
• 1.[S5792] Robin Dening, "re: Rochfort Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger LUNDY (101053), 2 January 2012. Hereinafter cited as "re: Rochfort Family."
• From: http://www.thepeerage.com/p56751.htm#i567505
• _____________