Much of my research time during July was spent creating posts for one of my other blogs. So this post was going to be one of those 'last minute' entries, sneaking in just before the end of the month, containing a round up of a few PARRY references that I have come across recently, along with information about some databases that have been mentioned on mailing lists, and which have turned out to contain relevant references.
But things are rarely that simple, and the day (and month!) passed by, with the post still unfinished.
So here we are, the middle of August and I have failed at my goal of writing (at least) one post each month throughout 2025.
Maybe next year..... ☺
But failure is no reason to stop 'practicing' so, to continue with posting something:
Here are some of the databases that came to my attention over the month:
Records for the Home Guard (WW2) for Durham are now available at the TNA and on the Genealogist site. The Home Guard (initially called the "Local Defence Volunteers") existed from 1940-1945.1
From my first glance, I was going to say there are fifteen PARRYs - but then I realised that a couple of them appear more than once so, to be correct, there are fifteen results, covering thirteen men. The 'duplications' appear to be because two of them served in two different battalions.
Their birth dates range from 1894 - 1926, which I thought was quite interesting. National Service in the UK operated from 1939-19602 and, after a short period in 1939, when it only affected men aged 20-22 years old, the age range was increased to 18-41 years. In 1942, the upper age limit for men was then extended to 51 years.
So, some of the PARRYs would have been too old to be conscripted at the start of the war, and others too young. I'm assuming, at the moment, that those in the middle age range were either working in 'reserved' occupations, or had been rejected for active service as being medically unfit.
But that would be an interesting follow-up activity to carry out, checking the enrolment forms at the TNA (available for free when signed in) to see what additional information about the men can be discovered. (But I won't sidetrack to do that now, or this post will never get finished!)
Another database, "French register of deceased persons since 1970"
Somehow, the site https://arbre.app/insee came to my attention. This is a site produced by an individual (Florian Cassayre), using data from INSEE, which is the French "National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies."3
A third site that came to my attention was the Oxfordshire Family History Society's database of "Transcribed Wills."4
There are four PARRYs currently mentioned in this, from three Wills:
In 1704, a William PARRY, Jr, was a witness to the Will of a William BOULTER of Kingham.
In 1740, a Barbara PARRY, of Standlake, received £20 from the Will of James TUCKEY of Cassington. Barbara has been identified as "nee TUCKEY", although the Will doesn't specifically state that.
And then, in 1740, an Elizabeth PARRY, and an Isaac PARRY, are both listed as close relatives of a Thomas KILLINGWORTH, of St Martin in the Fields, Middlesex, Elizabeth being his sister, and Isaac his brother-in-law. They each received £10, to purchase mourning dress.
As is often the case, probate entries, such as these, can provide useful details, which then lead to further information. For example, a possible baptism for Barbara TUCKEY can be found in Standlake, Oxfordshire, on 5 Nov 1707, daughter of a Richard TUCKEY (Ancestry). According to a couple of pedigrees on Ancestry, her marriage (to a Thomas PERRY, rather than PARRY) took place in Oxford, on 11 Aug 1730 - although the pedigrees show no source for that.
However, FindMyPast has the "Oxfordshire Marriage Bonds 1634-1849" database, which does include the marriage (only as "1730," not the full date). That marriage index can also be found on a page of the Whipple One-Name Study site.5 The database is only a transcription, no images, but the index shows Elizabeth's spouse as a Thomas PERRY, so that probate entry can now be identified as "potentially" not relevant to the PARRY study. (But the marriage index did turn up two other potential PARRY entries though - an Elizabeth PARRY of Abingdon, Berkshire, marrying a John WRIGHT of Culham, in 1723, and Ann PARRY of Oxford, marrying a William STEEL, of Woodeaton, in 1830. So, lost one, gained two! ☺)
I had better luck following up the Elizabeth KILLINGWORTH. Again, her potential baptism can be identified using pedigrees on Ancestry (30 January 1724, Wootton, Oxfordshire). Her marriage to Isaac PARRY appears in the "England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973" on Ancestry, as having taken place on 5 Sep 1760, at Saint Martin In The Fields, Westminster. This time, there are also images available, under "St Martin-In-The-Fields, 1757-1762", in the "Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935" database. And Isaac is very clearly written as a PARRY (and Elizabeth's surname is spelt KILLINWORTH.)
Finally, the sidetrack - this is a bit of a 'meander' along the route my research went!
As I mentioned at the start of this post, much of my time recently has been taken up with other research - but even in doing that, I came across some PARRYs. (They do get everywhere. ☺)
These two are not 'previously unknown' PARRYs. In fact, they are quite well known ones.
But it's always interesting to come across new sources (although disappointing when one also finds errors in them!)
I've been looking into the progresses of Queen Elizabeth I and, in particular, her progresses to Coventry and Kenilworth. And I have known for some years that at least two PARRYs were servants of the Queen, both from before she came to the throne:
The first, Thomas PARRY (c.1515-1560), held various offices, including that of the Princess Elizabeth's "cofferer", responsible for paying her household expenses.6 The reference I came across was the 1823 version of the book about the Queen's Progresses, by John Nichols7
This contains an abstract of "The Accompte of THOMAS PARRY" - so I then went down a 'rabbit hole', trying to make sense of some of the quantities. For example, under "The Bakehouse and Pantrye", there were five payments for wheat, totaling 80 quarters of wheat, which I gather was about 160 stones, or 2240lb8
Thomas also paid for supplies to "The Buttery and Cellar", but I struggled to find 'sensible' conversions for these, since the list includes "10 dole of beer" at £10 3s, but the "dole" doesn't seem to be a measurement - it just refers to beer given out as charity.
Another entry showed the purchase of "10 ton 1 pipe of beer" for £10 3s, the same cost as the 'dole' entry. So my assumption is that, that was likely to be the same quantity purchased in the 'dole' entry, as well.
But whether the "10 dole of Gaskoine wine" at £80 was also 10 tons, I have no idea!
And yesterday, writing this up, I discovered that Thomas Parry's account of the Princess's household expenses, which covered the period from 1 October 1851 to 30 September 1852, was published by the Camden Society, in 1853 (after the Nichols' publication) and it is available in the Internet Archive.9
So, from that, I now know that there were actually over twenty entries relating to wheat, rather than just the five quoted in Nichols - and a lot more alcohol!
Clearly, I need to do more work to understand the account book.
The second PARRY I had found a reference to, still in Nichols, was Blanche PARRY (c1507 - 1590), one of Elizabeth's gentlewomen, and also keeper of the Queen's Jewels.10
Again, there is a lot of information available about Blanche, who was one of the Herefordshire PARRYs. But this reference initially sent me searching through the various versions of Nichols' work, looking at the listings of New Year gifts to, and from, the Queen.
I also came across the site https://tudorsdynasty.com/elizabeths-ladies/, which has some information, not just about Blanche, but also about the wife of the Thomas Parry above, Anne Rede, and the wife of their son, another Thomas Parry, Dorothy Brooke. Both of these women also served the Queen.
At least that site doesn't refer to any connection between Blanche PARRY, and Thomas PARRY.
However, following up the various references mentioned on the site, led me to discover a doctoral thesis, by Charlotte Merton, concerning "The Women Who Served Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth: ladies, gentlewomen and maids of the Privy Chamber, 1553–1603." This is available online.11
I'm looking forward to reading this - partly because it is a topic of interest. but also because it does have over forty references to the surname PARRY.
However, I spotted that, on page 33, the thesis refers to Thomas PARRY (the husband of Anne Reade) as being the brother of Blanche PARRY.
No, they were *not* siblings.
That reminded me of another book I was looking at recently, which also contains an error, regarding their relationship - page 61 of "The Masters of the Revels and Elizabeth I's Court Theatre"12 refers to Blanche as being the wife of Thomas.
No, they were *not* married to each other.
Thomas PARRY was the son of Henry VAUGHAN of Tretower, Breconshire, who was the son of Sir Thomas VAUGHAN, the son of Robert VAUGHAN.
Yes, there is a reason for listing several generations - I often think it is interesting that Thomas took the surname PARRY (from his father's first name of Henry/Harry), in accordance with the Welsh patronymic style, despite the VAUGHANs having been using the English naming system (of a fixed surname), for several generations.
Bearing in mind that this was at a time when many of the Welsh who were involved with the Royal court in England would have been doing exactly the opposite, particularly following the "Laws in Wales Acts" of 1535 and 1542.
So I often wonder, "Why?"
Blanche PARRY was the daughter of Henry Myles of Newcourt, in Bacton, Herefordshire.
Again, her surname comes from the Welsh patronymic system - but her family had still been using that system over previous generations, with her line tracing from Griffith ap Henry, down through Henry ap Griffith, Myele Parrie, and then her father, Harry Myles, as you can see in the "Parry's of Golden Valley" pedigree at https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~parryresearch/family/gvfull.htm.
Blanche never married, serving Elizabeth from the time of Elizabeth's birth in 1533, until Blanche's death in 1590.
Although the various VAUGHAN and PARRY families in that border area of Herefordshire and Breconshire did intermarry (frequently!) there doesn't seem to be a close link between the two specific families of Thomas and Blanch.
One day, I hope to get back to working on the early pedigrees, but that's enough sidetracking for now!
Notes and Sources
The National Archives: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/home-guard-personnel/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Guard_(United_Kingdom)
2. Conscription in the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institut_national_de_la_statistique_et_des_%C3%A9tudes_%C3%A9conomiques
http://wills.oxfordshirefhs.org.uk/index.html
5. Oxford Marriage Bonds, in the Whipple One-Name Study site: https://whipple.one-name.net/oxford/3_alpha_by_grooms_parish.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Parry_(Comptroller_of_the_Household)
7. John Nichols: "The progresses and public processions of Queen Elizabeth. : Among which are interspersed other solemnities, public expenditures, and remarkable events during the reign of that illustrious princess. Collected from original manuscripts, scarce pamphlets, corporation records, parochial registers, &c., &c. Illustrated, with historical notes" available on the Internet Archives, at
https://archive.org/details/progressespublic01nich/page/n10/mode/1up?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_%28unit%29
https://tudortimes.co.uk/politics-economy/weights-measures
9. The Camden publication of Thomas Parry's account of the Princess's household expenses: "Household expenses of the Princess Elizabeth during her residence at Hatfield, October 1, 1551, to September 30, 1552," available from the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/householdexpense00elizrich/page/n11/mode/2up
10. Blanche PARRY (c1507 - 1590): Wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_Parry
There is also a book specifically about Blanche, written by Ruth Richardson, ‘Mistress Blanche, Queen Elizabeth I’s Confidante’. Ruth's website can be found at https://www.blancheparry.com/index.shtml
11. Charlotte Merton's 1992 Thesis: "The Women Who Served Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth: ladies, gentlewomen and maids of the Privy Chamber, 1553–1603." available online - or, at least, it was a few days ago!
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/373daa8b-6592-4796-ae95-25c9ce922988 However, the service is currently (18 August 2025) showing as "503 Service Unavailable". Hopefully, it is just a temporary issue.
12. "The Masters of the Revels and Elizabeth I's Court Theatre", W. R. Streitberger, Oxford University Press, 26 Feb 2016. The book is searchable on Google books, but it is not possible to view whole pages. https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Masters_of_the_Revels_and_Elizabeth.html?id=SQd-CwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
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