John Henry Parker CB
Portrait photograph
Born	(1806-03-01)1 March 1806 London, England
Died	31 January 1884(1884-01-31) (aged 77) Oxford, England
Resting place	St Sepulchre's Cemetery, Oxford, England
Education	Manor House School
Occupations	Archaeologist; writer; publisher
Employer	Ashmolean Museum
Known for	Keeper of theAshmolean Museum
Spouse	Frances Mary Hoskyns
Children	James Parker
Father	John Parker
Relatives	Joseph Parker (uncle)

John Henry ParkerCB (1 March 1806 – 31 January 1884) was an Englisharchaeologist, writer onarchitecture, and publisher.

He was born inLondon, the son of John Parker, a merchant there. He was educated at Manor House School,Chiswick, and was apprenticed in 1821 to his uncle, theOxford bookseller Joseph Parker (1774?–1850). He succeeded to his uncle's business in 1832, and ran the firm successfully, the most important of his publications being perhaps the series of theOxford Pocket Classics.^[1][2]

Parker married Frances Mary Hoskyns on 7 February 1832, at St Lawrence's Church,Appleton (then inBerkshire, now inOxfordshire). She was the daughter of James Williams Hoskyns, Fellow ofMagdalen College, and Rector of Appleton from 1802 to 1844. The couple had a shared love of antiquarianism. Her father was very opposed to the marriage, though presumably eventually relented, as they married in his church. Frances died on 15 December 1854 after a short illness.^[3][4]

In 1836, Parker published hisGlossary of terms used in Grecian, Roman, Italian, and Gothic architecture, which, published during theGothic Revival in England, had considerable influence in extending the movement, and supplied valuable inspiration to young architects. In 1848 he edited the fifth edition ofThomas Rickman'sGothic architecture, and in 1849 he published a handbook based on his earlier volume entitledIntroduction to the study of Gothic architecture. The completion of Hudson Turner'sDomestic architecture of the Middle Ages next engaged his attention, three volumes being published (1853–60). He publishedMedieval architecture of Chester in 1858 andArchitectural antiquities of the city of Wells in 1866.^[1]

Parker was one of the chief advocates of the restoration of ecclesiastical buildings. In 1863, he and theOxford Diocesan ArchitectG.E. Street revised plans for the restoration ofSt. Andrew's parish church, Chinnor.^[5] Parker also designed the triplet oftraceriedlancet windows in thechancel ofSt. Nicholas the Confessor, Forest Hill.^[6] His son James Parker (1832 or 1833–1912) also practiced as an architect.^[7]

Later, he devoted much attention to explorations of the history ofRome through excavations and succeeded in satisfying himself with the historical truth of much usually regarded as legendary. Two volumes of hisArchaeology of Rome were published at Oxford in 1874 and 1876.^[1][2]

In recognition of his work, Parker was decorated by KingVictor Emmanuel II of Italy and received a medal fromPope Pius IX. In 1869, he endowed the keepership of theAshmolean Museum with a sum yielding £250 a year, and under the new arrangement, he was appointed the first keeper. In 1871, he was nominatedCB.^[1]

In Italy, one of Parker's principal projects was to compose an archive collection of photographs of the city's greatest monuments from the Renaissance era onwards. Employing local photographers the collection recorded not only Rome's greatest building and works but also detailed scenes of the late 19th-century archaeological excavations. He used many of these to illustrate his books. In 1893 the entire archive perished in a fire at thePalazzo Della Porta Negroni Caffarelli depriving modern archeologists of an invaluable source of material.^[8]

Parker died inOxford^[2] and is buried inSt Sepulchre's Cemetery.^[3]

• A manual of gothic mouldings, and continuous ornament^[9]
• A manual of surface ornament^[10]
• A manual of gothic stone carving^[11]
• A glossary of terms used in British heraldry. Oxford, 1847
• A Catalogue of a Series of Photographs Illustrative of the Archæology of Rome: Supplement to a catalogue..., Oxford, 1867.
• A B C of Gothic Architecture, London, 1881.

• Brodie, Antonia; Felstead, Alison; Franklin, Jonathan; Pinfield, Leslie; Oldfield, Jane, eds. (2001).Directory of British Architects 1834–1914, A–K. London & New York:Continuum. p. 318.ISBN 0-8264-5513-1.
• Lobel, Mary D., ed. (1964).A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 8: Lewknor and Pyrton Hundreds.Victoria County History. pp. 55–80.
• Sherwood, Jennifer;Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974).Oxfordshire.The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth:Penguin Books. pp. 605–606.ISBN 0-14-071045-0.

• Matthew, Colin; et al., eds. (2004).Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford University Press.
• Nash, Paul W; Savage, Nicholas; et al. (1995).Early printed books 1478–1840: catalogue of the British Architectural Library Early Imprints Collection. Vol. 3. London & Munich: Bowker-Saur, K.G. Saur. pp. 2434–2436.ISBN 1-85739-013-X.
• Parker, J. H.The archæology of Rome, Part 7: The Flavian amphitheatre, commonly called the Colosseum. (1876). James Parker and Co
• —The archæology of Rome, Part 8: The aqueducts (1876). Oxford: James Parker and Co.
• —A B C of Gothic Architecture (1881). Oxford: Parker & Co.

• Works by or aboutJohn Henry Parker atWikisource
• Media related toJohn Henry Parker at Wikimedia Commons
• The grave of John Henry Parker and his wife Frances in St Sepulchre's Cemetery, Oxford, with biography

• 1806 births
• 1884 deaths
• Writers from London
• English architecture writers
• English archaeologists
• Keepers and directors of the Ashmolean Museum
• English booksellers
• English publishers (people)
• English male non-fiction writers
• 19th-century English businesspeople
• Companions of the Order of the Bath
• Burials at St Sepulchre's Cemetery

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