Early life and education Parr was born at
Harrow on the Hill to Samuel Parr, a surgeon, and his wife Ann. Samuel was a determined and educated man who taught his only son Latin grammar at the age of four. Less than a year later, his father married again, this time to Margaret Coxe, much to the displeasure of his son, who was sixteen at the time. Samuel was eventually allowed to swap medicine for divinity. To this end, Parr entered the
University of Cambridge, perhaps as a
sizar as his stepmother had suggested where, as he wrote later, his "tutors were eminently able, and to me uniformly kind". Though his stay at the school was short – he left after only twelve or fourteen months, Towards the close of 1785, he decided to leave Norwich – principally because his post as headmaster did not pay well but required a great deal of his time. In addition, in 1780, he was presented to the small rectory of
Asterby in
Lincolnshire, and three years later the vicarage of
Hatton near Warwick. The first of these was worth £36 a year; the latter, however, around £100. He duly then resigned the former in favour of his curate at Hatton. These posts gave him both better pay and more free time with which to tutor privately and derive more income from those endeavours. In late 1788, the installation of the Prince of Wales as regent almost saw Parr become the
bishop of Gloucester.
William Pitt the Younger had been in power on the authority of
George III, but, as the King's health worsened, parliament came close (by a matter of weeks) to instating
the Prince of Wales as regent.
Prinny, as he was known, was a supporter of
Charles James Fox, who was in turn a friend of Parr's; it was likely, therefore, that if the prince had come into power as regent, he would have chosen Fox to be the
prime minister; Fox in turn who would have nominated Parr as Bishop of Gloucester. Unfortunately for Parr, the King's health improved, and the Regency Bill never passed. The
Whigs did grant him a £300 annuity, however, which he needed at times during his retirement. In 1789 he exchanged the benefice in Hatton for
Wadenhoe,
Northamptonshire, stipulating to be allowed to reside, as assistant curate, in the parsonage of Hatton, where he took a limited number of pupils. Here he spent the rest of his days, enjoying his excellent library, described by
Henry George Bohn in
Bibliotheca Parriana (1827). His friends
Richard Porson and
Edmund Henry Barker passed many months in his company. In later years Parr was prone to bad colds and from two he developed
erysipelas. The first he eventually recovered from; the second he did not. He bore a long illness with patience and piety, and died at Hatton parsonage on 6 March 1825. His library was auctioned by R. H. Evans in London on 29 May (and two following days) and 31 October (and seven following days); a copy of the sale catalogue for the first part is held at
Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.132(8)). ==Political and personal views==