The Parrys of North Wales
Sailing close to the wind
Solid service in the merchant marine and RAF
Untangling our Parrys has been quite a complicated and time-consuming job as the surname is by no means uncommon to North Wales. Rhos-on-Sea Hence we are not quite as far back in the family as one might expect.
John Parry was born in 1827 and according to his son’s birth certificate, was a mariner by trade. His union with Ellen Roberts produced 6 children and they moved away from North Wales to Liverpool. John junior also went to sea to earn his living, beginning as an ordinary seaman but after 10 years experience he had elevated himself to the master of the vessel “Jane”, an 83ft wooden coaster plying her trade out of Liverpool.
In maybe what was a common lifestyle for seamen, John could be found in an alehouse probably more often than he should have been and on his death from a heart attack in 1909, his wife, Mary Ellen, was forced to take her family to the Seaman’s Orphanage for support.
Our direct line of descent continues via John’s brother Hugh, who married Margaret Foulkes. Interestingly, Margaret was the daughter of Thomas Foulkes and Jane Parry but as yet we have not established whether she was already linked to the family (2022). Hugh and Margaret had six children and would have struggled on his wages as a labourer. Thomas John Parry was the eldest child.
Thomas married Gertrude Maud Bolton. Thomas was born in Colwyn Bay but Gertrude was a Manchester girl. Thomas was a carriage driver and Gertrude had taken a position as a servant to a family in Rhos-on-Sea. They were married in Sept 1912 and went on to have 8 children, one of whom being daughter Edith born in 1926.
The Parry family merged with the Bagshaws when Geoff Bagshaw married Edith Parry in June 1954. Notables in the Parry family were Edward Parry who became a professional footballer playing at full back for both Liverpool FC and Wales during the 1920s and his namesake Edward “Ted” Parry who was awarded the DFM while serving in the Second World War as the rear gunner in a Lancaster bomber squadron before losing his life in 1943.
