Parker was the eldest son of John Parker (1703–1768) of
Boringdon Hall, Plympton, and
Saltram House, by his wife Catherine Poulett (1706–1758), whom he married in 1725,[1] a daughter of
John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett, by his wife, Bridget Bertie, a granddaughter of
Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey. He had a sister Henrietta Parker (d. 1808) and a younger brother,
Montagu Edmund Parker (1737–1813) of
Whiteway House, near
Chudleigh (purchased by his grandfather George Parker (d. 1743) who also purchased Saltram),
Sheriff of Devon in 1789, who married in 1775 Charity Ourry (1752–1786), daughter of Admiral Paul Ourry, by whom he had issue Montague E. Parker (1778–1831) whose daughter Harriet Parker (1809–1897) married in 1842, as her second husband, her second cousin
Edmund Parker, 2nd Earl of Morley (1810–1864).
Career
He was educated at
Christ Church, Oxford. John attended Plympton Grammar School where Sir Joshua Reynold's father was headmaster.[2]
He was elected to the
House of Commons for
Bodmin in 1761, a seat he held until 1762, and then represented
Devon between 1762 and 1784. The latter year Parker was raised to the peerage as Baron Boringdon, of
Boringdon in the County of Devon.[3]
Firstly, in 1764 to Frances Hort (d.1764), daughter of the Right Reverend
Josiah Hort,
Archbishop of Tuam. She died later the same year, without progeny.