Royal Naval Biography/Parker, Richard William
RICHARD WILLIAM PARKER, Esq.
[Commander.]
Distinguished himself on many occasions, and received several severe wounds, whilst serving as lieutenant of the Speedy sloop, successively commanded by Captains Jahleel Brenton and Lord Cochrane, on the Gibraltar station, in 1799 and the two following years[1]. Although highly praised by both those distinguished officers, in their several public letters, and most strongly recommended by the latter for promotion, after the capture of El Gamo, he did not obtain the rank of commander until Aug. 15th, 1806; Earl St. Vincent not considering, as he intimated to his lordship, that “an action in which only three men were killed on the side of the British, was of sufficient importance to entitle Lieutenant Parker to advancement.” This shamefully treated gentleman died at Limerick, in the year 1824.