{{Short description|Welsh scholar (died 1714)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use British English|date=August 2015}} '''David Parry''' (1682? – December 1714) was a Welsh scholar and assistant to the naturalist [[Edward Lhuyd]]. He was Keeper of the [[Ashmolean Museum]] in Oxford from 1709 until his death in 1714.
==Life== Parry, who was born in [[Cardigan, Ceredigion|Cardigan]], Wales, in about 1682, was educated at the grammar school in Cardigan before coming to the attention of [[Edward Lhuyd]] in about 1695. Lhuyd took Parry on his travels in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Brittany. They were imprisoned as spies for a time in Brittany, but returned to Oxford in April 1701. Parry then [[matriculation|matriculated]] that year at [[Jesus College, Oxford]].<ref>{{alox1|title=Parry, David (5)}}</ref>
Edward Lhuyd's efforts to obtain a scholarship for Parry were, however, thwarted by [[John Wynne (bishop)|John Wynne]], one of the [[Oxbridge Fellow|Fellows]] of the college. Parry obtained his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in 1705 and his [[MA Oxon|Master of Arts]] degree in 1708, becoming the unpaid under-keeper of the [[Ashmolean Museum]] under Lhuyd. He succeeded Lhuyd as Keeper of the Ashmolean in 1709, still unpaid. He was regarded as capable but insufficiently hard-working: one report said that there was nobody more competent than Parry, "if he would set himself to work" and another said that Parry was "always in the tavern, guttling and guzzling".<ref name=WBO/> He died in December 1714, with it being said that he had "shortened his days" by being a "perfect [[drunkard|sot]]".<ref name=WBO>{{cite DWB|id=s-PARR-DAV-1682|title=Parry, David (1682?–1714), scholar|last=Jenkins|first=Robert Thomas|accessdate=1 November 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Ashmolean Museum keepers and directors}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, David}} [[Category:1680s births]] [[Category:1714 deaths]] [[Category:People from Cardigan, Ceredigion]] [[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford]] [[Category:Welsh scholars and academics]] [[Category:Welsh curators]] [[Category:People associated with the Ashmolean Museum]] [[Category:Keepers and directors of the Ashmolean Museum]]