# David Parry (scholar)

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Welsh scholar (died 1714)

**David Parry** (1682? – December 1714) was a Welsh scholar and assistant to the naturalist [Edward Lhuyd](/source/Edward_Lhuyd). He was Keeper of the [Ashmolean Museum](/source/Ashmolean_Museum) in Oxford from 1709 until his death in 1714.

## Life

Parry, who was born in [Cardigan](/source/Cardigan%2C_Ceredigion), Wales, in about 1682, was educated at the grammar school in Cardigan before coming to the attention of [Edward Lhuyd](/source/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 [matriculated](/source/Matriculation) that year at [Jesus College, Oxford](/source/Jesus_College%2C_Oxford).[1]

Edward Lhuyd's efforts to obtain a scholarship for Parry were, however, thwarted by [John Wynne](/source/John_Wynne_(bishop)), one of the [Fellows](/source/Oxbridge_Fellow) of the college. Parry obtained his [Bachelor of Arts](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) degree in 1705 and his [Master of Arts](/source/MA_Oxon) degree in 1708, becoming the unpaid under-keeper of the [Ashmolean Museum](/source/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".[2] He died in December 1714, with it being said that he had "shortened his days" by being a "perfect [sot](/source/Drunkard)".[2]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Foster, Joseph](/source/Joseph_Foster_(genealogist)) (1891). ["Parry, David (5)"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Alumni_Oxonienses:_the_Members_of_the_University_of_Oxford,_1500-1714/Parry,_David_(5)). *[Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1500–1714](/source/Alumni_Oxonienses%3A_the_Members_of_the_University_of_Oxford%2C_1500%E2%80%931714)*. Oxford: James Parker – via [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-WBO_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-WBO_2-1) Jenkins, Robert Thomas. ["Parry, David (1682?–1714), scholar"](https://biography.wales/article/s-PARR-DAV-1682). *[Dictionary of Welsh Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_Welsh_Biography)*. [National Library of Wales](/source/National_Library_of_Wales). Retrieved 1 November 2021.

v t e Keepers and Directors of the Ashmolean Museum Keepers: Robert Plot (1683) Edward Lhuyd (1690) David Parry (1709) John Whiteside (1714) George Shepheard (1730) Joseph Andrews (1731) George Huddesford (1732) William Huddesford (1755) William Sheffield (1772) William Lloyd (1796) Thomas Dunbar (1815) William Philipps (1822) John Shute Duncan (1823) Philip Bury Duncan (1826) John Phillips (1854) John Henry Parker (1870) Sir Arthur Evans (1884) David George Hogarth (1909) Edward Thurlow Leeds (1928) Sir Karl Parker (1945) Robert W. Hamilton (1962) Directors: Sir David Piper (1973) Professor Sir Christopher White (1985) Roger Moorey (1997, acting) Christopher Brown (1998) Alexander Sturgis (2014)

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