Parker, John Jeremiah
Ex-Sergeant Major
No. 2591, 4th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Died of disease on Sunday 5 June 1921 (aged 64; 62 death certificate)
Buried:
Kilmood Parish Church Graveyard
Commemorated:
Newtownards Chronicle
Family grave headstone in Movilla Cemetery, Newtownards
BIOGRAPHY
Maggie Parker placed a death notice in the 11 June 1921 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle reporting the sudden death of her husband, John J. Parker, late Sergeant Major 4th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, at 46 James Street, Newtownards on 5 June 1921.
Ex-Sergeant Major John J. Parker was buried in the family burying ground, Kilmood. On his death certificate he is described as an Army Pensioner (aged 62) and he died from arteriosclerosis. He is commemorated on a Parker family headstone in Movilla Cemetery, Newtownards:
PARKER
IN MEMORY OF MY DEAR FATHER
JOHN PARKER SERGEANT MAJOR RIR
DIED 5 JUNE 1921
AND MY BELOVED MOTHER
MARGARET PARKER
DIED 30 JANUARY 1933
ALSO THEIR SON-IN-LAW
WILLIAM ERNEST LAPPIN
DIED 30 MAY 1980
TILL HE COME
John Parker and Eliza Ann Mordy were married on 4 March 1884 in Halifax Church of England Church, Nova Scotia, Canada. John Parker (aged 26), a Colour Sergeant in the Royal Irish Rifles (born in Enniskillen) was a son of John and Jane Parker. Eliza Mordy (aged 23, born in Plymouth) was a daughter of Elijah and Sophia Mordy.
John and Eliza Parker (nee Mordy) had three children:
Florence Cecelia Mordy (born 26 October 1887 in Kent)
Mabel Sophia Jane (born 12 April 1889 in Alexandria, Egypt)
Charles John George (born 12 April 1895 in Bombay, India; died of convulsions 2 October 1895 and was buried in Sewree, sometimes Sewri, Christian Cemetery, Bombay.
Their mother, Eliza Ann Parker died on 18 April 1895 (aged 34) of convulsions following childbirth, and was buried in Sewree Christian Cemetery, Bombay.
John Parker and Maggie Murphy were married on 31 August 1906 in Comber Methodist Church. John Parker, a widowed Sergeant Major in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, from Balfour Street, Newtownards was a son of John Parker, a head schoolteacher. Maggie Murphy from Balfour Street, Newtownards was a daughter of Alexander Murphy, a manufacturer.
John and Margaret Parker (nee Murphy) had one child:
Catherine Jane (born 28 November 1907 at Balfour Street, Newtownards; her father was described as an Army Pensioner)
John Jeremiah Parker was born on 10 November 1856, and he was a son of John and Jane Parker (nee McCord) who were married on 3 January 1856 in Mayne Parish Church of Ireland Church, Co Westmeath. John Parker (aged 29), a teacher from Brookborough, Co Fermanagh, was a son of Jeremiah Parker, a teacher. Jane McCord from Mayne was a daughter of John McCord, a servant. One of the witnesses was Faulkner Parker.
John and Jane Parker (nee McCord) had three children:
John Jeremiah (born 10 November 1856)
Louisa Jane (born 4 March 1859)
Frances (Fanny) Ruth (born 15 February 1861)
Jane Parker (nee McCord) died, and John Parker remarried.
John Parker and Flora Moorhead were married on 6 April 1863 in Kilmood Parish Church of Ireland Church, Co Down. John Parker (aged 37), a widowed teacher from Kilmood was a son of Jeremiah Parker, a teacher. Flora Moorhead (aged 36), a dressmaker from Tullynagee was a daughter of David Moorhead, a farmer. The witnesses were George Faulkner Parker and Harriet Parker.
John and Flora Parker (nee Moorhead) had five children:
Flora Jane (born around 1864)
George Faulkner (born 4 April 1865 at Kilmood)
David Moorhead (born 21 April 1866; died 23 January 1870)
Brinsley Hyde (born 11 October 1868; died of croup 7 June 1871)
Emily Harriette (born 20 May 1870 at Kilmood)
Their father, John Parker, a teacher, died of old age on 28 December 1910 (aged 84) at Ballybundon. His daughter Flora was with him when he died, and probate was granted to George Faulkner Parker.
Their mother, Flora Parker, a teacher’s widow, died of senile decay on 7 September 1914 (aged 87) at Ballybundon. Her daughter Flora was with her when she died.
Ex-Sergeant Major John Jeremiah Parker’s grandfather, Jeremiah Parker died of cardiac disease at Rinnaraw, Co Donegal. on 11 October 1899 (aged 71), and he is commemorated on a Parker family grave headstone in Killinchy Church of Ireland Graveyard.
John Parker enlisted on 19 July 1879 (aged 22) and, after 28 years of service, Sergeant Major John Parker (No. 2591), 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles was discharged at Newtownards on 18 July 1907 having reached the age for discharge (50). He was 5 feet 9¼ inches tall, and he was a carpenter. He was described as thoroughly trustworthy and of superior capabilities. During his career in the Army he had served:
Home 1879/80
Bermuda 1880/83
Nova Scotia 1883/86
Gibraltar 1886/88
Egypt 1888/91
Malta 1891/94
India 1894/97
Home 1897/1907
In 1901 John’s half-sister, Emily Harriette Parker, was living in Balfour Street Newtownards with John’s daughters, Florence and Mabel.
Emily Harriette Parker died of tuberculosis on 29 June 1905 at Balfour Street Newtownards; her sister Flora Jane Parker from Kilmood was with her when she died.