Dr William John Brown PARKER born 1779 Kells/Connor

You don’t say what denomination William was. Though St Saviour’s is Church of Ireland, that graveyard was used by all denominations until Kells New Cemetry opened in the late 1800s. However no denomination in Kells has any baptism or marriage records earlier than the 1830s (and those were RC records). The early COI records were destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin and the Presbyterian church has nothing before 1819. So it’ll be a struggle to find any church records relating to him or his parents.

The 1901 census for Kells lists 48 people named Parker. All but 3 were Presbyterian. So that suggests your Parker family were probably Presbyterian too.

The tithe applotment records for 1835 list John Parker in Kells townland and he’s the only Parker listed then.

PRONI have records of probate being granted to Thomas Parker in 1721, William Parker 1770 & Robert in 1834 (all of Kells). So it looks as though there have been Parker households in the area since the 1600s.

You could try searching the Registry of Deeds records for the 1700s in the hope that you find a lease, ideally a 3 lives lease, which could show the relationships between various Parkers. Originals in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin with duplicate copies on microfilm in PRONI, Belfast. (You would probably need to get a researcher to look them up for you).

Dear Elwyn, Thanks for responding. The John Parker believed to be Dr WJB's father died in 1798 and is buried in the large Parker grave with many others at St Saviours Connor. You are correct, I don't know their denomination, just that all in the Parker grave are my ancestors, thanks to a letter written by Dr Parker's sister. I did know about the fire but was hopeful there may have been a Baptism record for Dr WJB at the St Saviour's church, alas no luck there. Reverend was lovely anyway, and I got to meet lots of wonderful people in my quest! Thanks for all the other tips you have given me, much appreciated. Janice, Australia

Laraine,

My guess is that your Parkers were Presbyterian and so would have attended the church across the road from St Saviours. But that church didn't have its own graveyard (till the 1890s) so they used St Saviours (which was open to all denominations). That was a very common arrangement in Ireland.