Biography:
William Mackworth Parker was born 1 September 1886, the eldest son of Lieutenant Colonel William Frederic Parker of Delamore, Ivybridge, Devon; his mother was Helinor Parker, daughter of Colonel Fitzroy Stephen CB.
He came to Winchester College from Aysgarth School in September 1900 and was in E House, Morshead's. In his last year, 1905, he was a Commoner Prefect, captain of Commoner VI, and he played in the Cricket XI and the Soccer XI.
William left Winchester in the summer of 1905 and then served for two years in the Royal North Devon Imperial Yeomanry. He then joined the Regular Army and the Rifle Brigade in 1907, winning the Sword of Honour at the Royal Military College. He played for the Army at cricket and football - the latter while still at Sandhurst. A few weeks after the outbreak of war he was appointed Adjutant of the 8th (Service) Battalion of the Rifle Brigade.
William fell at Hooge on 30 July 1915, in the first action in which the Germans used flame throwers. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated on Panels 46-48 and 50 of the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres.
He married Lilian Ursula Vivian in February 1912 and their son, Frederick Anthony Vivian Parker, came to Winchester in 1926. Like his father, he played cricket for the 1st XI and joined the Rifle Brigade.
Parker was not the only Wykehamist to die at Hooge that day. One of the officers of 7KRRC killed in the Hooge counter-attack was 2nd Lieutenant Gerald Francis Carter (D 1910-1913) – and in the same battalion, Lieutenant George Herbert Gibson (B1889-1895) was wounded. From 7RB, Lieutenant Gilbert Walter Lyttelton Talbot (H 1904-1910) was also killed. It seems probable (there is some uncertainty over the date) that another casualty at Hooge that day was Lieutenant Roger Wentworth Watson (I 1907-1912), of ‘C’ Company, 8KRRC.