William Parker (priest, died 1802)
William Parker (bapt. 1714 – 1802) was an English cleric, known as a pulpit orator, controversialist and royal chaplain to two kings. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1746. Life The son of Moses Parker of St Michael's parish, Coventry, he was born in the city in 1714. He matriculated on 6 July 1731 at Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1735, M.A. in 1738, B.D. in 1751, and D.D. in 1754. On 19 February 1746 he was admitted a fellow of the Royal Society. He was a Fellow of Balliol from 1737 to around 1750, lecturing on logic and mathematics, and was mostly in Oxford. In 1752 Parker was made vicar of St Katharine Cree in London. On 14 March 1757 he was collated to the prebend of Pratum Minus in Hereford Cathedral. On 23 April 1760 he was appointed treasurer of the cathedral, with the rectory of Bockleton in the diocese. These positions he owed to the favour of the bishop, Lord James Beauclerk. On 18 November 1763 he was presented to the rectory of St James's Church, Piccadilly, a good living, in succession to Samuel Nicolls. It came about because he was