A Major (joined the 17th Lancers in 1831 and retired in 1835) who worked on Lucanidae in particular. His first published paper ‘Description of a new genus of Lucanidae from New Zealand’ appeared in Trans.ESL, 12, 1843, p.362. Two years later he published ‘A decade or description of ten new species from the Kasya Hills near the boundary of the Assam district’ (ibid., 4, 1845, pp.84-87) and this was followed by 17 further papers the last being ‘Description of a new species of Chiasognathus’ (EMM., 12, 1876, p.174). Perhaps his most important papers were his ‘Catalogue of Lucanoid Coleoptera with illustrations and descriptions of various new and interesting species’ in Trans.ESL., (3)2, 1864-66, pp. 1-113, and the follow up Revision of 1870. These listed 357 species. Parry was a friend of J.O.Westwood , who illustrated several of his papers, and is mentioned in the Janson diary at Cambridge eg. February 1870. He lived in Onslow Square, London close to the NHM. His obituary in EMM., 1885, p.240 records that ‘at one time he had a general collection of Coleoptera, but latterly it was limited to Lucanidae and Cetoniidae, the former being very valuable, and probably the most complete in existence’. Some of these insects are presumably those now in the HDO given in 1858, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1867 and purchased at auction in 1885. (These are detailed in Smith (1986), p.140). Parry’s library was sold by Stevens in 327 lots on 16 May 1885 (Chalmers-Hunt (1976), p.118). Gilbert (1977) lists 5 obituaries in addition to that mentioned above. Member ELS from 1840. FLS from 1842. (MD 9/04)
Dates
28 October 1810 – 1 February 1885