William Parker, 9th Baron Morley

Sir William Parker (c. 1465 – 1510) was an English privy counsellor and standard-bearer to King Richard III.

Biography Sir William Parker was the father of Henry Parker and husband of Alice Lovel, 9th Baroness Morley (c. 1467–1518), daughter of Alianore Lovel, 7th Baroness Morley (1442–1476). He is closely associated to the royal family through his brother-in-law, Henry Lovel, whose wife, Elizabeth de la Pole, was a niece of Edward IV and Richard III.

Most of his property and assets came from his wife Alice who inherited it from her brother Henry. When Alianore and her husband William Lovel died on July 23, 1476, their 10-year-old son Henry Lovel was placed under guardianship. Some of the family estates were entrusted to the guardians, others were given to aristocrats, and others remained in the hands of King Richard III. Furthermore, some estates were also diverted to Sir Francis Lovel, William Lovel's nephew, despite the provisions drawn up by his great-grandfather on March 18, 1455.

Henri was 23 when he died at the battle of Dixmude, in Flanders, on June 13, 1489. On his death, his sister Alice Lovel and her husband William Parker inherited his noble titles and most of his properties. These included the manor and lordship of Great Hallingbury (Essex), the manor of Walkern (Hertfordshire), the manors of Hingham and Buxston, and the manor of Morley Hall in the Forehoe hundreds of Norfolk. He was also rewarded for his help in suppressing Buckingham's rebellion in October 1483.

He became Richard III's standard-bearer, fighting with him on August 22, 1485, at the Battle of Bosworth He was buried in the parish of St Gilles, in the village of Great Hallingbury, in the company of his wife Alice, his son Henry, his daughter-in-law Alice St John, his mother Agnes and his sister-in-law Elisabeth de la Pole, niece of Edward IV and Richard III. Alice Lovel died five years later.

Genealogical table