Edward Parry &
Mary Jones
(1766-1850) (1774-1856)
Edward
Parry was born in Flintshire, North Wales in 1766 to
Thomas Parry and Mary Chubb. Following
in his father's footsteps, he became a stonemason and went to work for Lord and
Lady Kimberly in St. George, Denbighshire, North
Wales. Grandson, Edward
Lloyd Parry, described his Grandfather and Great-Grandfather as a “well-to-do
stonemason and bricklayer”.
Mary Jones
was born about 1774, in St. George, Denbighshire, North
Wales. Mary acted as a midwife
or doctor on the Kimberly estate. She
had a special gift of healing and many people for miles around came to her for
help.
We do not
have a marriage date for them, however, their first child, Mary, was born in
1789. Elizabeth
was born about 1790, followed by Edward, born in 1792; John, born in 1794;
Sarah, born 1799 and died in 1806; Thomas, born in 1802; Leah, born about 1804
and died in 1811; and William with only a deathdate of 1809.
A
granddaughter, Mary Parry Rowland, daughter of Edward and Mary Lloyd Parry,
came to live with them after her own Mother died when she was one. She described Grandmother Mary Jones Parry as
being “very strict, insisting that she attend Church regularly without fail and
that she be at home very early in the evenings all during her girlhood.” The photo of Mary Jones Parry was from an old
tintype with this inscription on the back:
Mary Parry, St. George, Taken on the 80th year of her age, January 11th, 1856, and
copied by E. Evans, Rhyl, March 28/80.
Her maiden name was Mary Jones.”
The Parry
family can be traced back in the parish registers to John ap
Harry ap John who died in 1573 and whose will was proved in 1574. The “Parry” name began here, “ap” means “son
of”. John “ap” Harry, dropped the “a” of
“ap” and the “H” of Harry, and became John Parry. It seems every Parry family had a “John”,
“Edward”, and/or a “Bernard”.
The Parry family were some of the earliest converts to the LDS church
in Wales. Edward may have been with his cousin John and
a group of about 30 Campbellites when they first heard the gospel preached and
were converted and baptized in the river that night. The Parry's came to Utah
in shifts. Cousin John
and his wife, Mary Williams as early as 1849. Although Mary died of Cholera just before reaching
Council Bluffs, the others
continued on to Salt Lake
and were the first non-English speaking converts to enter the valley. They had gained a reputation for singing
their way across the plains. As a
result, John Sr. was asked by Brigham Young to start a choir, which later
became known as the Tabernacle Choir.
Grandson
Edward Lloyd Parry was called as head stonemason on the Salt
Lake, St. George and Manti temples,
and set the treasure box in the foundation of each temple. He married his cousin Anne Parry (sister of
our Leah Parry Jones) as his second wife.
Their story is in Heartthrobs of the West, Volume 1, page
287.
Edward
Parry and his wife Mary Jones Parry did not come to America,
however, many of their children and grandchildren did come. Edward died 20 April, 1850, age 84, and Mary died 13 August, 1856, age 82, in St. George,
Denbighshire, Wales.
(Taken from "A Family History
of Bernard A. and Mary L. Jones, 1774-1994", compiled and organized by
Teri Jones Cook, Mabel Jones Gabbott, and Sue Gabbott Dewey. Courtesty of Teri
Jones Cook.)
