John Parry
Pioneer, Missionary, Builder
From
John Parry?s Journal
(1866-1868)
With notes and
additional commentary by Orvid R. Cutler, Jr.
1997
The
influence of the Welsh people on the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints began in October 1840 when Henry Royle and Frederick Cook
were assigned to preach in North Wales. Little came of the first effort, but convert
growth was rapid following the assignment of Captain Dan Jones to preside over
the Welsh Mission in 1845. Since that
time the Welsh people have contributed greatly to Church history and growth,
particularly in the fields of music and of construction. Prominent among these contributors have been
members of the Parry family of North Wales. This book attempts to document the activities
of John Parry and his family from the time they first heard of the ?Mormons?
about 1845, until after John Parry?s death in 1882.
The Parry
family, prominent in the Flintshire area of North Wales in building, music, and
in religious affairs, first heard ?Mormon? Elders preach one hundred and fifty
years ago in Liverpool, England, and joined the Church shortly thereafter. Their influence and missionary zeal helped to
bring many from North Wales into the Church.
John Parry
Jr.?s Journal, covers his family, and his life, up to the time he was on his
mission to Wales
in 1866-68. He apparently began writing
it when he reached England
in 1866, so many events of earlier times are from his memory. His last entry was several months before he
returned to America,
and later events in his life have been obtained from various family, church,
and newspaper sources.
His journal
was passed down to his daughter Mary Aneron parry Nielson, who gave it to my
mother just before her death in 1938. I
obtained it about 1955 as I began to be seriously interested in my
ancestry. A copy of the original journal
is in the Church Historian?s office, in Salt
Lake City, Utah.
The process
of editing John Parry?s Journal began as just a literal copy of his
journal. However, as I began to get
involved in this project, I found myself becoming deeply concerned with
answering the questions of ?Just who were these people whom John Parry
mentions?? and ?What is the background of this event?? This has resulted in the inclusion of many
footnotes.
There are
also occasional insertions of explanatory material or historical background in
the original text as written by John Parry.
I have tried to keep these to a minimum.
Most explanatory notes have been included as footnotes in each
chapter. I have tried to remain true to
his style of writing, although there have been spelling changes made to make
the Journal more readable.
I am
indebted to several people for their assistance in assembling this book. Dr. Ronald Dennis of Brigham
Young University
has provided much direction and background information on the Parry family, the
Church in Wales
in the early years, and many of the people who interfaced with the Parry family
in those years. He has also given me
valuable guidance in assembling this book.
R. Fred Roberts, of Abergele, Wales provided the translations for
the poems written by John Parry, Sr. (copied in the original Welsh by John
Parry Jr. in his Journal), and reviewed many of the Welsh words and phrases for
accuracy. I also appreciate the valuable
help I received from Dr. Donald W. Parry of Brigham Young
University and Mrs.
Jackie Westergard, both of whom reviewed draft copies of this book.
I am most
grateful for the help and encouragement of my wife, Jeanne, and my daughters,
Becky and Susan, who have aided in reviewing this work, and who have continued
to offer support and encouragement.
Chapter 1
I, John Parry, son of John Parry
and Mary Williams, was born on the 15th of October 1817 at Ochr y
Gop farm[i],
Newarket[ii],
Flintshire, North Wales. My father was born in the same parish March
10, 1789, the son of Bernard Parry and Elizabeth Saunders. The abover Bernard Parry died April 6, 1822,
age 79 years. His wife, Elizabeth
Saunders,[iii]
died December 6, 1805, age 61 years. The
name of my great grandfather was Edward Parry; his wife was Elizabeth
Tucker. All of the above, except my
father, were buried in the Newmarket
Church[iv]
yard.
My mother,
Mary Williams, was a daughter of William Williams, Belan,[v]
Mold, Flintshire. She was born in the
year 1784, at the above place. She had
many distant relations in the above place, even at this present time, 1867.
Father and
she married in the year 1808[vi]
and resided at Newmarket. The following are their children:
[i] As of
1994, all of the original buildings on Ochr y Gop farm have been razed, leaving
only buildings erected since the Parry family left Newmarket.
The photo shown in Figure 6 was taken before the last old building had
been destroyed. The name may mean ?side
of the hill.?
[ii]
According to the Topographical Dictionary
of Wales, Newmarket,
in the hundred of Prestatyn, 6 miles from Holywell, had 631 inhabitants in
1830. Its ancient name was
Trelawnyd. The town name of Trelawnyd
had been restored in recent years.
[iii]
Elizabeth Saunders was christened 1 Spril 1746 in Llanasa, Flintshire, the
daughter of Edward Saunders and Elizabeth Tucker (Source: Patron submitted IGI
entry.)
[iv] St.
Michaels Church, the parish church for Newmarket,
was built in the early 1700?s; it was completed in 1724. Final work on this Church was done by Bernard
Parry and his sons Thomas and Edward.
Their names are engraved on a stone near the top of the east wall of the
Church. Bernard Parry was John Parry?s
second great grandfather.
[v] Belan
farm near Mold. Rather than identify
suburban and rural homes by number and the road or street on which they lie, as
in the United States today,
it is customary in Britain
and Wales
to give individual estates, farms, or cottages identifying names. Belan may have been named after Belan Point
in Caernarvonshire, a headland on the Menai Strait.
[vi] The LDS
Church Family History Department, International Genealogical Index (IGI), lists
their marriage date as 5 Mar 1803, in Newmarket. This is based on early LDS church Temple records submitted
by John Parry, and has not been verified from original parish records.
