Robert Redmayne Parker

Robert Redmayne Parker (born 1954) is a British rural business adviser, land manager, and ceremonial officer. He worked with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, prior to its merger into the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and for the Country Land and Business Association. Since 1975, he has been the owner of Browsholme Hall, his family seat in Bowland Forest Low. In 2010, Parker was appointed as Bowbearer of the Forest of Bowland by William Bowland, 16th Lord of Bowland, becoming the first bowbearer of Bowland in almost one hundred and fifty years.

Robert Parker
Bowbearer of the Forest of Bowland
Assumed office
2010
MonarchsElizabeth II (2010-2022)
Charles III (2022-present)
Preceded byRichard Eastwood
Personal details
Born1954
NationalityBritish
SpouseAmanda Jane Backhouse (m.1985)
Children2
Parent(s)Edmund Christopher Parker
Diana Elizabeth Marriott
RelativesWilliam Marriott (grandfather)
Occupationrural business advisor, land manager, ceremonial officer

Early life

Parker was born in 1954 to Edmund Christopher Parker and Diana Elizabeth Marriott.[1] Through his father, he is a member of the landed gentry, descending from a branch of the Parker family that once owned Alkincoats Hall.[2] His mother was the former governor of Addenbrooke’s Hospital and secretary to the Earl of Cranbrook.[1] Parker's maternal grandfather was William Marriott, the Swiss-born engineer and railway superintendent who founded the North Norfolk Railway.[1] He has two half siblings, Simon and Carolina, from his mother's first marriage to Captain John Swynfen Jervis.[1]

Parker inherited Browsholme Hall, his family seat, in 1975 after the death of his fourth cousin once removed and godfather, Colonel Robert Goulbourne Parker DSO.[3][4][1][5]

Career

Parker has worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom) and the Country Land and Business Association as a rural business advisor.[4]

Bowbearer of Bowland

In 2010, William Bowland, Lord of Bowland appointed Parker as the Bowbearer of the Forest of Bowland,[6] an ancient ceremonial title of an attendant who, by tradition, accompanies the Lord of Bowland (also known as the Lord of the Fells) during hunts and serves as an officer in the Lord's forest courts.[7] Parker was the first Bowbearer of Bowland to be appointed in nearly one hundred and fifty years.[7][8] Parker's ancestors had claimed the office as a hereditary right, with successive generations holding the title between the 17th and 18th centuries.[9][10][11]

In April 2011, Bowland accompanied the 16th Lord of Bowland, along with other representatives from the Bowland Higher Division Parish Council, the Forest authorities, and community leaders and dignitaries, on an official visit to the village of Dunsop Bridge.[12][13]

In October 2012, Parker was formally presented with his Bowbearer's "wand of office" by Lord of Bowland at a public ceremony in Slaidburn. This ceremony marked the 90th anniversary of the final meeting of the manorial court at the town's Tudor courthouse.[14]

Personal life

Parker married Amanda Jane Backhouse in 1985.[4] His wife served as High Sheriff of Lancashire in 2015.[15] They have two children.[15]

In 2010, he and his wife restored the estate's 17th-century tithe barn for use as an event space.[16][17]

References
  1. "Death of Browsholme Hall 'lady of the house'". Burnley Express. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  2. "Browsholme Hall and the Parker Family". browsholme.com. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  3. "Home". browsholme.com. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  4. "Amanda Parker". Open Air Business. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  5. "Uncovering the past". Live Magazines. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  6. "Lord of the Fells..." (PDF). Forest of Bowland. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  7. "The Lordship of Bowland". Forest of Bowland AONB. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  8. "First Bowbearer of the Forest appointed for 150 years". Clitheroe Advertiser. 15 April 2010.
  9. "Browsholme Hall and The Tithe Barn – Historic House and Wedding Venue". Browsholme.com. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  10. M Greenwood & C Bolton, "Bolland Forest and the Hodder Valley" (Landy Publishing: Blackpool 2000; orig. pub. 1955)
  11. "Lord of the Fells, Guardian of History" (PDF). Rural Life. November 2014.
  12. Lord of Bowland official visit Archived 18 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  13. A Sign for the Times "A sign for the times". Forest of Bowland. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  14. "Browsholme Hall and The Tithe Barn – Historic House and Wedding Venue". Browsholme.
  15. "The new High Sheriff of Lancashire takes office". 13 April 2015.
  16. "The Tithe Barn at Browsholme Hall Opening Ceremony". Lancashire Life. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  17. Head, Dominic (24 March 2021). "Planning for the Future at Browsholme Hall". Historic Houses. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
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