His father was Alexander Parker, a physician of Essex County, Virginia. He married Elizabeth Beale, daughter of William Beale. He was a member of the Westmoreland County Committee of Safety in 1775 and represented that county in the House of Delegates in 1778. He was appointed a judge of the general court in January 1788, in which capacity he also briefly served on the first Court of Appeals.[2] He remained on the bench of the General Court until his death on April 4, 1813, at Lawfield, his residence in Westmoreland. One of his sons, Richard Parker (1751–1780) became a Continental Army regimental commander during the American Revolutionary War and was killed at the Siege of Charleston. A grandson, Richard E. Parker (1783–1840), was a Virginia jurist and lawyer who served briefly in the U.S. Senate.
