(1699, Shropshire, England – 1750, at Sea, returning to England) Buried at Gosport, England) (Represented)  m. Eleanor (1672, ?? – aft 1750, VA) (some questions as to her dates),  date and place of marriage unknown.  Two children only known.  This is an Immigrant Line.

William Parks was the first “public printer” in Maryland (Annapolis), and in Virginia, (Williamsburg), publishing the first newspapers in both colonies. He also had the first paper mill south of Pennsylvania.  Mr. Parks had several other firsts to his credit. The best concise one volume biography of William Parks is: William Parks: The Colonial Printer in the Transatlantic World of the Eighteenth Century ,  (Pennsylvania University Press, 2012), A cultural biography that traces the important early American printer and newspaper publisher’s path from the rural provinces of England to London and then to colonial Maryland and Virginia. While incorporating much new biographical information, the book widens the lens to take in the print culture on both sides of the Atlantic—as well as the societal pressures on printing and publishing in England and colonial America in the early to mid-eighteenth century, with the printer as a focal point.  [Retrieved Wikipedia, 11 October 2018.]

He also is credited with publishing the first actual cook book in America.

Also covered in the Parke Society Newsletter, Volumn 33, No 3, Pg 33 (1983)

Children: 

• Eleanor (02ET1) Parks, (christened, 1721, Shropshire, England – 1779, VA), married Capt. John Shelton (1705, VA – 1777, VA)  1727, Williamsburg, VA,  9 children.

Interesting note:  Their daughter, Sarah Shelton (1737, VA – 1775, VA) married the patriot, Patrick Henry in 1754, in Virginia, and had 6 children by her.  Patrick Henry married again, and had an additional 11 children.

• William (02ET2) Parks, (christened, 1719, Shropshire, Endland, – 1682, MD) married Mary (unknown) 1740, place unknown, had issue. 

 (PS#1027R [no active members on this line])