1841. OBITUARY. Jan. 28. At Hull, aged 67, John Cowham Parker, Esq. He was one of Her Majesty's justices of the peace for the East Riding, and filled the office of mayor of Hull in the year 1836 with distinguished zeal and ability. For many years past he has occupied the chair of the Dock Company, to the important duties of which he devoted a large share of his time and energy. In the establishment of the Leeds and Selby, and subsequently of the Hull and Selby, Railways, he took a lively interest, and was deputy chairman of the latter till within a recent period.
Obituary - The Gentleman's magazine. v.169 1841.
*********************************
On the 28th of January, 1841,died at Hull,aged 67, John Cowham Parker,Esq.,an alderman and eminent merchant of that place,chairman of the Dock Company there, and one of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the East Riding of Yorkshire, &co. To Mr. Parker,the Hull Botanic Garden,which was opened in 1812,a few years after that of Liverpool, maybe said in great measure to have owed its existence; for, though the idea of such an institution at Hull was suggested to him by Mr. Spence,it was inconsequence of Mr. Parker's influence and exertions in obtaining subscribers that the garden was set on foot; and its subsequent prosperity was mainly attributable to the unwearied attention which,in spite of the other urgent calls on his time, he for a long series of years devoted to its financial and scientific interests. No one could well be a more ardent lover of plants, or a more zealous practical horticulturist, than Mr. Parker, or hold for tha more instructive example of how happily these tastes can assimilate with and soothe the cares of a life engaged in weighty public and private duties: and few things could be more exhilarating to one attached to the same pursuits,than to find him,as did. his now lamenting old friend who pens these lines, when paying a visit to him at his country house at Hornsea in 1834, as busily engaged in his garden,pruning and planting with his own hands, as if gardening had been the sole occupation of his life. Whether as a chief founder of the Botanic Garden, an active and most impartial magistrate, or one of the most warm hearted, generous,and friendly of men, the memory of Mr. Parker will be deservedly cherished in Hull, where his loss to the public will not be easily supplied,and to a numerous deeply grieving family,and a widely extended circle of friends,is irreparable.
Obituary from The Gardener's Magazine