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CHAPTER XL
Richard Parker.
It has been mentioned that each of the ships at the Nore
had a committee of twelve men, of whom one acted as
president, and as captain of the ship ; and that in addition
to the " General Committee of Internal Regulations "
there was a central board consisting of delegates from
all the mutinous ships—two delegates from each ship,
according to the precedent set at Spithead. At the head
of this hierarchy of delegates was the President, Richard
Parker, who acted as admiral of the fleet, except in so far
as his authority came not from the Crown, but from the
seamen over whom he held command. Parker had only
been in the fleet for about six weeks when he became
President of the Committee of Delegates, and his election
to that office is usually regarded as the chief of the many
mysteries connected with the mutiny. It has often been
suggested that he was sent into the fleet by some revolutionary
society (presumably the United Britons) to arouse
discontent and republican feeling among the seamen, and
to lead in the organization of the mutiny. But a study
of his career shows that it is not necessary to use such a
hypothesis in order to explain Parker's election to the
presidency. A theory of deep and widespread conspiracy
is attractive ; but the indications are that Parker won his
ill-omened distinction by simple and straightforward
means, by virtue of his rank and education rather than
the influence of political plotters and their secret agents.
At the time of the mutiny Parker was thirty years old.
He was born in Exeter, and educated at the Grammar
School there. 1 It is said that his father was a baker and
1. "Impartial and Authentic Account"; D.N.B., vol. xliii, p. 268.