[HISTORY]Joseph Parr was born on 21st Seprember 1824 in Littlehampton, Sussex. He joined the Royal Navy on 29th a March 1840 as a Boy Second Class. In 1840 Egypt invaded Syria and an allied fleet under Admiral Stafford was ordered to bombard and capture the port of Acre, which they did on 3rd November 1840. For this service Joseph was awarded the Naval General Service Medal with Syria clasp and the bronze St Jean De Acre medal.Between 1843 and 1849 he served in HM ships Excellent. Poictiers, Espeigle and at the shore base at Sheerness. In 1846 his home town was London and he was single.
[FIRST ARCTIC SERVICE]In February 1849 he joined HMS NORTH STAR as Captain of the Main Top. HMS North Star was sent out to the arctic in 1849 with supplies for 
HM ships ENTERPRISE and INVESTIGATOR which had been sent out in search of the the lost Franklin Expedition but which themselves had become stuck in the ice. In the event HMS North Star never met up with the two first search ships as the ice had also prevented her crossing Baffins Bay. The ship spent the winter of 1849-50 locked in the ice at Wolstenholme Sound on the Greenland coast. In the spring of 1850 they landed stores on the South side of Barrows Straight and returned home to England.On his return from his first arctic voyage, and after a short spell of leave, Joseph was sent to HMS EXCELLENT the gunnery training school. He obviously enjoyed the Arctic life as in 1852 he joined HMS RESOLUTE as a Gunners Mate.[THE RESOLUTE SEARCH EXPEDITION]HMS RESOLUTE was sent to the Arctic in 1852 and was the last of the Franklin search expeditions mounted by the British government. Resolute & her fellow ship Intrepid spent the winter of 1852-1853 at Dealy Island due to thick ice preventing them reaching Melville Island. Many sledding expeditions were carried out from here. In the spring of 1853 Resolute made for Beechy Island but got caught in the ice in Barrow Straight. It was here that the Resolute was abandoned, the crew making their way to the North Star, along with the crew of the Investigator who they had rescued earlier. Here they were joined by the crews of both the Pioneer and the Assistance which had both also been abandoned. Luckily, the Phoenix & two other transports met the North Star & assisted in the passage of all the crews back home. For his two expeditions to the Arctic Joseph Parr was awarded his Arctic Medal.
[SERVICE IN THE CRIMEA & CHINA WARS]After another well earned leave he again joined HMS Excellent where he underwent further courses in gunny and torpedo warfare. On 19th January 1855 he was promoted to the Warrant Officer rank of Gunner 3rd Class. He now joined HMS RECRUIT (1855-1859) and served in her during the Crimean War. This ship and crew saw much action both afloat and ashore in the Sea of Azoff. Her Commander, Lt G.F. Day, was awarded the VICTORIA CROSS on 17 September 1855 at Genitichi, Crimea, when he was put ashore from a rowing boat to reconnoitre the bridge, batteries and enemy gun boats on the Arabat Spit. He went alone and after covering four or five miles of swampy ground, sometimes up to his thighs in water, he got to within 200 yards of the enemy position, where he found that the gun boats appeared to be under-manned and lightly defended. He returned to his ship convinced that a surprise attack was possible, but had to abandon this plan when he returned on 19 September and found the enemy on the alert and the gun boats fully manned.The ship also served before Sebastopol. Joseph Parr was awarded the Crimea medal with clasps Azoff & Sebastopol and also the Turkish Crimea Medal.During 1859 had rejoined HMS Excellent and also served in HMS Asia. In September 1859 he joined HMS Sphinx, which was again commanded by Commander G.F. Day V.C. He was soon in action again, taking part in the attack on the TAKU FORTS, China on the 21sy August 1860. During the attack Cdr Day was commanding the 4th Squadron Rocket Boats and it is believed that Joseph Parr was in command of one of the boats at the time of the attack. SOLD