William Parker, 13th Baron Morley

William Parker, 13th Baron Morley, 4th Baron Monteagle (1575 – 1 July 1622) was an English peer, best known for his role in the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot. In 1605 Parker was due to attend the opening of Parliament. He was a member of the House of Lords as Lord Monteagle, the title on his mother's side. He received a letter: it appears that someone, presumably a fellow Catholic, was afraid he would be blown up. The so-called Monteagle letter survives in the National Archives (SP 14/216/2), but its origin remains mysterious.

William was the eldest son of Edward Parker, 12th Baron Morley (died 1618), and of Elizabeth Stanley, daughter and heiress of William Stanley, 3rd Baron Monteagle (died 1581). He had both a younger brother, Charles and a younger sister, Mary.

William's father was a recusant, but appears to have been in favour at court; he was one of the noblemen who tried Mary, Queen of Scots. However, William was allied with many Roman Catholic families, and during the reign of Elizabeth I was in sympathy with their cause. His wife, the daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham, came from a well-known Roman Catholic family. His sister married Thomas Habington, also a Roman Catholic. He was knighted while with Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex in Ireland in 1599, and in 1601 he took part in the latter's rebellion in London. He was punished by imprisonment and a fine of £8,000.

Having close ties with the extremist Catholic faction during Queen Elizabeth I's rule, and a hand in organising Thomas Winter's mission to Spain in 1602, William Parker later declared to be "done with all formal plots" after King James I took the throne. Parker even went as far as writing a letter to his new King with a promise to follow the state religion. Like some reformers, Parker blamed his childhood for his previous wrongdoings, stating: “ I knew no better”.

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