William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Horton

William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Horton (c. 1483 – 10 September 1547) was the son of William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Kendal and his second wife, the Hon. Elizabeth Fitzhugh, later Lady Vaux of Harrowden.

William Parr was a military man who fought in France, where he was knighted by King Henry VIII at Tournai Cathedral, and Scotland. Parr seemed to be uncomfortable in court circles and insecure in securing relationships. Nonetheless, he accompanied the King at the 'Field of the Cloth of Gold' in France. Like his brother, Sir Thomas Parr, William flourished under Sir Nicholas Vaux.

William was also a family man. After the death of his brother, Thomas, William's sister-in-law Maud, widowed at age 25, called upon him to help in financial matters and to manage her estates in North England while she was busy in the south securing a future for her three children. William had been named one of the executors of his brother's will. Along with Cuthbert Tunstall, a distant kinsman of the Parr's, they provided the kind of protection and father figure which was missing in the lives of Maud's children. William's children were educated alongside Maud's children.

Although William was en-adapt at handling his financial matters, he was ironically appointed the office of Chamberlain in the separate household of the Duke of Richmond, the acknowledged illegitimate son of King Henry VIII and Elizabeth Blount, based at Sheriff Hutton Castle in Yorkshire. It was William who found a spot for his nephew, William Parr, later Earl of Essex, in the Duke's household where he would be educated by the very best tutors and mixed with the sons of other prominent families. Though thought to be a wonderful environment for Parr and his nephew to flourish in, the household was not a great passport to success as Parr hoped for. Henry VIII was very fond of his illegitimate son, but had no intention of naming him his heir. It has been claimed that Parr and his sister-in-law, Maud Parr, coached William to make sure that he ingratiated himself with the Duke, in case the Duke became heir to the throne but there is no factual evidence to support this claim.

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