64,876 Global Parry Family Members

Parry Family History

This is a Welsh patronymic surname which is formed from the Welsh phrase 'ap Harry' meaning 'son of Harry'. Over time, 'ap Harry' was contracted to form 'Parry'.

While fixed hereditary surnames had emerged in England by 1400, in Wales the traditional patronymic naming system remained predominant up until the 19th century in many parts of the country. Hereditary surnames, such as Parry, began to emerge during the 16th century (slightly earlier among higher status families), and only gradually gained hold during the 17th and 18th centuries. The further west and north families lived, the later they adopted such settled surnames. In parts of north west Wales some families did not adopt hereditary surnames until the first half of the 19th century. In all cases, the 'Harry' element of the surname therefore refers back to the personal name of an ancestor who would have lived at some point between the 16th and 19th centuries.

Although found throughout Wales, the Parry surname is probably more common in the north, while some families in south Wales however chose to drop the 'ap' prefix and to use 'Harry' as their surname instead of the contracted form. Both surnames however stem from the same roots and would have meant 'son of Harry'.

Some early examples of the surname include John Ap-harry who was recorded on the Oxford University register of 1541; and Hugh Apparrye who applied for a marriage licence in London in 1569.

High status Welsh families who bore this surname include the Parrys of Rhydolion, Caernarvonshire, and the Parrys of Neuadd Trefawr, Cardiganshire, descendants of the Lords of Cardigan.

Notable people

• Joseph Parry (1841–1903), Welsh composer and musician. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, he is best known for his song Myfanwy and the humn tune Aberystwyth. He left school at nine years old to work in the coal mines and later the Cyfarthfa Ironworks. He and his family emigrated to the United States (Danville, Pennsylvania) in 1854, but Joseph later returned to the UK where he studied music at the University of Cambridge. He later became Aberystwyth University's first Professor of Music.
• Hubert Parry (1848–1918), English composer, teacher and music historian. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, he is best known for composing the choral song Jerusalem.
• Caryl Parry Jones (b. 1958), Welsh singer, composer, writer, actress and TV & radio presenter. Raised in Ffynnongroyw near Rhyl, Denbighshire, Caryl was also Wales's Children's Poet in 2007–2008.

 

SOURCES:

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890) by Henry Brougham Guppy

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison