Commander Murray Thomas Parks (1827-1877)

An oval head and shoulders miniature in watercolour on ivory, in an oval silver suspension frame of which the convex back is inscribed 'MURRAY THOMAS PARKS / 1855 / B. 1827. D. 1877'. The inscription, and perhaps the frame, is therefore later than the image. The sitter is turned very slightly to his left so the right side of his head is generally visible. He has sandy red hair parted on his left above a high receding hairline on that side, and long sideburns, and wears the post 1843 full-dress uniform of a lieutenant. Parks joined the Navy in 1842 as a volunteer in HMS 'Columbia' and was employed for five years in survey work in North America. On return to England he served in the 'Victory' and 'Excellent', then on the coast of Africa for about a year as midshipman and acting mate. After passing his lieutenant's examination he joined the 'Enterprise' under Captain Collinson on the long official Franklin search expedition with the 'Investigator', Robert McLure, from 1850 to 1855, and on return was appointed Marine Surveyor at Liverpool. He retired due to ill health twelve years later, and became a retired commander in 1870. The Museum holds many of Parks's papers including service documents from 1843 to 1870, but mainly those relating to the 'Enterprise' and the Arctic expedition of 1851. This miniature came with them from the family. It was presumably painted just before or after Parks's Arctic voyage.