Richard Barry Parker [commonly known as Barry Parker] was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England on 18 November 1867 and trained as an architect with T.C. Simmonds at his studio in Derby from 1886 to 1889. He then worked as an assistant to George Faulkner Armitage (1849-?) in Altringham, Cheshire from 1889 to 1892. In c.1894 Parker commenced private practice in Buxton, Derbyshire, and in 1896 formed a partnership, Parker & Unwin, with his half-cousin Raymond Unwin (1863-1940). The business relocated to Hampstead Garden Suburb in 1907 and by 1913 had moved to Letchworth in Hertfordshire.
By 1914 Unwin had become increasingly involved in town planning projects and public sector work and in May 1915 the partnership was formally dissolved. Parker continued to practice is an architect and in the coming years was in much demand as a town planning consultant. From 1927 to 1941 he acted as a consultant to Manchester City Council on the development of Wythenshawe in Cheshire [later part of the City of Manchester]. Parker was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911, and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1913. He was also elected a Member of the Society of Architects (MSA) in 1896. He died in Letchworth, England on 21 February 1947.
"Clvlc Centre" and town planning scheme for Oporto, Portugal; town planning schemes and large parks (with buildings), Sao Paulo, Brazil; laying out of many estates in Brazil for the City of San Paulo Improvements and Freehold Land Company; replanning centre of the City of Posos de Caldos, State of Minas, Brazil; a large number of houses and gardens la Brazil; made the plans for the village of Llay (near Chester), Gidea Park (Essex), and many housing schemes for the Housing and Town Planning Trust; state-aided housing schemes for City of Wakefield, the boroughs of Newark and Bridport, and St. Neots U.D.C. In partnership with Raymond Unwin, F.R.I.B.A: — plans for Letchworth Garden City, Hampstead Garden Suburb, and Earswlck Village. Village halls and schools, Steeple Claydon and Botolph Claydon, Bucks; Rockside Hydropathic establishment, Matlock, Derbyshire; church ball, clubs. Inns, and factories at Letchworth ; numerous houses at Hampstead Garden Suburb, and elsewhere in the U.K., Brussels, and Canada, etc., etc.. [Source; Who's Who in Architecture 1926]
Axell, Victoria. Barry Parker 1867-1947. Letchworth Garden City: Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, 2018
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
Hawkes, Dean. Modern Country Homes in England: The Arts and Crafts Architecture of Barry Parker, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986
Hawkes, Dean and Taylor, Nicholas. Barry Parker & Raymond Unwin Architects. London: Architectural Association, 1980 [Exhibition catalogue]
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 172, 7 March 1947 p. 217
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal March 1947 p. 286
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 pp. 64-65
Who's Who in Architecture 1926. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: Technical Journals Ltd., 1926