Daniel Parke

Daniel Parke, Jr.
Daniel Parke II by John Closterman, oil on canvas, 1706, in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society
Born	5 September 1664
Died	7 December 1710
Nationality	British (American Colonial)
Occupation	Politician and Soldier
Spouse(s)	Jane Ludwell
Parent(s)	Daniel Parke, Sr. and Rebecca Evelyn

Daniel Parke, Jr. (5 September 1664 – 7 December 1710) was a British-American colonist, soldier, politician, and member of the colonial gentry of Virginia. He was lynched by an angry mob during his tenure as governor of the Leeward Islands, making him the only governor in British America to be murdered.

Daniel Parke Jr. was born in Virginia in 1664, He was the son of Daniel Parke, Sr. (1635-1703), a native of Essex who held several offices in Virginia, and his wife Rebecca Evelyn (1637-1715), a cousin of noted writer John Evelyn. As a child, he was sent to England to be raised with his cousins from the Evelyn family, at the family seat in Long Ditton.

Parke returned to Virginia at age 16 to reclaim the family estates from his guardian Philip Ludwell. He also married Ludwell's daughter Jane, and the couple had two daughters. He became a protégé of Sir Edmund Andros, with whose support he served in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1683 and on the governor's council from 1690. Despite these successes Parke was unpopular with his peers, who considered too ready to threaten violence in financial or political disputes.

Parke resigned his political offices in 1697 and again set sail for England, abandoning his family in Virginia. He settled in Hampshire and in 1701 was an unsuccessful Whig candidate for the House of Commons constituency of Whitchurch.

Having failed to win a Parliamentary seat, Parke sought a military career by purchasing a commission in the British Army in 1702. He was a capable soldier who won honours as aide-de-camp to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough throughout the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1704 Marlborough selected Parke to personally advise Queen Anne of England's victory in the Battle of Blenheim. The Queen, impressed by Parkes' military bearing and record of service, rewarded him with a jewel containing her portrait, a one thousand pound gratuity and her personal thanks.