George Parker, born on 9 August 1654 at Shipston-on-Stour, Worcestershire was an English astrologer and almanac maker. Although he was brought up among the Quakers, he denied ever having been a full member of the Society of Friends.[1]
Probably aged about fifteen, Parker moved to London to become an apprentice cutler. He opened a cutler’s shop in Newgate Market, and after marrying his first wife, Elizabeth, probably in about 1678, they moved to larger premises nearby in Newgate Street.[1]
Astrological work
Parker was taught astronomy and astrology by his friend the astronomer Thomas Streete, and in 1690 he launched an annual almanac, the Mercurius Anglicanus.[a]The English Mercury.[2] But printing the detailed astronomical data it contained proved to be costly and depressed sales; by 1693 Parker was bankrupt and estranged from his wife. From 1695 until 1699 he printed his almanac and the astronomical data on which it was based separately.[1]
Controversy
Parker’s 1706 edition of his almanac came under fire from his fellow astrologer John Partridge, who pointed out that it listed the Old Pretender[b]James Francis Edward Stuart, son of James VII and II, and claimant to the English throne. as Prince of Wales, and called Parker an “Impudent Jacobite Conjuror”. Parker was fined £50, equivalent to about £10,000 as at 2022,[c]Calculated using the retail price index.[3] and from 1707 published only his annual ephemeris[d]Tables giving the position of celestial bodies. no almanac.[1]
Personal life
Following his bankruptcy in 1693 Parker turned his hand to many things, including setting himself up as a quack doctor, selling stationery and running an alehouse or tavern.[1]
After the death of his first wife, perhaps in about 1709, Parker remarried. He died in London on 16 July 1743.[1]