Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Parish, William Douglas
PARISH, WILLIAM DOUGLAS (1833–1904), writer on dialect, was fifth son of Sir Woodbine Parish [q. v.] by his first wife Amelia Jane, daughter of Leonard Becher Morse. Of his seven brothers and five sisters, the eldest, Major-General Henry Woodbine Parish, C.B. (1821-1890), served with distinction in South Africa under Sir Harry Smith, and later in Abyssinia; the second, John Edward (1822-1894), became an admiral, and the third, Francis (1824–1906), was some time consul at Buenos Ayres, and later consul-general and state commissioner at Havana. His half-sister, Blanche Marion Parish, married in 1871 Sir Ughtred James Kay-Shuttleworth, first Baron Shuttleworth.
Born at 5 Gloucester Place, Portman Square, St. Marylebone, on 16 Dec. 1833, Parish was at Charterhouse School from 1848 to 1853. He matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford, in the latter year, graduating B.C.L. in 1858. Next year he was ordained to the curacy of Firle in Sussex, becoming vicar in 1863 of the adjoining parishes of Selmeston and Alciston. That benefice he held until his death. He endeared himself not only to his parishioners but also to gypsies and vagrants. From 1877 to 1900 he was chancellor of Chichester Cathedral. Parish died unmarried in Selmeston vicarage on 23 Sept. 1904, and was buried in Selmeston churchyard. There are a window and two brasses to his memory in the church.
Parish's principal work, 'A Dictionary of the Sussex Dialect and Collection of Provincialisms in use in the County of Sussex' (Lewes, 1875, 2 editions), is more than a contribution to etymology: it is the classic example of what a country parson with antiquarian tastes, a sense of humour, and a sympathetic affection for his peasant neighbours, can do to record for posterity not only the dialect but the domestic habits of the people of his time and place.
Parish's other publications were:
- 'The Telegraphist's Easy Guide,' 1874, an explanation of the Morse system written primarily for the boys of his parish, to whom he taught signalling as a pastime.
- 'School Attendance secured without Compulsion,' 1875 (5 editions), a pamphlet describing his successful system of giving back to parents their children's school payments as a reward for good attendances.
- 'Domesday Book in Relation to the County of Sussex,' 1886 fol., for the Sussex Archaeological Society, on the council of which he served for many years.
- 'A Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect' (with the Rev. W. F. Shaw), 1887, on the lines of the Sussex book, but lacking evidence of intimate acquaintance with the Kentish people. Parish also edited a useful alphabetical 'List of Carthusians [Charterhouse schoolboys], 1800-79' (Lewes, 1879).
[A Life of Sir Woodbine Parish, 1910, pp. 419-425; The Times, 26 and 28 Sept. 1904; East Sussex News, 30 Sept. 1904; works mentioned; private information.]
Note: the initials P. L.. are ambiguous. They refer to one of:
- Author:Perceval Lucas in DNB Second Supplement
- Author:Percy Lubbock in DNB Third Supplement
- Editor: Please replace template with {{DNB PL Lucas}} or {{DNB PL Lubbock}}