BEAUTNESS ANIMATION: William Parry Crayford's Royal Rebel Blacksmith

During our research into Crayford and the English Civil War, CRAY came across the story of Crayford, royalist, rebel, and blacksmith, William Parry in a diary account by Parliamentarian West Kent tax collector, Thomas Weller.  This outlined events that took place during the royalist uprising in Sevenoaks and Tonbridge in July 1643. The scene is so dramatic that we asked Tom Hillenbrand of Beautness Animation to recreate it with the help of children from Y4 at St. Paulinus Primary School, Crayford.

Weller was the owner of Tonbridge Castle and was firmly on the side of Parliament.  He had been trusted by the Kent Committee to be the tax collector for West Kent.  Tax collector was an unpopular role at the best of times, however, during the Civil War, the people of Kent were infuriated to pay high taxes to support a Roundhead army being deployed many miles from the county boundaries. This inevitably made Thomas Weller a very unpopular person in Crayford as he was the man responsible for collecting amounts due for the whole of West Kent. Weller kept a diary of the events that occurred during the Royalist rebellion of 1643.  It covered several days of the unrest.  However, it is the entry for Saturday, 22nd July 1643 that interests Crayfordians as it mentions Crayford’s blacksmith William Parry and his Erith counterpart.  On this particular Saturday Weller is hiding in his house in the grounds of Tonbridge Castle, having armed his servants and placed them at the windows. Royalist rebels are rampaging through Tonbridge looking for Weller.  When they burst into his home Weller hides and is able to follow their conversation.  We asked Tom Hillenbrand at Beautness Animation to recreate this scene with the help of children from Y4 at St. Paulinus Primary School, Crayford.

Upon Saturday morning early, being in my study, the door locked to me, suddenly about twenty persons, whereof one Parry, a smith of Crayford, one other smith of Earith, and one Smale were chiefs, with their pistols ready cocked, their swords drawn, matches cocked in their muskets, entered my house swearing many oaths they would have me alive or dead: and immediately they fell to plundering my house, breaking open chests and trunks and presses, taking away the greatest part of my linen, all my clothes, the apparel of myself and wife, she being then lame a-bed of a broken leg, and thrust my linnen and other things into sacks which they brought with them, and laid them upon horses, and rode away with them.

I, keeping myself in my study, heard Parry say to Smale, “We have sped well here. Let us go to Hadlow and Peckham, and plunder there, for they are rich rogues, and so we will go away into the woods;” to whom Smale replied, “But we must plunder none but Roundheads.” Parry replied with a great oath, ” We will make every man a Roundhead that hath anything to lose. This is the time we look for.”

From Richard Almack (ed.), Camden Miscellany: Papers relating to proceedings in the county of Kent, A. D. 1642-1646, vol. 3 (1855)

A longer version of Weller’s diary can be found on the Tonbridge History website: http://www.tonbridgehistory.org.uk/events/civil-war.html

In 2018 the Tonbridge skirmish was commemorated by the society with a re-inaction of events with an actor taking the part of Thomas Weller: https://vimeo.com/268566162

Weller’s account of events seems to pass a damning picture of the royalist rebel from Crayford. Parry is part of what Weller sees as a ‘rude multitude’ who are trying to take advantage of the war to turn the tables on their betters. His overheard conversation casts Parry as nothing more than a thief willing to plunder any home to fill his own pockets.  We will never know if this is true, or is merely a reflection of Weller’s own bias against the Royalist cause. Was Parry, the Crayford blacksmith, demonstrating an allegiance to the royalist cause, or was he seeking to boost his own personal fortune?  Perhaps the answer was he was trying to do both!

The skirmish in Tonbridge is not a well-known event of the English Civil War.   When you look through local history books the part our area played in this conflict is barely mentioned. The Parliamentary army led by Colonel Richard Browne reported killing a dozen Royalists and taking two hundred prisoners at Tonbridge, which suggests a significant clash of arms.

As for Parry, the Crayford Smith what evidence do we have that Weller’s account was describing a real Crayfordian?  CRAY searched the Genealogical abstracts of Parry wills, proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury and found the following entry for 1663:

206. William Parry, of Crayford, Kent, blacksmith. To my d. Anne Parry, £20 at 21. My two sons, John & William, 20/ each. Res. to my w., Jone, exx. My fds. Henry Feame & Geo. Parry, overseers. Wit. : Ric. Porter, Hen. Feame, John Kettle. Dated 31 July 1663; i Dec. 1664, adm. to Wm. Okeham, guardian to John Parry, s. of testator, Johanna Parry, als. Lawrence, the relict, renouncing.