Webley-Parry, William Henry, Rear-Admiral, 1764-1837.

The papers consist of certificates and commissions, 1780 to 1837; Admiralty and admiral's orders, 1797 to 1813; miscellaneous papers, including a list of Webley's midshipman's outfit in 1780; private letters, among which are fifteen addressed to his mother, 1794 to 1798, and a log of the CENTAUR, 1807. The last was presented to the Museum separately in 1936.

Administrative / biographical background
Webley, who later assumed the surname of Webley-Parry, entered the Navy in 1779 and became a lieutenant in 1790. He was in the JUNO at the defence of Toulon, 1794, and was in L'AIGLE, also in the Mediterranean, from 1795 to 1796, being present at the siege of Bastia and the attack on Tenerife. During the battle of the Nile, 1797, he was first lieutenant of the ZEALOUS and became a commander in 1798. He was promoted to captain in 1802, serving later at Copenhagen, 1807, in the CENTAUR and was then with Admiral James Saumarez (1757-1836) in the Baltic. In 1810 he was in the Mediterranean under Sir Samuel Hood (q.v.) He sailed in 1811 for the East Indies and brought home a convoy of East Indiamen in 1813. After 1815 he held no further appointment but was promoted to rear-admiral in 1837.