Colonel Daniel Parke Jr. (1664 – December 7, 1710) was an American-born military officer, planter, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of the Leeward Islands from 1706 to 1710, when he was lynched by a mob in Antigua.

Best known for his military service in Europe under the Duke of Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession, Parke was the only governor in Britain's American colonies to be murdered.

Parke returned to Virginia after a second stay in England and pursued a career in politics, being elected to the House of Burgesses in 1693 and appointed to sit on the Governor's Council in 1695.

[1] His father was Daniel Parke, an Englishman who worked as a merchant in London before immigrating to English North America and becoming a planter and politician who sat on the Virginia Governor's Council.

[2] Growing up, Parke was sent by his parents to be educated in England, living under the care of his mother's English family in Wotton House, Surrey.

[1] His nascent political career was rife with tensions as he engaged in several disputes and feuds with other politicians, eventually moving back to England in 1701.

When Marlborough was dispatched to the Low Countries to take command of a Grand Alliance army of English, Dutch and German troops, Parke accompanied him as part of his general staff.

[5] On 2 July 1704, Parke participated in the Battle of Schellenberg, a Grand Alliance victory over a combined Bavarian and French army in Southern Germany.

Infuriated, he petitioned for an equivalent position, and was offered the governorship of the Leeward Islands, which were host to a number of English colonial possessions.

"[2] During his tenure as governor, he quickly made enemies with several members of the colonial elite, including fellow administrator Christopher Codrington and local Royal African Company factor Edward Chester.

[11] In the first week of December 1710, the governor's council requested Parke to convene the colonial legislature in order to address concerns over a potential French invasion as part of the ongoing war.

The militia overwhelmed the soldiers, killing and wounding several before storming the house and capturing Parke, who was dragged outside his residence, stripped naked, and brutally beaten to death.

"[14] According to Falkner, Parke was "energetic, colourful, and contentious character, wilful and headstrong to an astonishing degree" though also "self-seeking and sublimely indifferent to the opinion of others.

[2] In addition to his political career in Virginia, he attempted to gain a seat in the English Parliament after he travelled back to England in 1701, purchasing land in Whitchurch, Hampshire.