[1][4][5] He apprenticed as a ship and house painter, then later transitioned to fine art and began producing painted portraits, landscapes, and marine and historical scenes, as well as engravings.

[10][11][12][13] In the town directories of the period, published every four years, Parry is consistently one of only three to six different artists listed through into the 1800s; at the time there was an expectation that painters in the British provinces would never stay in one place for too long because it would negatively affect their work.

[13] However, he secured the support of a number of wealthy patrons, including the Quaker cotton manufacturer David Holt and the merchant Otho Hulme, and became established enough in Manchester to remain there for the rest of his life.

[13][4] Parry earned acclaim for his scenes of everyday domestic activity in the city and surrounding areas—he produced some of the only images of Manchester's pre-modern buildings and streetscapes during this transformative period, as well as documenting a number of the region's new factories, such as Mellor Mill in Marple.

[4] This is reflected in his paintings of the Eccles Wakes—originally a pious medieval rushbearing festival, by the 19th century it had grown into a drunken three-day funfair featuring blood sports like bear-baiting.

[18] Parry produced a series of highly stylised paintings of the Wakes over a span of several years, depicting crowds of raucous partygoers in an Eccles that was more antiquated and idealised than in reality.

[13][29] By the 1820s, Manchester's art market had matured enough that dealers were bringing significant works from London and abroad to sell, and a generation of Manchester-based artists had emerged who felt that the city needed its own counterpart to London's Royal Academy and the Liverpool Academy of Art which could arrange regular exhibitions of new works as well as offer financial and fraternal support to artists in need.

"[34][35][16] His obituary, syndicated in a number of national newspapers, stated that "as an artist his powers were extensive; he painted portraits, landscapes, histories, and domestic scenes—in the latter his pictures possess extraordinary merit.