Harry ap David, on his son's account, was in the guard to Henry VIII, and died about 1566, leaving fourteen children by his first wife and sixteen by his second, Parry's mother.
[1] Parry was apprenticed to John Fisher of Chester, who had some legal knowledge in law; he attended a grammar school and made attempts to escape from his master.
[1] Parry sought a commission from Lord Burghley to spy on Catholics on the Continent of Europe, with the idea of escaping his creditors.
[1] On a third trip abroad in 1582, Parry appears to have become a double agent, going over to the Catholic side and considering Elizabeth's assassination.
He then encountered Charles Paget and Thomas Morgan of Llantarnam, and read the works of Cardinal William Allen.
[1] On his return to England in 1584, Parry disclosed some of his dealings to the Queen, claiming to have acted only to cover Protestant plots.
He approached Sir Edmund Neville and suggested to him that they should ride up and shoot the Queen in her coach, or kill her during a private audience.
On its third reading (17 December), Parry denounced it; he was committed to the sergeant-at-arms, placed on his knees at the bar, and required to explain his words.
[1] Six weeks later Neville informed against his fellow conspirator, stating that he had plotted to murder the Queen while she was driving in the park.
[3] Perhaps in the hope of pardon, he pleaded guilty, but he subsequently declared his innocence, said that his confession was a tissue of falsehoods, and that Ptolomeo Galli, the Cardinal of Como, had never given any countenance to the murder.