Fred Parker
(October 15, 1908 – December 15, 1975)
Frederick Parker was known to fandom as the brother of Ella Parker, a prominent London fan of the late-1950s and 1960s, although he wasn't a fan himself. They shared flats at 151 Canterbury Road, Kilburn and then from early 1963 at 43 William Dunbar House, Albert Road, both of which were known as 'The Penitentiary', a pun based on Parker's Pens. They hosted weekly meetings in the early 1960s and 'as [Ella]'s involvement with fandom grew, so it made inroads into her home, but both she and Fred were hospitable to every intrusion' (Bruce Burn, Prolapse #9 (November 2007)). Joe Patrizio said, 'I also have very fond memories of Fred, Ella's brother, who was (if possible) even kinder than she was; at the time, I thought that the world was a better place for his being in it' (Prolapse #10 (February 2008)).
Fred did occasionally have letters published in Cry. The last page of the pocket programme for Loncon II, the 1965 Worldcon chaired by Ella, was
dedicated to Fred Parker, brother of Ella Parker, who, during many long meetings of the ConCommittee performed the necessary functions and duties of Official Tea Maker. Without his services this Convention very well might never have got off the drawing board. Many, many thanks, Fred.
Remarkably, we now know that the sibling relationship between Ella and Fred was a fiction. They had in fact married in 1941. However, at some point they decided to present as brother and sister and seemingly lived as such for decades, to the point that Ella was recorded as 'sister' on Fred's death certificate. Nobody knows for sure why they did this.
| Person | 1908—1975 |
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