Oscar Parkes

Dr. Oscar Parkes, O.B.E., M.B., Ch.B. (18 October, 1885 – 24 June, 1958) was a well-known naval historian, and editor of Jane's Fighting Ships from 1918 to 1935.

Parkes was born at Handsworth, Birmingham, on 18 October, 1885, the son of Dr. W. E. Parkes. He was educated at Rydal Mount, Colwyn Bay, Berkhamsted, and Birmingham University, where he graduated M.B., Ch.B. in 1914. He played both rugby football and cricket for his university. After holding resident appointments at the General Hospital, Birmingham, he joined the Royal Navy, and towards the end of the First World War served in the Naval Intelligence Division at the Admiralty. In 1919 he became official naval artist and director of the naval photographic section at the Imperial War Museum. Before he left the Service in 1920 he had already been appointed editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, an annual publication founded in 1897. Between the wars he practised in Knightsbridge and was for a time an adviser in neurology to the Ministry of Pensions. He moved to Ringwood in 1943 and continued to practise there, being for a time on the staff of Fordingbridge Hospital. Six months ago he retired from medical practice and went to live in Northern Ireland, having been appointed a director of a publishing company there. Besides his work as editor of Jane's Fighting Ships, Dr. Parkes contributed many articles on naval history and other matters to the Navy League Magazine and other journals. He was a very capable marine artist and had exhibited at the Royal Academy. He died suddenly at his home in Co. Down on 24 June, 1958 at the age of 72.