Born at Exeter in or about the year 1764, it is not till some nineteen years later, or, to be precise, the 5th of May 1783, that Richard Parker makes his debut in naval records. On that date he appears on board the _Mediator_ tender at Plymouth, in the capacity of a pressed man. [Footnote: _Admiralty Records_ Ships' Musters, 1. 9307--Muster Book of H.M. Tender the _Mediator_.] The tender carried him to London, where in due course he was delivered up to the regulating officers, and by them turned over to the _Ganges_, Captain the Honourable James Lutterell. This was prior to the 30th of June 1783, the date of his official "appearance" on board that ship. On the _Ganges_ he served as a midshipman--a noteworthy fact [Footnote: Though one of rare occurrence, Parker's case was not altogether unique; for now and then a pressed man by some lucky chance "got his foot on the ladder," as Nelson put it, and succeeded in bettering himself. Admiral Sir David Mitchell, pressed as the master of a merchantman, is a notable example. Admiral Campbell, "Hawke's right hand at Quiberon," who entered the service as a substitute for a pressed man, is another; and James Clephen, pressed as a sea-going apprentice, became master's-mate of the Doris, and taking part in the cutting out of the Chevrette, a corvette of twenty guns, from Cameret Bay, in 1801, was for his gallantry on that occasion made a lieutenant, fought at Trafalgar and died a captain. On the other hand, John Norris, pressed at Gallions Reach out of a collier and "ordered to walk the quarter-deck as a midshipman," proved such a "laisie, sculking, idle fellow," and so "filled the sloop and men with vermin," that his promoter had serious thoughts of "turning him ashore."--_Admiralty Records_ 1. 1477--Capt. Bruce, undated letter, 1741.]--till the 4th of September following, when he was discharged to the _Bull-Dog_ sloop by order of Admiral Montagu. [Footnote: _Admiralty Records_ Ships' Musters, 1. 10614--Muster Book of H.M.S. _Ganges_.] His transfer from the _Bull-Dog_ banished him from the quarter-deck and sowed within him the seeds of that discontent which fourteen years later made of him, as he himself expressed it, "a scape-goat for the sins of many." [Footnote: _Admiralty Records_ 1. 5339--Dying Declaration of the Late Unfortunate Richard Parker, 28 June 1797.] He was now, for what reason we do not learn, rated as an ordinary seaman, and in that capacity he served till the 15th of June 1784, when he was discharged sick to Haslar Hospital. [Footnote: _Admiralty Records_ Ships' Musters, 1. 10420, 10421--Muster Books of H.M. Sloop _Bull-Dog_.]