Our History
A Family Business
The seeds of the present business were sown in 1826 when Richard Walter Parson was apprenticed to a carpenter and joiner at Stoke Climsland, Cornwall. In 1842 he came to Plymouth and set up his own business as a builder and undertaker. In the mid 1880s his son, John Walter, took over the business and he was in turn succeeded by his son Oscar Walter in 1923.
In 1932 Oscar's son, Walter, purchased the business from his father. In 1940 to 1945 he served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force, during which time Walter's wife Beryl ran the business. On Walter's return in 1945 he decided to specialise exclusively in Funeral Directing.
Walter's son, Walter junior (Wally) joined the business in 1955 after his national service. After obtaining his BSc in Maths and Physics and a short spell in the aircraft industry Wally returned in 1963 and became a partner in 1976.
In 1962 Walter's daughter, Pat, joined the business and became a partner in 1980.
Graham May joined in 1973 from Lydford. He has since married Pat and became a partner in 1987.
After a spell in the quarry industry Pat's son, Stephen Ware, joined us in 1982 and was made a partner in 1987.
In March 1988 Wally's son, Richard Walter Parson, went to Kingston-on-Thames for a twelve-month course in funeral directing and joined us early in 1989. Richard decided to cut ties with the business in September 2009.
The partnership was changed to a limited company in 1988 and became Walter C. Parson Limited. After nearly 45 years in the business, Wally retired in late 1999 but continues his work as a member of the board of examiners with the National Association of Funeral Directors.
