Merchants House, Plymouth

William Parker, sea dog, privateer, businessman, adventurer, and colleague in plunder to Sir Francis Drake, was the earliest recorded owner of the Merchants House at 33 Saint Andrew's Street, Plymouth. He was also Lord Mayor of Plymouth from 1601 to 1602. Parker served under Drake in the battle against Spanish Armada in 1588.

Parker broke into the big time in 1601 when he captured two Spanish treasure ships carrying at least 10,000 gold ducats. On his return home, he was elected Lord Mayor and used his profits to remodel the old house on Saint Andrew's Street. The house was rebuilt in a fashionable Elizabethan style, featuring a half-timbered, twin-peaked building with many windows.

Parker is also known to help promote the Plymouth Company to colonize North America and took an active interest in the Virginia Colony. He died in 1618 while on a voyage to the East Indies. The Parker family lived in the house until 1632. In the 1960s, the property was used as a tax office, then restored by the City Council and turned into a museum, focussing on life in Plymouth over time.

The seven rooms of the house are each dedicated to a particular period of Plymouth history. There is a Victorian schoolroom or the room that recreates the experience of the World War II Blitzkrieg in Plymouth. The Museum is temporarily closed for restoration.