Kenneth Alfred Lamport Parker was born on 1 April 1912. He was educated at Tottenham Grammar School and then at St John's College, Cambridge (where he was awarded a double first). He excelled in the civil service entrance examinations and elected to enter the Home Office in 1934. From 1938-1945 Parker worked in the London Civil Defence Region as Assistant Secretary (1942), then Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (1943), working for Sir Ernest Gowers. From 1955-67 he was Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office and Head of the Police department (1961-66), where he established a Police College for promising policemen. He retired but remained as a member of the Chairman's panel of the Civil Service Selection Board (1974-1982). He died in September 1995.