of music in the town. In 1881, the Parry family left Aberystwyth for Swansea, where Parry became the organist at Ebenezer Chapel and was head of a musical college he founded. When he was offered a chair at Cardiff University in 1888, Parry and his family moved to the nearby town of Penarth. He lectured and taught at the university and was known as "Y Doctor Mawr" ("The Great Doctor"). Parry also accepted a position as the organist at Christ Church Congregational Church in Penarth. Parry became a candidate for principal of the Guildhall School of Music in 1896; the vacancy was due to the death of Sir Joseph Barnby. Officials of the city of Cardiff, colleagues and students at Cardiff University, as well as Parry's former teachers wrote letters to the School of Music Committee in support of his election to the position. There were 38 applicants for the position; the field was reduced to two candidates through a series of ballots by the Court of Common Council. Parry was no longer under consideration after the first round of reductions. He remained at the university and continued his work as an eisteddfod adjudicator, a conductor at Cymanfaoedd Canu, and as a performer and lecturer throughout Wales and the United States until the time of his death. Personal life and characteristics In 1861 in Danville, Pennsylvania Parry married Jane Thomas (1844–1918). She was the daughter of Welsh immigrants and the sister of Gomer Thomas, who published many of Parry's early compositions. The couple had three sons and two daughters. The older children were born when the family was still living in Danville; only Parry's youngest child was born in Wales. Two of Parry's three sons died after the family moved to Penarth. Parry's youngest son, William, died in 1892; his oldest son, Joseph Haydn, died two years later. While all of Parry's children are said to have had musical talent, his eldest, Joseph Haydn, followed in his father's footsteps as a composer and teacher. Later in 1894, Parry and his wife hoped a trip to the US would help ease some of the sadness over the deaths of their two sons. Parry had last visited the United States on a vocal concert tour in 1880. Though the Parrys would be visiting family, he believed he should be available to the public during the visit since many people in the US