Background
He was the son of Matthew Park, a mason from a long line of masons, in Glasgow.
He was the son of Matthew Park, a mason from a long line of masons, in Glasgow.
At age 14, he was apprenticed to Edinburgh mason John Cornell. From 1831–1833 he studied in Rome under Bertel Thorvaldsen.
With Cornell, when aged only 16, Park was entrusted to carve the family coat of arms over the entrance of Hamilton Palace. From 1828 he worked with the architect James Gillespie Graham. Here he worked on Murthly Castle, which is mainly now demolished, but a chapel containing his work still survives.
He was regarded as one of Scotland"s finest portrait sculptors.
His subjects included the miniaturist Kenneth Macleay (1802-1878), who in turn made a posthumous portrait of Park, from a photograph, shown above. He exhibited in the Royal Scottish Academy 1839-1855 and at the Royal Academy from 1832-1855.
He also exhibited in the British Institution 1837-1854. In 1841 he moved from London to Edinburgh, and in 1852 moved to Manchester.
He died suddenly at Warrington Railway Station, when he ruptured a blood vessel helping a porter with a heavy trunk.