PARSONS, Henry (1687-1739), of Wickham Bishops, nr. Maldon, Essex.

Parsons, a London merchant, was appointed by his friend, Walpole, to be master baker at Chelsea Hospital, where ‘he became known as the purveyor, an unofficial position ... reputed to be worth £500 p.a.’.2C. G. T. Dean, Royal Hospital, Chelsea, 194. He secured from Walpole the contracts for meat, butter and cheese, as well as bread, and sold him the hospital’s victualling bills at five per cent discount.3Ibid.; J. H. Plumb, Walpole, i. 205. In 1717 he was heavily in debt, having borrowed from his father £4,000 as his share of his family’s estate, as well as owing ‘several great sums as yet unpaid’.4PCC 42 Whitfield. After contesting Maldon unsuccessfully in 1722, he petitioned but withdrew his petition at Walpole’s instance.5See COMYNS, John. Brought in for Lostwithiel in 1727, he vacated his seat on being appointed commissioner of the victualling office, which, together with the purveyorship, was said to have brought his emoluments to £2,000 p.a.6Gent. Mag. 1739, p. 306. In 1727, instead of standing for re-election at Lost-withiel, he was returned unopposed at Maldon, where he managed the government interest.7See MALDON. He steadily supported the Administration till his death, 29 Dec. 1739.