Not to be confused with the famous physician James Parkinson

James Parkinson

James Parkinson was an English apothecary surgeon, geologist, paleontologist, and political activist. He is most famous for his 1817 work, An Essay on the Shaking Palsy in which he was the first to describe "paralysis agitans", a condition that would later be renamed Parkinson's disease by...

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James Parkinson (baptised 28 February 1730, St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...

 - 1813) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 land agent and museum proprietor. He was the son of James Parkinson and his wife, Jane Birch. Though his parents had been based in Shrewsbury since 1723, his family had previously settled in Ireland in the reign of Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

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His first training was as a law stationer, but he then became a land agent and accountant. In 1769 he helped in the settlement of Sir Thomas Robinson's tangled estates at Rokeby

Rokeby Park

Rokeby Park is a country house in the Palladian style in Northern England. It is located close to the confluence of the River Tees and River Greta, close to Greta Bridge in what is now County Durham. It was historically located in the North Riding of Yorkshire...

, Yorkshire. This success brought Parkinson roles as agent or steward to many noblemen's estates, and he became famed as a skilful and upright man of business. He later became one of the proprietors of the Ranelagh Gardens

Ranelagh Gardens

Ranelagh Gardens were public pleasure gardens located in Chelsea, then just outside London, England in the 18th century.-History:The Ranelagh Gardens were so called because they occupied the site of Ranelagh House, built in 1688-89 by the first Earl of Ranelagh, Treasurer of Chelsea Hospital ,...

 in London and married Sarah some time before 1775.

On 23 March 1786, Parkinson won the lottery for the disposal of the collection of Sir Ashton Lever

Ashton Lever

Sir Ashton Lever was an English collector of natural objects.-Biography:Ashton Lever was born in 1729 to well off titled parents who lived at Alkrington Hall...

. The formation of the collection had bankrupted Lever, and Parkinson could not make a success of its display, putting it up for auction in 1806.