Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 43.djvu/325

 dreth, and in 1789 he accepted from his college the rectory of Kegworth in Leicestershire; in 1794 he became archdeacon of Huntingdon; in 1798 he was presented to the Chiswick stall in St. Paul's Cathedral. From 1804 he filled the office of chancellor of the diocese of Chester, and in 1812 became archdeacon of Leicester. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on 23 Feb. 1786. He died at Kegworth on 13 Nov. 1830.

He published a few sermons singly, and 1. ‘A System of Mechanics,’ 1785, 4to. 2. ‘A System of Mechanics and Hydrostatics,’ 1789, 4to.

[Nichols's Leicestershire, iii. 856; Gent. Mag. 1798 p. 362 b, 1831 pt. i. pp. 86–9; Dict. of Living Authors, 1798, ii. 110; information kindly supplied by Dr. Peile, master of Christ's College.]  PARKYNS, MANSFIELD (1823–1894), traveller, born at Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, on 16 Feb. 1823, was second son of Thomas Boultbee Parkyns by Charlotte Mary, eldest daughter of George Smith of Edwalton, Nottinghamshire. His father was a nephew of Thomas Boothby Parkyns, first lord Rancliffe, and a grandson of Sir Thomas Parkyns, third baronet of Bunny, the son of Sir Thomas ‘Luctator,’ who is separately noticed. Mansfield matriculated from Trinity College, Cambridge, in October 1839, but did not proceed to a degree. A strong craving for a more adventurous mode of life led him to Constantinople in the autumn of 1842, and on 5 March 1843 he left Cairo on a journey of exploration into the remotest parts of Abyssinia. Without any very definite projects, he remained among the Abyssinians over three years, enjoying unique facilities for observing the life of the people, to whom his strength, sang-froid, and ready compliance with all the customs of the country greatly commended him. After having traversed the country by a circuitous route from Massowah to Khartoum, he returned to England in 1846. He was appointed an attaché to the embassy at Constantinople on 15 Feb. 1850, and retained the position until the latter part of 1852. He then came back to England, and in 1853 issued his interesting, though desultory, ‘Life in Abyssinia, being Notes collected during Three Years' Residence and Travel in that Country’ (2 vols., London, 8vo), which was dedicated to Lord Palmerston and excited much attention; it corroborated certain passages in the ‘Travels’ of James Bruce which had hitherto been regarded as fabulous. A new edition with a fresh introduction, touching upon Abyssinian history and methods of government, was published in 1868 à propos of the Abyssinian expedition commanded by Lord Napier of Magdala [see ]. Upon his marriage, on 14 Sept. 1852, to Emma Louisa Bethell (d. 2 Dec. 1877), daughter of Richard, first lord Westbury, by whom he had eight daughters, Parkyns settled down at Woodborough Hall in Nottinghamshire, where he acquired an estate. He served in the Sherwood foresters' militia, and subsequently became lieutenant-colonel of the Nottinghamshire rifle volunteers. In 1858 he became official assignee in bankruptcy, first in Exeter and then in London, and he was afterwards appointed comptroller of the court of bankruptcy. He retired from this office in 1884. In earlier years he had obtained some notoriety as a pugilist, in emulation, doubtless, of his ancestor, the second baronet; after his retirement he took to wood-carving as a diversion, and presented to Woodborough church some handsome oak stalls of his own handiwork. Parkyns was also an active member of the Royal Geographical Society, and was distinguished as an excellent linguist, possessing a rare knowledge of many of the less known dialects of the Nile Basin and of Western Asia. He died on 12 Jan. 1894, and was buried in Woodborough church.

[Times, 19 Jan. 1894; Nottingham Daily Express and Daily Guardian, January 1894; Foster's Peerage, 1882, p. 485; Foreign Office Lists, 1853, 1895; Life in Abyssinia.]  PARKYNS, THOMAS (1664–1741), ‘Luctator,’ born in 1664 at Bunny, six miles from Nottingham, was the second son of Sir Thomas Isham Parkyns (1639–1684), first baronet of Bunny, by Anne, sole daughter and heiress of Thomas Cressey and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Glemham. His grandfather, Sir Isham Parkyns (1601–1671), had served under Henry Hastings, lord Loughborough [q. v.], and held Ashby-de-la-Zouch for Charles I against Fairfax from 20 June 1645 until 28 Feb. 1646, and his father was created a baronet by Charles II in 1681 (information kindly supplied by Mrs. E. L. Radford).

Thomas was educated at Westminster School under Busby and Knipe, and in 1680 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, as a fellow-commoner. After two years at Cambridge he entered as a student of Gray's Inn on 18 May 1682. Two years later he succeeded his father in the baronetcy, and henceforth devoted a very energetic mind to the improvement of his estate. A free school and four almshouses were erected by him in Bunny, and he also gave bells to the church, restored the large chancel of Bunny