James Parkinson (1755–1824)

Excerpt

James Parkinson, so well known in medicine for the shaking palsy he described, was better known in his own lifetime as a political agitator and a geologist [1‐4]. Regrettably no painting or drawing of him is known to exist. He was born on 11 April 1755 in East London, the son of the apothecary and surgeon John Parkinson (1725–1784), who practised at the house. John was distinguished as Anatomical Warden of the Surgeons’ Company, the professional body that superseded the Barber’s Company in 1745 and itself was succeeded in 1800 by the Royal College of Surgeons. James was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, where in due course he was to marry Mary Dale with whom later he had six children and to become Churchwarden; eventually he was buried there. …