Parsons, William Augustus (1801 – 1866)

William Augustus Parsons L.S.A. M.R.C.S. (1801 – 4 April 1866) was a British orthodox physician who converted to homeopathy, to become a physician at the Birmingham Homeopathic Dispensary. Parsons was a colleague of George Fearon, George Stevenson Knowles, and Joseph Lawrence.

William Augustus Parsons was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1801, the youngest of twelve children born to Philip Parsons and Elizabeth Montague.

Parsons received his Licentiate from the Royal Society of Apothecaries in 1826 and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1828.

In October 1831 Parsons married Jane Lant (1807 – 1871) in London. They had six children: Philip Lant (c.1834 – 1927), Fanny (c.1836 – c.1868), Jane Montagu (1837 – 1927), William Augustus M.R.C.S.Lond L.R.C.P.Edin (1839 – 1883), Montagu Eaves (1842 – 1921), Clara Ann (c.1844 – 1885).

Parsons conducted his medical practice for several years at Southam, Warwickshire, before relocating to Hockley Hill, Birmingham. Around 1847 he was introduced to homeopathy by Dr. George Fearon who had established the Birmingham Homeopathic Dispensary that year.

Parsons practiced homeopathically in Birmingham until 1860, when he relocated to Leamington Spa, where he continued in practice for another five years.

Owing to ill-health, Parsons moved to Reading in 1866 where he established a new practice, dying soon after his arrival in April, 1866.

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Of Interest:

William Augustus Parson‘s older brother Philip Honeywood Parsons M.R.C.S. (22 November 1785 – 26 January 1872) was an homeopathic surgeon and medical officer at the Canterbury Homoeopathic Dispensary located at 24 St Georges Street. Philip H. Parsons and his wife Elizabeth (c.1790 – 1877, m. 1819) were resident in Dover  in 1853.

Philip H. Parsons was a student at Paul Francois Curie’s Homeopathic Institution, at Hanover Square, London, alongside Frederick Barry, Edward Charles Chepmell, Sydney Hanson, William Leaf, Victor Massol, Jas Bell Metcalfe, John Ozanne,

George Henry Parsons (12 September 1839 – 3 April 1892) [no evident relation] was a homeopathic chemist in London in 1872. He was a co-founder of Ashton and Parsons, wholesalers and exporters of homeopathic medicines, and was a member of the Homeopathic Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.