Obituary — Henry Franklin Parsons. 575 



HENRY FRANKLIN PARSONS, M.D., F.G.S. 

 Born February 27, 1846. Died October 29, 1913. 



"We much regret to record the death, at the age of 67, of 

 Dr. Franklin Parsons, F.G.S. , a medical officer who was distinguished 

 for his extensive knowledge and wide experience of sanitary science, 

 who was an enthusiastic worker in geology, and an expert botanist. 



He was born at Eeckington, a village about 3 miles north-east of 

 Prome in Somerset, and was the eldest son of Joshua Parsons, 

 a surgeon, who took much interest in the natural history of the 

 district. The geological features are extremely varied, as within 

 a walking distance of Eeckington there can be studied the Old Eed 

 Sandstone and Carboniferous rocks, the Trias, Lias, most of the 

 Oolitic rocks, and Upper Cretaceous strata. After education in 

 private schools Franklin Parsons proceeded to St. Mary's Hospital, 

 and subsequently took high honours in medical subjects at the 

 University of London, with the degree of M.D. in 1870. From 

 1867-73 he was engaged in medical practice with his father at 

 Eeckington, and devoted most of his leisure to the study of geology 

 and botany. Some of his observations were communicated later on 

 to the Somersetshire Archaeological and "Natural History Society in 

 a paper on " The Flora of East Somerset" (1875), wherein he pointed 

 out the relations between the geology and the distribution of the 

 plants, and in another paper on the " Geology of the District around 

 Eruton" (1879). 



In 1874 Dr. Parsons was appointed Medical Officer of Health for 

 the combined districts of Goole and Selby, in Yorkshire. Here he 

 turned his attention to local natural history, to the warp of the 

 Humber and its diatoms, the results being given to the Geological 

 Society of the West Hiding in papers on "The Maritime Plants and 

 Tidal Elvers" (1876), and on " The Alluvial Strata of the Lower Ouse 

 Valley " (1878). To the same Society he also communicated a paper 

 on " The Trias of the Southern Part of the Vale of York " (1879). 



Dr. Parsons was married in 1879 to the daughter of the late 

 John Wells, J.P., of Eooth Ferry House, Yorkshire, and the same 

 year was appointed a Medical Inspector on the Local Government 

 Eoard. In this department he was frequently engaged on sanitary 

 questions in which his knowledge of geology was of great practical 

 service, as in connexion with sites for cemeteries and sewage-farms, 

 with water-supply, pollution, and sundry epidemics. He prepared 

 a "Memorandum on the Sanitary Requirements of Cemeteries", 

 which was issued by the Local Government Eoard in 1880 and 

 revised in 1906. In 1892 he became Assistant Medical Officer, being 

 second in command on the Medical Staff of the Eoard, and this post, 

 which included that of Inspector for General Sanitary Purposes, he 

 held until his retirement early in 1911. Among his many official 

 publications it will be appropriate here to mention his " Report on 

 Geological Considerations in relation to Public Health and Sanitary 

 Administration" (3()th Ann. Rep. Loc. Gov. Eoard for 1900-1, 

 1902, p. 258). When President of the Epidemiological Society he 



