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PARSONS, Sir John (d.1717), of the Priory, Reigate, Surr.
Available from Boydell and Brewer
Constituency
Dates
Family and Education
s. of Richard Parsons, brewer, of St. Botolph, Aldgate. m. (1) Jane, da. of Richard Milward, London merchant, 2s. 2da.; (2) 1678, Elizabeth, da. of Humphrey Beane of Epsom, Surr., alderman of London, 1s. 6da.1 Kntd. 15 Aug. 1687.
Offices Held
Commr. of victualling 1683-90; alderman, London 1687, sheriff 1687-8, ld. mayor 1703-4; Brewers’ Co. 1688, master 1689-90, translated to Fishmongers’ Co. 1703, prime warden 1706-8.
Biography
Parsons was the owner of the Red Lion Brewery in Aldgate, famous for its porter, known as ‘Parsons’ black champagne’.2 In 1681 he bought a property, with a number of vote-carrying houses, at Reigate, which he represented with two brief intervals from 1685 till his death, 25 Jan. 1717. He also stood unsuccessfully for London in 1701 and 1705. A Tory with Jacobite leanings,3 he is not recorded as speaking or voting during the short time for which he sat under George I.