James Parkinson (museum proprietor)

In 1769 he helped in the settlement of Sir Thomas Robinson's tangled estates at Rokeby, Yorkshire.

Parkinson's wife Sarah (married around 1775) had bought two tickets at a guinea each of the lottery for the disposal of the Holophusicon collection of Sir Ashton Lever sometime in 1784.

On 23 March 1786, the draw had been made and Parkinson later discovered that his wife, now deceased, had won the lottery.

He published various pamphlets; however, the museum did not pay enough for its own maintenance and, after twenty years, he put it up for auction in 1806, and the collection was dispersed.

Of the sons, John (1775-1847) who had an interest in minerals became a diplomat, and was elected FRS in 1840 while Joseph (1782-1855) became an architect.