[8] In 1558 Parsley was married to one Rose and bought a house and premises in the parish of St Saviour's Church, Norwich, from John Hering and his wife, Helen.

[15] In 1578, Elizabeth I and her court came to Norwich as part of a royal progress, and the city was expected to provide accommodation, banquets and entertainment.

[16] Elizabeth, in the company of her courtiers, the most prominent of Norwich's citizens, and the clergy of the cathedral, heard a Te Deum by Parsley sung during the first evening of her visit,[2] with the choir being supported by the city's waits.

[16] In 1580, Parsley's name appeared at the top of the list of lay clerks in the Norwich Cathedral audit book.

[note 4][6] A friend of four Bishops of Norwich—Richard Nykke, Thomas Thirlby, John Parkhurst and Edmund Freke[8]—Parsley was also well respected by his contemporaries for his musical ability and his personal character.

Here lies the man whose Name in Spight of Death, Renowned lives by Blast of Golden Fame: Whose Harmony survives his vital Breath.

Whose low Estate was blest with quiet Mind: As our sweet Cords with Discords mixed be: Whose life in Seventy and Four Years entwin'd, As falleth mellowed Apples from the Tree.

[25] Until the Reformation of 1534, when Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church, English composers based their works on the Sarum rite, abolished in 1547.

[30] His five-part Lamentations, which differs from settings by his contemporaries Tallis and White in that a treble line (notable for the difficulty in singing the highest notes of the part) is maintained throughout, was probably intended for domestic devotional use.

Morley described Parsley's arrangement of this Gregorian hymn as a model of its kind,[1] and alluded to him as "the most learned musician".

by the English choirmaster and composer Edward Gibbons and a second anonymous piece, which were built around a line that counts the hours.

[32] Peter Phillips, writing in The Musical Times, in commending Conserva me, domine, noted that "Parsley can be remembered as one of those men who just once conjured up a masterpiece, as it seems to us now, from nowhere.

[30] His choral works set to Latin texts include Conserva me, domine, his most substantial work;[34] and the Lamentations;[35][24] those set to texts in English, written after the Dissolution, are his two Morning Services, each consisting of a Benedictus canticle and a Te Deum;[6][36] an Evening Service previously attributed to Tye;[37] and the anthem "This is the Day the Lord has made".

[35][24] Other compositions known to have been written by Parsley include Spes nostra, a motet for five viols;[38] five In Nomine; "O praise the Lord all ye heathen", a tenor part recently found in a prayer book; a hymn Salvator mundi domine; a Service in C major; Super septem planetarum and the work known as "Parsley's Clock".

[31] Of the four of the great Lamentations of the Tudor period for Holy Week date from the 1560s, two were composed by Tallis, and one each by William Byrd and Parsley.

CD recordings of some of Parsley's compositions have been made, and his music continues to be heard in church services and concerts.