Mansfield Harry Isham Parkyns (16 February 1823 – 12 January 1894) was an English traveller, known for his travel book ''Life in Abyssinia: being notes collected during three years' residence and travels in that country'' (1853). In this book he described his experiences and observations during three years (1843–1846) of travelling in
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
, the modern territories of
Eritrea and
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
.
Youth
Parkyns was born at
Ruddington
Ruddington is a large village in the Borough of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, England. The village is south of Nottingham and northwest of Loughborough. It had a population of 6,441 at the 2001 Census, increasing to 7,216 at the 2011 Cens ...
, Nottinghamshire, to Thomas Boultbee Parkyns (a younger son of Sir Thomas Parkyns, 3rd Baronet, of
Bunny Hall
Bunny Hall is a grade I listed country house in Bunny, Nottinghamshire.
The house was originally an Elizabethan red brick house with an 80 foot high tower. The house was rebuilt in 1720 by Sir Thomas Parkyns, 2nd Baronet and now stands in ...
- In 1850, Mansfield's older brother Thomas inherited the
Parkyns baronetcy from their first cousin, the childless
2nd Baron Rancliffe.
) and Charlotte Mary, daughter of George Smith, of Foelalt,
Cardiganshire, Wales, and
Edwalton, Nottinghamshire
Edwalton is an area of West Bridgford in the Borough of Rushcliffe, in Nottinghamshire, England, covering Gamston and the older Edwalton village. The population of the Rushcliffe Ward was 3,908 at the 2011 Census. A 2019 estimate put it at 4, ...
who was from the rising commercial class. As a young boy Parkyns loved wildlife. His formal education helped the development of his drawing and painting skills. In 1833, his father died whilst in Italy. Six months later he left Ruddington to attend
Uppingham School
Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headma ...
(at the time a grammar school) in
Rutland; after a short time, his mother remarried, and Parkyns was sent to be educated at Woolwich, then admitted a
pensioner
A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...
(a student without a scholarship, who pays for his tuition and meals) at
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
, Cambridge. At college Parkyns was very interested in mathematics and he also enjoyed learning Latin. In 1838, Parkyns's mother died. He did not take a degree, and in 1842, aged nineteen, he decided to leave England and start travelling, going firstly to Constantinople. Parkyns did not tell anyone about his plans, hence for a long time people did not have any information about his whereabouts or status, and he was given up for lost.
[ Cumming, D. (1987). ''The Gentleman Savage: The Life of Mansfield Parkyns, 1823–1894.'' London: Century Hutchinson]
First travels
Parkyns spent nine years travelling. From England, he visited
Switzerland and Italy; in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
, he decided to go to the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
. On
Syra, the main island of the Cyclades, he met
Richard Monckton Milnes
Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, FRS (19 June 1809 – 11 August 1885) was an English poet, patron of literature and a politician who strongly supported social justice.
Background and education
Milnes was born in London, the son of ...
, and they went on together to
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
, then to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
where they arrived in December 1842.
On 5 March 1843 Parkyns left
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
alone, bound for
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
. He stayed for over three years, adopting local dress and customs. He abandoned plans to follow the
White Nile, and instead travelled in parts of
Nubia
Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
, Kordofa, and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. He kept a journal which later became the basis of his book.
''Life in Abyssinia'' (1843–1846)
Parkyns spent over three years in Abyssinia, which he described in his travel book ''Life in Abysssinia : being notes collected during three years' residence and travels in that country.'' The first edition of the book was published in two volumes by the English publisher
John Murray in 1853. It was dedicated to
Lord Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...
, and made many references and comments on the quite famous Scottish traveller
James Bruce
James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia and in 1770 became the first Eur ...
, who travelled to Abyssinia between the years 1768 and 1773. The second edition of Parkyns' book was published in 1868. The author wrote a completely new introduction which had to do with Abyssinian history and methods of government at the time of the Abyssinian expedition commanded by
Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala
Field Marshal Robert Cornelis Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala (6 December 1810 – 14 January 1890) was a British Indian Army officer. He fought in the First Anglo-Sikh War and the Second Anglo-Sikh War before seeing action as chief en ...
. In short, Parkyns described the political changes which had occurred after he left the country. He was hoping to offer the Victorian reader "a tolerably accurate idea of Abyssinia and Abyssinians"
The book consists of 33 chapters which are divided in two volumes. Each of them covers different subjects, including travel, manners and customs. The first volume describes the journey from the coast to the capital and Parkyns's visit to the northern provinces, encounters with others, learning local languages and gaining new experiences. The second volume describes Abyssinian manners and customs, natural history and Parkyns' route from Adoua to Abou Kharraz on the
Blue Nile
The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water to ...
. In total there are 33 illustrations which Parkyns drew himself by using watercolors. A map at the end of his book shows a part of
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
and a part of
Nubia
Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
to illustrate the journey of Parkyns.
In the introduction of his book Parkyns stated that it is neither a scientific work nor an entertaining one. He wrote that in this book he has described what he witnessed and experienced during his stay in Abyssinia. Parkyns was particularly interested in learning more about the Abyssinian customs but he also enjoyed exploring more about natural history. He especially liked to observe various birds that he had never seen before in Europe. He believed that by identifying himself with the natives, he could attain the best results, thus, as he left
Massawa, he decided that he would not try to preserve any European comforts. Throughout his time in Abyssinia, Parkyns wore only Abyssinian clothes, walked barefoot, had an Abyssinian hairstyle, and ate whatever was offered to him. In the book he also described his experiences of working as a silversmith for a year in Abyssinia, and offered detailed descriptions of, amongst other things, Abyssinian manners and customs, habits, personal appearance, dress, births and marriages, deaths and funerals, religion, superstitions.
Return and later life (1846–1894)
Parkyns returned to Europe in 1846. Between 1850 and 1852 he was appointed an attaché to the embassy at
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
. He came back to England in 1852 and settled down in
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...
, where he purchased an estate, Woodborough Hall. In 1854 he married Emma Louisa, the daughter of
barrister Sir Richard Bethell QC, who became
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
and was elevated to the peerage as Lord Westbury; they had eight daughters. Parkyns served in the
Sherwood Foresters
The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for just under 90 years, from 1881 to 1970. In 1970, the regiment was amalgamated with the Worcestershire Regiment to ...
militia, and subsequently became lieutenant-colonel of ''the Nottinghamshire Rifle Volunteers''. In 1858 he started to work as official assignee in ''the Court of Bankruptcy'' at
Exeter and later in London. He presented Woodborough Church with "handsome oak stalls, carved by himself".
Parkyns' wife Emma died in 1877. In 1884 Parkyns retired to
Woodborough, where he farmed and established a garden. Parkyns was actively involved in the
Royal Geographical Society. He was considered to be "an excellent linguist", as owing to his travels he spoke "most of the lesser known dialects of the Nile basin and of Western Asia."
Mansfield Parkyns died on 12 January 1894, and was buried in Woodborough church with his wife.
[ Parkyns''"]
Publications by Mansfield Parkyns
* Parkyns, M. (1853)
''Life in Abyssinia: Being Notes collected during three years’ Residence and Travels in that country''1st edition. London: John Murray.
* Parkyns, M. (1868)
''Life in Abyssinia: Being Notes collected during three years’ Residence and Travels in that country''2nd edition. London: John Murray.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkyns, Mansfield
1823 births
1894 deaths
English travel writers
English explorers
People from Ruddington
People from Woodborough, Nottinghamshire