Anthony Parkinson was a historian. In 1692 he was appointed professor of philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the Franciscan Convent of Douai

Douai

-Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...

; the following year he was approved for preaching and hearing confessions. He came to the missions in England in 1695 and was president of the Franciscans in Warwick

Warwick

Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...

 1698-1701, of Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 1701-10, and Definitor

Definitor

A definitor is, in Latin, he who defines. In the Catholic Church, however, this is a title with different specific uses. There are secular definitors, who have a limited amount of oversight over a part of a diocese...

 of the province 1707-10. Parkinson was also nominal guardian of Worcester

Worcester

The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

 1704-7, of Oxford 1710-13, and twice governed the hidden English Province as provincial 1713-6, and 1722-5. As such he assisted at the General Chapter of the Franciscans in Rome, May, 1723.

His chief work is the Collectanea Anglo-Minoritica, or a Collection of the Antiquities of the English Franciscans, or Friars Minors, commonly called Gray Friars, in two parts, with an appendix concerning the English Nuns of the Order of Saint Clare

Clare of Assisi

Clare of Assisi , born Chiara Offreduccio, is an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi...

, London, 1726, in 4º. There are also extant some unedited manuscripts.