Horace Field Parshall (9 September 1865–12 December 1932) was an electrical engineer specialising in rotating electrical machines, railway traction, and electrical distribution. Born in America, he worked for General Electric, later moving to the United Kingdom, where he was involved in the installation of a number of electrical schemes, including the Central London Railway and The Lancashire Electric Power Company, becoming a director of both.
In Britain, he was financially successful and used his wealth to construct a mansion, Penbury Grove, near Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. After the death of his first wife, he became involved in a bigamy case due to an attempt by a married couple to obtain his wealth through a fraudulent marriage.
He authored a number of works on electrical engineering, and a book on the genealogy of his branch of the Parshall family including a short autobiography.
In 1893, he married Annie Matilda (Blanch) Rogers.[4][note 1]
Lectures given at Massachusetts Institute of Technology formed the basis of the books Armature windings of electric machines, and Electric generators (later expanded as Electric machine design) published between 1895 and 1906.[7]
In 1912, he became involved in a widely publicised bigamy case - having been tricked into marrying a Mrs. Deborah Jeffreys in 1911, who had been forced under threat of death by her husband to pose as a widow and seduce and marry the widowed Parshall in an attempt to gain access to his wealth. His marriage to Mrs. Jeffreys was annulled, and after a trial Mrs. Jeffreys was given a nominal single day in prison due to having been led into the situation by her estranged husband, and having confessed her situation to Mr. Parshall.[6][10][11][note 2]
In 1915, he published a genealogy of his branch of the Parshall family,[14] having earlier sponsored the production of a broader genealogical history by J.C. Parshall.[15]
He died on 12 December 1932. He had two children: Horace Field (1903-1986) and Kathleen; both born in England.[1][5][16]
^Referred to as Annie Matilda Rogers in the 'Who's Who' biography of Horace Field (jnr. 1903-86);[5] in the Otsego Farmer notice of 1893 his wife is referred to as Blanche Rogers.[4] In the newspaper articles "Sounds More Like Fiction, This Real Life Story" his wife is referred to have been a 'Miss Rutty'.[6] In the 'Who's Who' biography of Horace Field (snr. 1865-1919) he is noted as marrying Mary Blackwell of New York in 1919, the earlier marriage is not noted.[1][clarification needed]
^The story "Sounds More Like Fiction, This Real Life Story" was widely syndicated, appearing in the 'Fort Covington Sun', 'Port Ville Review', Turtle Mountain Star and other US newspapers.
^The house included a fine rock garden,[12] and was one of the first in the area to have electricity. It was acquired by the Inner London Education Authority and used as a school (c.1960) until 1986.[13]
