Horace Field Parshall was born on 9 September 1865, at
Milford,
New York, the son of James Everett Parshall (1839–99), a lawyer, and Phoebe Anne née Field (d. 1899). He was educated at
Hartwick Seminary, then studied electrical engineering at
Cornell University, leaving after two years to study at
Lehigh University. He joined the
Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company, and by 25 was a chief design engineer of the
Edison General Electric Company, remaining with the company after it amalgamated into the
General Electric company. In 1893, he married Annie Matilda (Blanch) Rogers. 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. He was involved in installing electrical equipment on the
Dublin tramways,
Glasgow tramways,
Bristol tramways and elsewhere, and installed the electrical system of the
Central London Railway; a pioneering example of a three phase transmission system using rotary converters. He was also chairman of the Central London Railway, In 1902, he constructed a mansion, Penbury Grove, near
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire; a replica of
Pennsbury Manor, the residence of
William Penn of Pennsylvania. In 1915, he published a genealogy of his branch of the Parshall family, having earlier sponsored the production of a broader genealogical history by J.C. Parshall. He died on 12 December 1932. He had two children: Horace Field (1903-1986) and Kathleen; both born in England. ==Works==