Early 1870s Parsons partnered with Rossetti's art dealer Charles Augustin Howell. From about 1870 to 1877 he had a studio in London's
Wigmore Street, but from 1878 he photographed no more. From 1888 he would no longer hold exhibitions and he led a secluded life. He was known as a quiet and introverted man. Parsons was declared bankrupt in 1892. In 1909, he died in solitude in a room in
Kensington, on the top floor of Mount Carmel Chambers on Dukes Lane. It took almost a month before his body was discovered.
The Times published an article on his death under the headline "An artist's death." Four days later, after the inquest established that he had died a natural death, the newspaper published an obituary, moreover, in which he was praised as "an admirable artist in oil and chalk." Despite his bankruptcy, it was revealed at the inquest into his death that he had "plenty of money" in the apartment and "substantial balance" in his bank account. Multiple unfinished paintings were strewn about the apartment. To the general public, he remained unknown, partly because he refused to exhibit in the last decades of his life. A photo portrait Parsons in 1870 made by
William Morris currently hangs in the
Victoria and Albert Museum. His paintings are located and are scarcely known in private collections. ==Portraits==