{{short description|Australian politician and judge}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Sir H. Angas Parsons | honorific_suffix = KBE KC | image = Herbert Parsons-1920-B4060.jpg | alt = | caption = Sir Angas Parsons, 1920 | office = 9th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide | term_start = 1942 | term_end = 1945<br><small>(term nominally expired 1944)</small> | chancellor = Sir William Mitchell | predecessor = Sir William Mitchell | successor = John McKellar Stewart | constituency_MP1 = Murray | parliament1 = South Australian | term_start1 = 1918 | term_end1 = 1921 | predecessor1 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by adding a number--> | successor1 = | constituency_MP2 = Torrens | parliament2 = South Australian | term_start2 = 1912 | term_end2 = 1915 | predecessor2 = <!--Can be repeated up to 16 times by adding a number--> | successor2 = ''Electorate abolished'' | birth_name = Herbert Angas Parsons | birth_date = {{Birth date|1872|5|23|df=y}} | birth_place = North Adelaide | death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|11|2|1872|5|23|df=y}} | death_place = | resting_place = North Road Cemetery | spouse = Mary Elsie Bonython | relations = | children = | father = John Langdon Parsons | mother = Rose Parsons | alma_mater = University of Adelaide | party = Liberal Union | awards = {{plainlist| *Kt 1936 *KBE in 1945 }} }} '''Sir Herbert Angas Parsons''', KBE, KC (23 May 1872 &ndash; 2 November 1945), generally known as Sir Angas Parsons, was a Cornish Australian lawyer, politician and judge.

==Early life and education== Parsons was born in North Adelaide on 23 May 1872, the only son of Cornish born minister and politician John Langdon Parsons (1837–1903) and his first wife Rose.<ref name=adbJLP>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |first=Elizabeth |last=Kwan |id2=parsons-john-langdon-7966 |title=Parsons, John Langdon (1837&ndash;1903) |volume=11 |year=1988 |pages=148–150 |access-date=2022-12-07}}</ref>

He was educated at Prince Alfred College and Roseworthy Agricultural College before spending three years following "pastoral and financial pursuits". He then studied law at the University of Adelaide, serving his articles with George Ash<ref name=general>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166436566 |title=General News |newspaper=The Southern Cross |date=7 January 1898 |access-date=11 June 2018 |page=11 |via=Trove}}</ref> and graduating in March 1897, aged 24.

==Career== He was admitted to the Bar later in 1897.<ref name=adbHAP>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |first=Elizabeth |last=Kwan |id2=parsons-sir-herbert-angas-8501 |title=Parsons, Sir Herbert Angas (1872 - 1945) |volume=11 |year=1988 |pages=148–150 |access-date=2022-12-07}}</ref> He joined with Patrick McMahon Glynn, KC. in partnership in 1898;<ref name=general/> they were joined in October 1908 by George McEwin and subsequently by (later Sir) Mellis Napier.

In 1912 he stood for parliament and was elected member of the South Australian House of Assembly for Torrens (1912–1915), and subsequently member for Murray.<ref name="SA parl">{{Cite SA-parl |pid=3871 |name=Hon Sir Herbert (Sir Angas) Angas Parsons KBE KC |former=yes |access-date=7 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/AboutParliament/From1836/Documents/StatisticalRecordoftheLegislature1836to20093.pdf |title=Statistical Record of the Legislature 1836-2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312023915/http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/AboutParliament/From1836/Documents/StatisticalRecordoftheLegislature1836to20093.pdf |archive-date=12 March 2011 |publisher=Parliament of South Australia |pages=69 & 71}}</ref> It was around June of this year that he became universally referred to as "Angas Parsons". He was briefly Attorney-General of South Australia and minister of education in 1915. Parsons was appointed King's Counsel in 1916, a judge of the Supreme Court in 1921, senior puisne judge in 1927, and acting chief justice in 1935. On occasions, Parsons acted as Lieutenant-Governor of South Australia and, after his father's death, in 1904 he became consul for Japan.<ref name=adbHAP/>

==Service and recognition== Like his father-in-law, he became president of the Cornish Association of South Australia. He was also warden of the University of Adelaide's senate, and vice-chancellor from 1942 to 1944.

He was knighted in 1936,<ref>{{Cite It's an Honour |ausawardid=1083610 |date=1 January 1936 |recipient=Judge Herbert Angas Parsons |award=Knight Bachelor |postnominal= |citation=Puisne Judge in South Australia |access-date=2022-12-07 }}</ref> and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1945.<ref>{{Cite It's an Honour |ausawardid=1082153 |date=14 June 1945 |recipient=Sir Herbert Angas Parsons |award=Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire |postnominal=KBE |citation=Senior Puisne Judge |access-date=2022-12-07 }}</ref> He retired in 1945 and, having "spent many hours at the Adelaide Club, preferring its convivial atmosphere to his wife's Methodism".<ref name=adbHAP/>

==Personal life== On 18 April 1900, Parsons married Mary Elsie Bonython (1874–1956), eldest surviving child of Sir John Langdon Bonython and his wife Mary Louisa Fredericka née Balthasar.<ref name=adbJLB>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |first=W. B. |last=Pitcher |id2=bonython-sir-john-langdon-5286 |title=Bonython, Sir John Langdon (1848-1939) |volume=7 |year=1979 |pages=339–341 |access-date=2022-12-07}}</ref> They had two sons.

Mary Elsie Parsons served with distinction as Mayoress at official functions for her widowed brother Sir John Lavington Bonython in 1911 and 1912.

Parsons died of cirrhosis on 2 November 1945. Survived by Lady Parsons and their two sons Philip Brendon Angas Parsons (1905– ) and Geoffrey Bonython Parsons (1908– ), he was buried with his parents in North Road Cemetery.<ref name=adbHAP/>

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Herbert Parsons-1887-B7723 257.jpg|Parsons dressed as the King of Spades for the Adelaide Mayoral Children's Fancy Dress Ball, 1887 File:Elsie Bonython 13yrs 1887-B7723 41.jpg|Elsie dressed as a Norwegian fishgirl, 1887 File:Elsie Bonython Bridesmaids-18 April 1900-B30390.jpg|Elsie's bridesmaids - 18 April 1900; left to right: Elsie Parsons (half sister of bridegroom); Ada & Edith Bonython (sisters of the bride); Winifred Bonython (cousin of the bride) File:Mr.andMrs.AngasParsons-1912-PRG280 1 11 530.jpg|Herbert, Elsie, & friend, Garden party at Government House, 1912 File:Herbert Parsons et al-1917-PRG280 1 9 181.jpg|1917 - Members of an Observation School Committee; Angas Parsons sitting front row, second from left. File:Herbert Parsons-1920-B4060.jpg|1920 File:Herbert Parsons-1921-B16421.jpg|1921 File:Lady Weigall-1921-PRG280 1 23 54.jpg|1921 - Lady Weigall, wife of the Governor of South Australia, accompanied by her daughter Priscilla greeting Sir George Murray, Lieutenant Governor and Justice Angas Parsons at a garden party held in the grounds of Government House, Adelaide. </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}} &nbsp; {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Hermann Homburg}} {{s-ttl|title=Attorney-General of South Australia|years=1915}} {{s-aft|after=John Vaughan}} {{s-par|au-sa}} {{s-bef | before=George Dankel<br>Thomas Ryan }} {{s-ttl | title=Member for Torrens | years=1912–1915}} {{s-aft | after =Electorate abolished}} {{s-bef | before=George Dunn<br>Maurice William Parish }} {{s-ttl | title=Member for Murray | years=1918–1921}} {{s-aft | after =John Francis Godfree<br>John Beavis Randell}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Herbert Angas}} Category:1872 births Category:1945 deaths Category:Australian Knights Bachelor Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Attorneys-general of South Australia Category:Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of South Australia Category:20th-century Australian judges Category:Australian King's Counsel Category:Lawyers from Adelaide Category:Vice-chancellors of the University of Adelaide Category:Australian people of Cornish descent Category:Bonython family Category:People educated at Prince Alfred College Category:Adelaide Law School alumni Category:Adelaide Club Category:Deaths from cirrhosis Category:Burials at North Road Cemetery