Alfred William Parsons (1847–1920): Painter of Tranquility and Advocate for Harmonious Gardens Alfred William Parsons (1847-1920) stands as a prominent figure in Victorian landscape painting and garden design, an artist whose vision seamlessly blended artistic sensibility with the principles of natural beauty. Born in Beckington, Somerset, on December 2nd, 1847, he descended from a family steeped in horticultural tradition—his father, Joshua Parsons, was a dedicated alpinist and correspondent to William Robinson, a pivotal influence shaping Parsons’s aesthetic sensibilities. This familial co…