Early Life
The son of Harry Parkes, founder of the firm of Parkes, Otway & Co., ironmasters, he was born at Birchills Hall, in the parish of Bloxwich in Staffordshire, England. When he was four years old his mother died, and the following year his father was killed in a carriage accident. Left an orphan, he found a home with his uncle, a retired naval officer, at Birmingham. He received his education at a boarding-school at Balsall Heath, and in May 1838 entered King Edwards Grammar School.
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