Nicholas Parsons show whose audience peaked at over 21 million viewers (a record for an ITV game show). Parsons was born at 1 Castlegate, Grantham, Lincolnshire; he was the middle child of the family, having an older brother and a younger sister. His father was a general practitioner whose patients included the family of Margaret Thatcher; claims that he delivered her are unproven. His mother, born in Bristol to a founder of local company W.B. Maggs & Co, was training as a nurse when she met Parsons' father at University College Hospital, London. Parsons was born left-handed but was made to write
Francis Newton Parsons Essex Regiment on 28 February 1896. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 March 1898. Parsons was 24 years old, and in the 1st Battalion, The Essex Regiment, British Army during the Second Boer War when the following deeds took place for which he was awarded the VC. He was recommended by Lieutenant-General Kelly-Kenny, C.B.. for the award and the citation was published in the London Gazette of 20 November 1900: Parsons also received a posthumous Mention in Despatches on 8 February 1901. His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Essex Regiment Museum, Chelmsford, Essex, England. Francis Newton Parsons Francis