John Denham Parsons (1861 – 14 September 1936) was an English writer and Shakespeare authorship theorist.

Biography

Parsons was a proponent of the Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship. Between 1918 and 1935 he published many works on this topic, including articles in Baconiana and letters in the correspondence columns of Notes and Queries and The Times Literary Supplement. He attempted pamphlet controversy with Sir Sidney Lee and authorities at the British Museum over the Shakespeare authorship question. Parsons' book The Non-Christian Cross (1896) argued that the Christian cross symbol is not Christian in origin. He was a member of the Society for Psychical Research. Parsons authored a 561 page book The Nature and Purpose of the Universe on philosophy and psychical research, published in 1906.

Selected publications