Parkins was born into a family of Dorset farmers that leased around 275 acres in Portesham, six miles from Dorchester. His father subsequently took on another substantial farm at nearby Clandon.
Shortly after completing his third term as bailiff, Parkins was elected as Dorchester’s junior Member in the 1621 Parliament. However, he left no trace on the Commons’ records, and was evidently preoccupied with family matters for much of the first sitting. In February 1621 his brother-in-law Richard Chappell died in Exeter, leaving a young widow, Rachel, aged about 28. Parkins, himself a widower in his fiftieth year, promptly embarked on a hasty courtship, and married Rachel barely two months later, during Parliament’s Easter recess. He is not known to have sought re-election, despite remaining active in municipal affairs.
Parkins lost £700 in 1625, when a consignment of kerseys was taken by French pirates in the Channel, but he apparently continued to export cloth, for one of his sons died at Florence two years later. In 1626 he was excused from paying a Privy Seal loan of £10, perhaps partly in recognition of his services as one of this levy’s collectors.