全家在1766年左右搬到伦敦,他的哥哥斯坦菲尔德在那里当家具商[8]。1765年至1766年间,他的一些花卉画在自由艺术家学会(Free Society of Artists)展出[9][10],他也开始教画[11],雇主包括苏格兰苗圃园主詹姆斯·李,李雇他教自己的女儿安[9],并在1767年把帕金森介绍给约瑟夫·班克斯[12],后者又把他介绍给动物学家托马斯·彭南特[9]。
Sydney Parkinson, botanical draughtsman. Enlarging the prospects of happiness: European travel writing through the ages. Online exhibition. University of Otago. [12 June 2015]. (原始内容存档于2022-02-20).
Rienits, Rex. Parkinson, Sydney (1745–1771). Australian Dictionary of Biography (National Centre of Biography, Australian National University). 1967 [2022-01-18]. (原始内容存档于2022-06-30).
Joppien, Rüdiger; Smith, Bernard. The Art of Captain Cook's Voyages. Volume One. The Voyage of the Endeavour 1768–1771. New Haven and London: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press. 1985. ISBN 0-300-03450-4. OCLC 12544694.
Lysaght, Averil M. Banks's artists and his Endeavour collections. Mitchell, T. C. (编). Captain Cook and the South Pacific. British Museum Yearbook 3. London: British Museum Publications Ltd. 1979: 9–80. ISBN 978-0-7141-0088-3.