Osbert Parsley was born in 1510 or 1511;^{[note 2]} the identity of his parents and place of birth are unknown.^[5] Like many of his contemporary English composers, he began his musical career as a choirboy.^[6] During the time Parsley was a chorister, William Inglott and his son William were in turn Master of the Choristers; the works written by the younger William are found in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.^[7]

He became a “singing man” c.1534, a post he retained for 50 years.^[8] The historian Noel Boston has conjectured that Parsley was either hired by the cathedral monks to assist them as a layman chorister, or was possibly a novice monk before his career as a monk was stopped short by the English Reformation, and he then was employed as a singing man.^[9] Parsley was first listed in Norwich Cathedral’s extant accounts for 1538–1540, where he was named as a lay clerk, and he continued to be mentioned in the cathedral’s records throughout his life.^{[5][note 3]} It is likely that he acted as the cathedral’s unofficial organist from 1535 until his death in 1585.^[7]

In 1558 Parsley was married to Rose and bought a house and premises in the parish of St Saviour’s Church, Norwich, from John Hering and his wife Helen. Parsley owned the house until 1583.^[5] Details of Parsley’s life were first published in Henry Davey’s History of English Music, first published in 1895, when he was described as a “lesser composer” from Norwich Cathedral whose works existed in manuscript form.^[3] From Parsley’s will it is known that there were seven surviving children from the marriage: Henry, Edmund, John, Joan, Elizabeth, Dorothy, and Anne.^[11]

Composers during the Tudor period were honoured by being awarded an academic degree from either Oxford or Cambridge, or by becoming a member of the Chapel Royal—Parsley received neither of these highly-prized honours.^[12]