RootsChat.Com

Hi Jenny,

It was great to read of your connection to the family when I checked my email this morning.  My Grandmother is the daughter and my mother the Granddaughter of Percy Wilfred Purdie.  We know very little other information about the family as Percy and his second wife (though I have not yet found a record of their marriage) May Adelaide Price eloped (so my Grandmother said) to Australia.  May was the sister of Percy's first wife but my Grandmother didn't ever know that story - we have discovered this in our family history search. My Grandmother had no siblings and my mother had no relatives so we have spent some time trying to make connections and discover relatives.  We would love to know more about the family.  I would be interested in hearing more from you if you would like to share some of your knowledge of the family history.

Thanks,

Michaela

Hi Jennifer,

I stumbled across this post while doing some research on my family tree and have found some of your research very helpful - thanks! I thought you may be interested to know about Percy Wilfred Purdie who was my great grandfather.  Percy was a chemist and married Florence Jessie Price.  As far as I am aware they had no children.  In the 1901 Census they were living together but then sometime after  Percy ran off with Florence's younger sister May Adelaide Price and moved to Australia.  We think they arrived in 1905 but as yet I have not found any official records of their marriage.  My grandmother Maisie Ena Purdie was born in Australia in 1911.  Her birth certificate indicates her parents marriage was in 1905 but this is probably what they were able to tell the registry officer.  The story my grandmother always heard was that they eloped which is very romantic (but she didn't know of his previous marriage).

I would love to know of any descendants who may know something of the story of their elopement.

Michaela