Decendants of Edwin Charles Purdie

[jennifer c]

Possible 2 children for Harold & Ivy 1 died same qtr as birth 1930.

Jennifer

[jennifer c]

Florence Jessie did not have any children with Percy. She went on to have her own dairy business in Wimbledon and died in 1955 aged 81 leaving £9522.1.4d in her will.

Jennifer

[nigelo]

Just to tidy things up a little:
1 - Frank Sidney Purdie was born in 1871 (registered Shoreditcch RD, Dec qtr), not 1881.

2 - It is correct that Edwin and Ann had 13 children. By the 1911 census only 7 were still living. Of the 8 previously recorded here, the eldest (Ernest William) died in 1891. The other 5 deceased were all very young:

Herbert George - 1867-1870
Augustus James - 1868-1870 (these two deaths recorded on the same index page, so presumably died together)
Constance Emeline Maria Annie - 1879-1880
Winifred Adeline - Mar 1882-Dec 1882
Edwin Thomas - 1863-1865.

My first wife was indirectly related, via Edwin Charles' sister Emma Maria, so I have researched quite a lot of the family.

Edwin was a well respected silversmith. His work still crops up regularly at auctions.

The firm of Purdie Dished Ends Ltd (http://www.purdie.co.uk) who used to be industrial silver finishers, but have now branched out to a wider range of metalwork. was started by Edwin's nephew Edward John Purdie in 1918. Sadly there are no longer Purdies involved in that business.

I've only been able to get the Purdie line back to James (1764-1814), though there is a baptism for a James (father: Robert) in 1760 that might be him. It has been suggested the origins may be Huguenot ("Perdue"), but I've seen no firm evidence of this.

[jenny cw]

I have just noticed this post.  It is my first time on the site and would like to say that I am the granddaughter of Stanley Ralph Purdie.  He was my mother's father - she was Frances Winifred Purdie.  Her mother died in childbirth and she was brought up by Stanley's sister Edith Frances, my greataunt, who never married herself.  Both Stanley and Edith lived in our family home while I was growing up.  I have a Purdie silver bowl as my father used to look out for Purdie pieces to buy for my mother.  Don't know if this helps anyone filling in a tree.  I have just started to look into my mother's lineage, she having traced my father's line back to the 1500s.

[dawnsh]

Hi Jenny

Welcome to Roostchat 

George, the original poster, hasn't been online here for a week or so but should receive emails notifications that we have posted and hopefully come back soon.

Dawn

[MichaelaEWM]

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

[jenny cw]

Hi Michaela

I guess tht makes me your mother's cousin, doesn't it?  There's not much I know about the family.  As I said, Stanley Ralph's wife - Ann - died giving birth to my mother Frances Winifred in 1915 during the Blitz.  Although she died as a result of the birth and nothing to do with the war, maybe it didn't help to give birth in an air raid.  Sadly, the story goes that Stanley was so distraught to have lost his wife that he showed little interest in his new baby and she was given to his sister Edith Frances to bring up.  She was a spinster who had lost her fiance to TB and looked after their parents - Edwin and his wife - until their deaths as so many unmarried girls did at that time.  I think it was quite difficult for her and I know she and Mum shared the same bed until Mum left home to marry my Dad when she was 30. 

It is said that Stanley was supposed to have registered his daughter as Winifred Frances but got muddled at the registry office and turned the names round.  So the Purdie side of the family always called her Winnie and the rest of the world called her Frances.

Great Aunt Edith, or Auntie as she was always known, came to live with my parents when they married in 1946 as she had been effectively a mother to my mother and Mum was always very grateful.

Grandpa - Stanley - came to live with us a bit later - I am talking about the early 1950s.  He lived with us until about 1958 when he "ran away" to live with a divorced lady in Birmingham in his mid to late 70s!!  They seem to have been fond of the ladies, he and his brothers.  He died in Birmingham somewhat estranged from my mother as she had never really been close to him because of their early rupture.

Auntie and Grandpa never talked about brothers or sisters and I know that Edith was rather disapproving of Stanley and always said his mother would have been disappointed in him.
What else can I tell you?  Stanley had been an optician in the Ipswich area which is where my Mum was born. 

Now, looking at the list of siblings, I see there is a Cecil - a couple of years older.  I remember an Auntie Gertie who was married to a Cecil and she belongs on my mother's side of the family.  I remember her from childhood and looking at her wedding picture, her husband looks like a Purdie man, short and stocky with glasses.  So I think it is likely that Cecil married Gertrude - but I also remember a story that she was his housekeeper and became his second wife.  Not sure of this though.

I have some family photos if you would be interested.

Best wishes
Jenny

[purdisc]

Hi Nigelo

A little late to the party but I was alerted to this thread by a friend and thought I'd jump in.

My name is John Campbell Purdie. My great grandfather, Edward John Purdie was Edwin's nephew. Although I don't have a daily role in E J Purdie & Son Ltd I am still very much involved. I worked out of our Lancaster Road EN4 8 AP site for almost 20 years.

I too have heard of the Hugenot link and at some point should live to know more.

I'll be reading through this thread later next week. Just to add I still own a couple of my great grandfather's apprentice pieces: a coffee and a tea pot.

Looking forward to making contact with anyone with a similar interest.

Best

John Purdie

Just to tidy things up a little:
1 - Frank Sidney Purdie was born in 1871 (registered Shoreditcch RD, Dec qtr), not 1881.

2 - It is correct that Edwin and Ann had 13 children. By the 1911 census only 7 were still living. Of the 8 previously recorded here, the eldest (Ernest William) died in 1891. The other 5 deceased were all very young:

Herbert George - 1867-1870
Augustus James - 1868-1870 (these two deaths recorded on the same index page, so presumably died together)
Constance Emeline Maria Annie - 1879-1880
Winifred Adeline - Mar 1882-Dec 1882
Edwin Thomas - 1863-1865.

My first wife was indirectly related, via Edwin Charles' sister Emma Maria, so I have researched quite a lot of the family.

Edwin was a well respected silversmith. His work still crops up regularly at auctions.

The firm of Purdie Dished Ends Ltd (http://www.purdie.co.uk) who used to be industrial silver finishers, but have now branched out to a wider range of metalwork. was started by Edwin's nephew Edward John Purdie in 1918. Sadly there are no longer Purdies involved in that business.

I've only been able to get the Purdie line back to James (1764-1814), though there is a baptism for a James (father: Robert) in 1760 that might be him. It has been suggested the origins may be Huguenot ("Perdue"), but I've seen no firm evidence of this.

[dawnsh]

Hi John

Welcome to Rootschat 

George, who started this topic, was online a couple of days ago, Nigel was online here a couple of months back, but all the contributors should receive an email notification that you have posted and hopefully come back soon.

Dawn