Histories

Biographical Information: JOHN PURVIS of Singapore, born 1799, died 1872. Merchant in Singapore for some 50 years, from 1822, where there is a Purvis Street named after him. He had gone to China with James Matheson (later Sir James Matheson of Jardine Matheson) but left him to start up the firm of John Purvis & Co in Singapore in 1822, thinking the opportunities better there. His firm was Jardine Matheson's agent in Singapore for many years. He was appointed a magistrate by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1823. In 1837 Mr Thomas Scott and Mr Charles Spottiswoode (? a relative of John Purvis' wife) joined the firm of John Purvis & Co but John Purvis remained sole partner until his son John Murray Purvis (see 1.1.3.4.1.1. below) became a partner in 1856 and John Purvis left the firm on 31st March 1862. In 1860 a Mr T. S. Thomson, cousin of the Government Surveyor, joined the firm as clerk. John Purvis subscribed to the construction of the Roman Catholic Church in 1832 and, with other Protestant merchants, pressed the government to make land available for its construction in 1843. He also subscribed to the building of the Anglican church, named St Andrews because of the large number of Scots involved, which stood on the site of the present Anglican cathedral. He and his wife had their home on Kampong Glam, now called Beach Road. This house was later an hotel and was used as a residence for employees of the Telegraph Company. He subscribed to establishing a library in the Singapore Institution (1844), chaired testimonial dinners for visiting naval commanders and meetings of Singaporians to raise a Volunteer Force (1854) and regarding penal policies (1858) and customs duties, and, as the longest standing inhabitant, he made the keynote speech at the ball given by the Governor in the Masonic Hall in 1854 to celebrate Singapore's 35th anniversary in which he stressed the importance of it remaining a free port. See: An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore 1819-1867 by Charles Burton Buckley (published by Oxford University Press 1984). Married, as her 2nd husband (she was the widow of a Dr Paxton whom she married in India and by whom she had one ? son lost on the passage home from the East), Margaret Maria Spottiswoode (born 1800, died 1873) of Glenfernate, Perthshire, Scotland, (? a relative of Charles Spottiswoode who joined her husband John Purvis' business in 1837), having four children:-