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Arthur Purchas
A portrait photo of Arthur Guyon Purchas in 1895
Arthur Purchas in 1895
Born
Arthur Guyon Purchas

(1821-09-27)27 September 1821
St. Arvans, Wye Valley, Monmouthshire, Wales
Died28 May 1906(1906-05-28) (aged 84)
Hastings Borough, Colony of New Zealand
Burial placePurewa Cemetery, Meadowbank, Remuera Road Board District, Colony of New Zealand[1]
36°52′22″S 174°49′53″E / 36.872888°S 174.831364°E / -36.872888; 174.831364
Other namesRata Patiti
Occupation(s)Clergyman, missionary, surgeon, musician, engineer, inventor, pioneer, geologist and botanist
RelativesAlbert Purchas (brother)
Guyon Purchas (nephew)

Arthur Guyon Purchas (27 September 1821 – 28 May 1906) was a clergyman, missionary, surgeon, musician, engineer, inventor, pioneer, geologist and botanist born at St. Arvans in the Wye Valley, Monmouthshire, Wales, who lived most of his life in Auckland, New Zealand.[2][3][4][5][6] He was the father of fourteen children and an important figure during British colonisation of New Zealand, described as an 'amazingly versatile colonist'.[7]

Early life

[edit]

Purchas was born at St. Arvans in the Wye Valley, Monmouthshire, Wales, on 27 September 1821.[2]

In 1836, he was apprenticed to a doctor. He began studying at Guy's Hospital in London, England in 1839 under doctors Addison and Bright, gaining his M.R.C.S. and L.S.A. after three years on 29 September 1842. He was subsequently appointed resident surgeon at Southern and Toxteth Hospital in Liverpool. While studying, Purchas heard about possible missionary work in New Zealand from Bishop George Selwyn.[3]

Emigration to New Zealand

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In October 1844, Purchas travelled to New Zealand as surgeon on board the ship Slains Castle. He arrived in Nelson on 26 January 1845, where he met Bishop Selwyn. He travelled to several parts of New Zealand, including Nelson, Wellington, New Plymouth and Auckland, before returning to England. On 27 December 1845, he married Olivia Challinor, daughter of Charles Challinor, in Liverpool.[3]

In April 1846 Arthur and Olivia Purchas emigrated to New Zealand, visiting Sydney, Australia on their way. They left Sydney for Auckland on 3 October 1846.[7]: Appx [8] He learnt to speak and write the Māori language fluently[9][10] and continued work as a doctor and a missionary. He was appointed to the Parish of Onehunga (which additionally included Epsom, Remuera, Otahuhu, Waiuku and Manukau districts),[11][12] inducted vicar of St Peter's Church and ordained deacon on 19 September 1847.[3][6]

In 1848, Purchas met and helped introduce future British Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil to New Zealand.[6]

In 1850, Purchas became the first European to discover the Huntly coalfields.[6]

Purchas was ordained priest on 18 December 1853.[1][3]

In 1857, Purchas supervised the first caesarean birth in New Zealand.[11] In his medical career, he successfully operated on a number of women suffering abdominal cancer, a dangerous procedure at the time.[12] In 1858, he discovered the Drury coalfields.[13]

Purchas was known for his interest in relations between the British and Māori, seeing education as a priority for the Māori.[7] It has been noted that Purchas "played a part in fostering the growth of respect and understanding between Maori and Pakeha".[3]

Purchas was important to the construction of St Bride's Church in Mauku. Purchas was the chairman of a committee for establishing a church at Mauku and was the architect of the church. Purchas also designed St Stephen's Church in Tuahiwi and the Selwyn Church in Mangere East.[14]


In March 1861, Purchas and James Ninnis were granted the first New Zealand patent (lodged 10 October 1860),[6] for a plant fibre dressing process and leaf-stripping machine invention installed at their flax mill on the Waitangi Stream at Waiuku.[9][15] This was accompanied with the enactment of the Purchas and Ninnis Flax Patent Act 1860.[16][17] Purchas was instrumental in the flax industry.[11] Frederick Hutton, who owned and operated a flax mill at Churchill on the Waikato River, noted, in an 1870 Auckland Institute lecture on the subject, that Purchas and Ninnis had introduced iron stampers to the process.[18][19]

Purchas' interest in science saw him work with geologist and botanist Ferdinand von Hochstetter. Together they surveyed the Auckland volcanic field.[6]

Later life

[edit]
444-472 Karangahape Road, Auckland

Purchas became a founding member of the Auckland Institute in 1867, later becoming the president of the Institute in 1880.[13]

Purchas was the musical director for the New Zealand Anglican Diocese, leading him to produce two national hymnals in both English and Māori. He compiled and arranged The Tune Book for the New Zealand Hymnal.[20] Purchas also taught singing to children at St John's College in Auckland.[21] In addition, he taught music to the blind and invented a system of reading music for the blind; a quick method for preparing metal plates to print braille.[9][10]

He designed the initial Mangere Bridge, which opened in January 1875.[4][10]

Purchas resided in Onehunga,[22] where he continued his practise as vicar,[23] until he relinquished the Parish of Onehunga and moved with his family to Penrose in 1875.[11] Immediately following, he recommenced medical practise as a doctor.[9]

In 1883–84, Purchas had a block (444–472) built on Karangahape Road, Auckland, designed by Edward Bartley.[6]

Death

[edit]
Purchas’ headstone at Purewa Cemetery.

Purchas died on 28 May 1906. He was buried at Purewa Cemetery in Meadowbank, Auckland, on 1 June 1906.[12][24] In a tribute, the New Zealand Herald stated with respect to the British colony of New Zealand, that "he laid the foundations of all that is good and true in the social life of the colony."[3][12][25] He has also been described as the 'Leonardo da Vinci of New Zealand',[26] and "perhaps the most gifted person ever to come to this country [New Zealand]".[6][27]

Legacy

[edit]
A photo looking down Purchas Hill Drive in Stonefields, Auckland.
A remnant of the predominantly quarried Purchas Hill, with Mount Wellington in the background.
A remnant of the predominantly quarried Purchas Hill, looking over College Road, with Mount Wellington in the background.

Purchas Hill in Stonefields, Auckland was named after Purchas in gratitude for his work on the Auckland volcanic field by von Hochstetter. Purchas Hill Drive is located where Purchas Hill stood before it was quarried.

Animal species named after Arthur Purchas:

Further reading

[edit]
  • Lowe, Geoffrey J. (2010). "The Remarkable Rev. Dr Arthur Guyon Purchas". New Zealand Memories. No. 84 June/July. Auckland. pp. 4–8. ISSN 1173-4159.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Notable Graves – Purewa Cemetery". Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Old Indentities: Dr. Arthur Guyon Purchas". The New Zealand Herald (Supplement). Vol. 33, no. 10019. 4 January 1896. p. 1 – via Papers Past.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Knight, Cyril Roy (1966). "Purchas, Arthur Guyon". In McLintock, A. H. (ed.). An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 10 October 2019 – via Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
  4. ^ a b Lawlor, Ian (21 July 2009), Lost Villages of Manukau (Presentation) – via Academia
  5. ^ "No Ordinary Man: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Dr Arthur Purchas". Aotearoa Books. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Steele, John (2019). No Ordinary Man: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Dr Arthur Purchas. Mangawhai, New Zealand: David Ling Publishing Limited. pp. 63, 67, 73, 89, 109, 283–285, blurb. ISBN 9781927305584.
  7. ^ a b c Lush, Vicesimus (1971). The Auckland Journals of Vicesimus Lush, 1850-63. pp. 261–273. Retrieved 9 October 2019 – via ENZB.
  8. ^ "Arrivals and Departures to and from Sydney during 1846 from and to NZ Ports". Rootsweb. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d "Designing the Future — Celebrating the Past". WIPO Magazine. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b c Hill, Julie (20 February 2016). "Dark Side of the Rori". Noted. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d "Onehunga Heritage Survey HCS" (PDF). December 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d "One of the many remarkable trailblazers is Arthur Guyon Purchas – Purewa Cemetery". 5 August 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  13. ^ a b Grenfell, Hugh (2022). "Rediscovery of a bust of Ferdinand Ritter von Hochstetter". Records of the Auckland Museum. 56: 69–74. doi:10.32912/RAM.2022.56.5. ISSN 1174-9202. JSTOR 48687534. S2CID 248912194. Wikidata Q113953876.
  14. ^ Limbrick, Warren (April 2011). "Saint Bride's Church, Mauku: A Frontier Church in the Midst of Conflict" (PDF). Anglican Historical Society newsletter (46). The Anglican Historical Society of New Zealand.
  15. ^ Parliamentary Debates. New Zealand Parliament House of Representatives. 1886 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Patents in New Zealand". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Purchas and Ninnis Flax Patent Act 1860 (24 Victoriae 1860 No 2)". www.nzlii.org. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  18. ^ Hutton, Frederick Wollaston (14 July 1870). "Lecture on the Manufacture of New Zealand Flax Delivered at the Auckland Institute". The Daily Southern Cross. Vol. 26, no. 4023. p. 4.
  19. ^ Hutton, Frederick Wollaston (21 July 1870). "Lecture on the Manufacture of New Zealand Flax Delivered at the Auckland Institute". The Daily Southern Cross. Vol. 26, no. 4029. p. 4.
  20. ^ "Advertisements". The New Zealand Herald. No. 1291. 4 January 1868. p. 4.
  21. ^ McLean, Mervyn (1996). Maori Music. Auckland University Press. ISBN 9781869401443.
  22. ^ Mitchell and Seffern (1866). Auckland Commercial and Professional Directory for 1866-7. pp. 1–53. Retrieved 26 October 2020 – via NZETC.
  23. ^ Foster, Frank (1862). Number One; or, The Way of the World. Simpkin, Marshall & Co. p. CXLIV. Retrieved 26 October 2020 – via NZETC.
  24. ^ "Funeral of Dr. A. G. Purchas". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. 43, no. 13193. 2 June 1906. p. 5.
  25. ^ Roche, Edward H; Beattie, Ian David (1993). Ever Ready: The Life of Arthur Guyon Purchas. Auckland, New Zealand: St. Peter's Church.
  26. ^ Grant, Jeanette (1 January 2018). "The Rev Dr Arthur Guyon Purchas". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  27. ^ Staff (3 October 2019). "No Ordinary Man—The Untold Tale of Arthur Purchas". Times Online. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  28. ^ "Cottony cushion scale, Icerya purchasi Maskell". Featured Creatures. University of Florida. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
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