Mary Purvis

Mrs Purvis of Glassmount lived at No. 5 from about 1849 to 1852.¹ She was the widow of Burridge Purvis of Glassmount, a cotton trader, who died at sea in 1816 while returning to Scotland from South Carolina.² She was born Mary Brown about 1779, in Charleston, South Carolina, and was known as ‘Polly Brown’, daughter of Stephen Brown, an army captain, and Mary Jennings.³ She died aged 82 on 24 January 1861, in Edinburgh.⁴

Mary Brown married Burridge Purvis on 21July 1798, in South Carolina, USA.⁵ He was born in 1770, son of John Purvis and Elizabeth Thomson.⁶ They had eight children, including Eliza Purvis and Anne Purvis.

Eliza Purvis was born in Carolina about 1799 and married Robert Blackie S.S.C. in Edinburgh on 13 June 1824.⁷ She died aged 35 on 19 June 1834⁸ and he died before March 1841.⁹ Their daughters were recorded in 1851 living with Mary Brown or Purvis at No. 5 Malta Terrace. They were Mary Blackie (born 1827), Eliza Jane Blackie (born 1830), and Anne Blackie (born 1831).¹⁰

Anne Purvis and her four daughters were recorded in the 1851 census as a separate household living at No. 5 Malta Terrace. She was born at Columbia, Carolina about 1806¹¹ and married Lennox Blackie, a merchant from Dundee, on 18 February 1828.¹² Anne Blackie, an annuitant, was living at 36 Dublin Street in 1861,¹³and died in London on 18 January 1878.¹⁴

The four daughters recorded living at No. 5 in 1851 were Maria Lennox Blackie, born 10 February 1830¹⁵ and died 25 March 1857¹⁶; Fanny Lennox Blackie, born in 1833,¹⁷ who married Arthur Corlett on 03 July 1860¹⁸; Annie Lennox Blackie, born 1834¹⁹ and died in London in 1873²⁰; and Jane Lennox Blackie, born 1841, married John Bradford, a civil servant, in Kensington, London on 02 July 1873²¹ and died in 1921.²²

1. PO Directories 1849-50, 1850-51 and 1851-52.
2. Purvis, John. (2021) The Purvis Family Tree. https://purvisfamilytree.com/showhistory.php?docID=7307: accessed 18 August 2021.
3. Purvis, John. (2021) The Purvis Family Tree. https://purvisfamilytree.com/showhistory.php?docID=7307: accessed 18 August 2021.
4. Deaths (SR) Scotland. Edinburgh. 24 January 1861. PURVIS, Mary. 685/1 93. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 18 August 2021.
5. Purvis, John. (2021) The Purvis Family Tree. https://purvisfamilytree.com/showhistory.php?docID=7307: accessed 18 August 2021.
6. Purvis, John. (2021) The Purvis Family Tree. https://purvisfamilytree.com/showhistory.php?docID=7307: accessed 18 August 2021.
7. Marriages index (OPR) Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 13 June 1824. BLACKIE, Robert and PURVES, Eliza. 685/2 400 613. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 19 August 2021.
8. Burials (OPR) Scotland. South Leith, Edinburgh. 19 June 1834. PURVES, Eliza. 692/2 340 325. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 18 August 2021.
9. The Gazette. 19 March 1841. p. 93, col. 01. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/4992/page/93/data.pdf: accessed 18 August 2021.
10. Census records. Scotland. Edinburgh. 30 March 1851. PURVIS, Mary (Head). 685/2 29B/ 09. https://ancestruy.co.uk: accessed 21 August 2021.
11. Census records. Scotland. Edinburgh. 30 March 1851. BLACKIE, Anne Lennox (Head). 685/2 29B/ 09. https://ancestruy.co.uk: accessed 21 August 2021.
12. Marriage announcements. Scotland. Aberdeen Press and Journal. 27 February 1828. BLACKIE, Lennox and PURVIS, Anne. p. 02, col. 03. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 21 August 2021./small>
13. Census records. Scotland. Edinburgh. 07 April 1861. BLACKIE, Anne L. (Head). 685/2 35/ 08. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 21 August 2021.
14. Death announcements. Scotland. Fife Herald. 24 January 1878. BLACKIE, Anne. p. … col. … https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 19 August 2021.
15. Birth announcements. Scotland. Caledonian Mercury. 15 February 1830. p. 03, col. 05. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 19 August 2021.
16. Monumental inscriptions. Scotland. Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh. 25 March 1857. BLACKIE, Maria Lennox. 124092041. https://findagrave.com: accessed 19 August 2021.
17. Census records. Scotland. Edinburgh. 30 March 1851. BLACKIE, Anne Lennox (Head). 685/2 29B/ 09. https://ancestruy.co.uk: accessed 21 August 2021.
18. Marriage announcements. Australia. The Argus. 17 September 1860. p. 04. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5689887?searchTerm=&searchLimits=l-publictag=McGOWAN: accessed 19 August 2021.
19. Census records. Scotland. Edinburgh. 30 March 1851. BLACKIE, Anne Lennox (Head). 685/2 29B/ 09. https://ancestruy.co.uk: accessed 21 August 2021.
20. Deaths index (CR) England. Kensington, London. 1st Q., 1873. vol. 1a, p. 65. BLACKIE, Annie Lennox (aged 38). https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 21 August 2021.
21. Marriages (PR) England. St Michael’s, Middlesex. 02 July 1873. BRADFORD, John and BLACKIE, Jeanie Lennox. P84/MAA/A/02/001. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 21 August 2021.
22. Deaths index (CR) England. Brentford, Middlesex. 4th Q., 1921. BRADFORD, Jeanie H. L. (aged 81). vol. 31, p. 193, https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 21 August 2021.