Mary Purvis lived at No. 5 from about 1848 to 1853. She was born Mary Brown in Charleston, South Carolina, c.1779, and was the widow of Burridge Purvis (1770-1816) of Glassmount. Burridge Purvis, a cotton trader, purchased Glassmount in 1808. He died at sea travelling back to Scotland in 1816. Mary Brown died in 1861.
Burridge Purvis and Mary Brown had several children, including Anne Purvis or Blackie who was also resident at No. 5 in 1851. Living with Mary Purvis at the time were three grandchildren by another daughter, Eliza Purvis, who married Robert Blackie. These were Mary Blackie (born 1827), Eliza Jane Blackie (1831-c.1871), and Anne Blackie (1831-1908).