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Dr William Frederick Purcell (1866-1919) a zoologist who joined the
South African Museum in 1896 who received
his D.Phil in Berlin in 1895 was also an unsuccessful applicant for
the Directorship of the South African Museum in 1895 but accepted
an appointment as "First Assistant" in 1896.
His father was an Irishman settled in South Africa and his mother
belonged to the Hertzog family. Although he was born in England and
partly educated in Germany, Purcell's background was completely South
African, and he is rightly regarded as one of the earliest South African
scientists. The subject of his doctoral thesis was the
Arachnida,
and most of his collecting and research dealt with this group in which
he was a pioneer in South Africa. |
