Son of John Tertius Purser (1809–1893), the general manager of the well known brewery
Guinness, Purser was educated in a wealthy family, which included artists, as his cousin
Sarah Purser, or engineers, as his brother-in-law
John Purser Griffith. He was the brother of mathematician
Frederick Purser. He studied in
Trinity College, Dublin, graduating BA in mathematics in 1856. The following years Purser was tutor to the children of
Lord Rosse,
Lawrence and
Charles. In 1863, he was appointed professor of mathematics at
Queen's College, Belfast, he was in place until his retirement in 1901. Purser is much better known as a teacher than as a researcher, and he had a good number of notable students, including Sir
Joseph Larmor, theoretical physicist who served as
Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge;
Charles Parsons, the inventor of the turbine; Sir
John Henry MacFarland, who became Chancellor of Melbourne University; and
William McFadden Orr. == References ==