Early life Purvis was born in
Bridlington. He had studied at
St Catharine's College, Cambridge and, after graduation, Purvis joined
Cranleigh School as a history teacher in September 1913.
First World War Purvis was commissioned in 1913 to the
West Surrey Regiment, Probably due to compassionate grounds, Purvis was then seconded to the Bomb and Trench Mortar School. He was promoted to
Lieutenant in September 1917 and returned to his regiment in March 1918. During his service Purvis was both a poet and a photographer. In July 1916 Purvis, acting unofficially, took photographs of the battlefield during the
Battle of the Somme; four photographs attributed to Purvis survive in the collection of the Green Howards Regimental Museum. Using the
pseudonym Philip Johnstone, Purvis wrote as a
war poet and published the works 'High Wood' and 'Chance Memory'. The identification of Philip Johnstone as Purvis came in the 1970 autobiography of
Ernest Raymond, who had been in correspondence with Purvis's sister after his death. He remained a member of the Green Howards Old Comrades Association. Before this (in 1939), he was an archivist for the Diocese of York and had also, in 1949, worked on plans to rehouse the diocesan archive in a new library. Together, with
Oliver Sheldon, Purvis was able to use the archive as a foundation for a new historical institute, what became known as the Borthwick Institute. He was also a fellow of the
Royal Historical Society, and the
Yorkshire Archaeological Society. ==Select publications==