Alexander Callender Purdie (25 December 1824 – 24 June 1899) was a New Zealand naturalist and botanist.

Early life

Purdie was born in the parish of Fenwick, East Ayrshire, Scotland.[1] After his schooling he moved to Glasgow acquiring a trade as a wire worker which he pursued in England and Scotland for several years, while also following his interest in natural history.[1] He emigrated with his wife Ellen in 1860 from Glasgow to New Zealand on the ship “Pladda”, and settled in Dunedin.[1]

Work

Purdie was a foundation member of both the Otago Institute in 1869, of which he was elected Curator and Librarian in 1873, and the Dunedin Field Naturalists’ Club, in 1872.[1] He also had a long association with the Otago Museum, of which he was caretaker or curator, and then with the University of Otago where he was a janitor until his retirement in 1893.[1] He died in Dunedin survived by his son and daughter, his wife having died about nine years previously.[1]

Purdie was the original describer of the New Zealand little bittern (Ixobrychus novaezelandiae (Purdie, 1871)). He is commemorated in the name of the plants, Helichrysum purdiei and Boronia purdieana.[2] His son Alex Purdie (c.1861 - 1905) collected the type specimen of the moth species Ichneutica purdii which was named in his honour by Richard William Fereday.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Godley, E. J. (2004). "Biographical Notes (56): Alexander Callender Purdie (1824-1899) and Alex. Purdie (c.1861-1905)" (PDF). New Zealand Botanical Society Newsletter. 78: 16–19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2010 – via Manaaki Whenau - Landcare Research.
  2. ↑ "Purdie, Alexander (1859 - 1905)". Australian National Herbarium. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  3. ↑ Fereday, R. W. (1883). "Description of two new species of Heteropterous Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 15: 195–196 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.


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