Henry Robert Purdy (28 August 1867 – 26 November 1922) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the Victorian Football League (VFL).Holmesby & Main (2014), p. 723.
Family The son of William Frederick Purdy (1834-1918),Death: Purdy, The Ballarat Star, (Monday, 8 July 1918), p. 4.Obituary, The Ballarat Courier, (Monday, 8 July 1918), p. 7. and Hannah Purdy (1835-1931), née Coates,Deaths: Purdy, The Argus, (Saturday, 29 August 1931), p 13. Henry Robert Purdy was born at Learmonth, Victoria on 28 August 1867.Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria Births Registration No.22646/1867.
He married Louisa Hannah Seeley (1870–1937), at South Melbourne, on 27 February 1895.Marriages: Purdy—Seeley, The Leader, (Saturday, 20 April 1895), p. 35.Deaths: Purdy, The Sun News-Pictorial, (Monday, 16 August 1937), p. 34. Their son, Henry Frederick Burnett Purdy (1898-1978), also known as "Harry", played nine games for South Melbourne in the 1910s.
Football Originally from the South Ballarat Football Club,Football: Fitzroy v. South Ballarat, The Ballarat Courier, (Monday, 21 July 1884), p. 4.South Ballarat Football Club, The Ballarat Courier, (Saturday, 20 March 1886), p. 4. he moved to Melbourne in 1886.Football: South Melbourne v. Union Jack (23), The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 30 April 1886), p. 4.Harry Purdy: A Prominent Footballer, The Sportsman, (Wednesday, 27 August 1890), p. 6.South Melbourne Team (photograph), The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 22 August 1896), p. 10: Purdy is third player from left front row.
The knee injury that he sustained in a charity game, against Fitzroy, on 20 September 1890, meant that he was unable to play in the 1891 season.Pennings (2016), p. 20.On 9 May 1891, "Markwell", of The Australasian, remarked that "[Purdy's] knee is so bad that the chances are against him ever playing football again".Presentation to Mr. Harry Purdy, The (Emerald Hill) Record, (Saturday, 24 December 1898), p. 4.
Purdy later played for Brighton in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (MJFA), including in the club's 1902 grand final loss to Collegians.
Death He died at Gardenvale, Victoria on 26 November 1922.Deaths: Purdy, The Argus, (Tuesday, 28 November 1922), p. 1.Deaths: Purdy, The Ballarat Star, (Tuesday, 28 November 1922), p. 4.
Notes
References
Pennings, Mark (2016), Origins of Australian Football: Victoria's early History: Volume 4: Tough Times: Victorian Football loses its Way, 1891 to 1896, Brunswick, Victoria: Grumpy Monks Publishing. South Melbourne Team (photograph), (Melbourne) Punch, (Thursday, 4 JUne 1903), p. 740.
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