Biography

As a plant collector for the Veitch nursery and the Arnold Arboretum (Harvard University), William Purdom spent several years in China and Tibet. As well as searching for living material for introduction to cultivation, he gathered herbarium specimens and took photographs of the people and places he visited.

Born in Heversham, Cumbria, Purdom trained in horticulture under his father, the head gardener at Brathay Hall, Ambleside. He went on to work in Enfield with the nursery Low & Sons before joining James Veitch's firm at Kingston, Surrey. By 1902 he had been appointed sub-foreman of the arboretum nurseries at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and in 1905 began his Kew Diploma training.

In 1909 Purdom was engaged by the Arnold Arboretum to make collections in the northern provinces of China. His brief was to find plants that would thrive in climates even more severe than that of New England, and thus he spent three years exploring the Yellow River region, collecting and photographing suitable examples. He was co-sponsored in this venture by his former employers, the Veitch Nursery, and also collected herbarium specimens. Among Purdom's finds was a new rhododendron, named Rhododendron purdomii Rehder & E.H.Wilson in his honour.

Collaborating with fellow collector Reginald Farrer, Purdom made his next expedition in 1914-1916, exploring Tibet and Gansu province in north-west China. Farrer described the journey in his works On the Eaves of the World (1917) and The Rainbow Bridge (1921), somewhat overshadowing Purdom, who was of a quiet demeanour and not inclined to self-promotion.

Purdom was also interested in anthropology and photographed people in the regions he visited, documenting in particular their dress and hairstyles. Especially noteworthy among his images is a series capturing 'devil dancing' at the now-destroyed Chone monastery, Gansu.

Remaining in China after the end of his expedition with Farrer, Purdom was appointed Inspector of Forests to the Chinese Government in the newly formed Forest Service. In this role he established nurseries to aid reforestation and organised a tree planting programme for the Chinese railway. In the course of this undertaking he spent much time living in a converted railway carriage in remote locations and established some successful forestry stations.

Purdom began planning a flora of China with help from the Belgian horticulturalist Joseph Hers, but the project did not come to fruition. Purdom remained in China for the rest of his life, which came to a premature end after a minor operation carried out at the French hospital in Beijing in November 1921.

Sources:
Anon., 1921, Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 1921(10): 408
The Arnold Arboretum, Explorers: William Purdom
http://arboretum.harvard.edu/library/image-collection/botanical-and-cultural-images-of-eastern-asia/william-purdom, accessed 29 March 2012.