Purdy and Millard
Other names: Purdy and Millard Ltd. (1951)
Active: 1880 - 1951
Function: Sculptors, monumental sculptors, wood carvers (1921-1951), engravers (1941-1951)
Policy: 'Memorials, pulpits, fonts, Church Furniture. Every description of granite and marble work'.
In 1935 described firm as 'Shopfitters & Sculptors' in a census of production.
History or description: Purdy and Millard was founded by two English born architectural sculptors, Gabriel Fisher Purdy (1850-1920) and Charles Turner Millard (1852-1938) who relocated to Belfast before 1880. Frederick Herbert (born c.1888) and Charles Edward Purdy (born c.1893), sons of Gabriel Fisher, were also architectural carvers and sculptors. After the death of their father in 1920 they became joint owners of Purdy and Millard. This continued until February 1949 when the partnership between the two brothers was formally dissolved (Frederick may have moved to Canada). Charles carried on running the firm until the mid-1950s when a series of bad debts forced its closure in 1957-58.
Nora Ethel Purdy (married name Fisher) and Nelson Leech (shot in the office during a robbery died 1924) also worked for the business as did the younger generation of family members, which included: Joan Fergusson, Robert Fergusson, Charlie Purdy and Alan Purdy.
Purdy and Millard are said to have worked on the staircase of the Titanic and Charles Purdy was due to sail on the ship but work commitments prevented him sailing. The firm also built a number of swimming pools on other big liners. Charles Purdy's commissions included carving the baptistery plaque and the marble steps up to the alter in Knockbreda parish church.
This record includes information submitted by Heather Ashall, daughter of Myrtle Purdy.
Products & Services
Materials
Cost: £2900
Notes: Total cost of materials for year ending 1933
Granite
Cost: £40
Notes: Cost of 50 tonnes for year ending 1933
Marble
Cost: £250
Notes: Cost of 20 tonnes for year ending 1933
Other Stone
Cost: £300
Notes: Cost of 30 tonnes for year ending 1933
Cement
Cost: £50
Notes: Cost of 20 tonnes for year ending 1933
Sand
Cost: £75
Notes: Cost of 60 tonnes for year ending 1933
Monumental & Architectural Masonary - Granite
Cost: £1100
Notes: Net selling value for year ending 1933
Monumental & Architectural Masonary - Marble
Cost: £970
Notes: Net selling value for year ending 1933
Monumental & Architectural Masonary - Other Stone/ Slate
Cost: £850
Notes: Net selling value for year ending 1933
Monumental & Architectural Masonary - Dressed Stone
Cost: £70
Notes: Net selling value for year ending 1933
Monumental & Architectural Masonary - Slabbed work (other tile & mosaic)
Cost: £430
Notes: Net selling value for year ending 1933
Work done on Monuments (not made by firm - erection & inscription cutting)
Cost: £500
Notes: For year ending 1933
Contract & Job Work
Cost: £1000
Notes: For year ending 1933
Total Value of Goods made & Work done
Cost: £4920
Notes: For year ending 1933
Employees, Students & Members
Numbers: 24 ('Wage Earners')
Period Start: 1932
Period End: 1933
Percentage Male/Female: 100/0
Numbers: 8 (Admin)
Period Start: 1932
Period End: 1933
Percentage Male/Female: 63/37
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited due to a lack of evidence about the state, medium or edition shown.
Carved Scottish Provident Building
1899 - 1902
Carved Signs of the Zodiac
1903
Created Oak Lecterns
Locations
Address Belfast | View on map
Jan. 13th, 1906, p. 7.
Business located at 12 Wellington Place Belfast | View on map
1880
Business located at 20 Howard Street Belfast | View on map
1890 - 1921
Business located at Brunswick Street Belfast | View on map
1900 - 1911
Business located at 8 Great Victoria Street Belfast | View on map
1911
Office located at 76 Hamill Street Belfast | View on map
1931 - 1951
Works located at 2A Galway Street Belfast | View on map
1931 - 1933
Institutional and Business Connections
May be connected to Purdy and Co.
This may be an antecedent of the longstanding firm of architectural sculptors, Purdy and Millard (fl. c.1880-1951)
Received commission from Ulster Museum
1924 - 1929
Stone carving for new museum building, Stranmillis Road.
Associated People
Trade name of Gabriel Fisher Purdy
Trade name of Charles Turner Millard
Trade name of Charles Edward Millard Purdy
Charles was probably working with the family firm from before 1911, he and his older brother Frederick Herbert (born c.1888) took over the partnership after their father, Gabriel Fisher's death, in 1920.
Worked with James Edgar Winter
1900 - 1906
Winter and Purdy & Millard both had carving contracts for Belfast City Hall (1906), and Presbyterian Assembly Buildings Belfast (1900-05)
Descriptions of Business or Institution
Listed in The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1951
Engravers
Listed in The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1941
Engravers and Die Sinkers
Listed in The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1911
Marble & Stonecutters & Monumental Designers
Listed in The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1900
Marble and Stonecutters and Monumental Designers
Listed in The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1890
Marble and Stonecutters & Monumental Designers
Listed in The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1880
Statuarists and Ornamental Stoneworkers
Listed under Monumental Sculptors The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1951
Listed under Monumental Sculptors The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1941
Listed under Monumental Sculptors The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1931
Listed under Monumental Sculptors The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1921-22
Listed under Wood Carvers The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1951
Listed under Wood Carvers The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1941
Listed under Wood Carvers The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1931
Listed under Wood Carvers The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1921-22
Publications
Advertised in The Irish Builder, 1906 formerly The Dublin Builder
13 January 1906, p. 7
Advertised in The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1895
Purdy & Millard, Sculptors, Howard Street & Brunswick Street, Belfast. Monuments, Pulpits, Altars, Fonts, Mural Tablets and Brasses. Stone and Wood Carving, Tiles and Mosaics. p. 831
Sources
Buildings of Belfast 1700-1914
1967
p. 59
Purdy and Millard Ltd. Import Duties Act Inquiry form, 1933
1933
The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1880
1880
p. 537
The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1890
1890
p. 664
The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1895
1895
p. 831
The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1900
1900
p. 1161
The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1911
1911
p. 1378
The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1921-22
1921
p. 1393, 1443
The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1931
1931
p. 1380
The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1941
1941
p. 1051, 1095, 1136
The Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1951
1951
p. 1154, 1211, 1259
The Belfast Gazette
Date:
4 February 1949
Issue number:
1441
Page number:
27 AND Date:
25 January 1957
Issue number:
1857
Page number:
24 AND Date:
15 August 1958
Issue number:
1938
Page number:
263
The Irish Builder, 1906 formerly The Dublin Builder
1906
13 January 1906, p. 7
Citing this record
'Purdy and Millard', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/organization.php?id=msib3_1216036689, accessed 10 Jun 2023]
