John Archibald Purves

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(8 July 1870–11 April 1952) was an English electrical engineer best remembered as inventor of the dynasphere. However, his biggest contribution was in the field of electricity supply.

Life

He was born in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

on 8 July 1870. He studied physics at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

specialising in the then new field of electrical engineering. He graduated with a BSc and earned a doctorate (DSc) in 1899. In Scotland he helped to establish electricity companies in southern Scotland later merged to create the

South of Scotland Electricity Board The South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) generated, transmitted and distributed electricity throughout the south of Scotland, including the former regions of Strathclyde, Lothian, Fife, Central, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway and a few t ...

. In 1897 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

William Peddie 250px, William Peddie (ca 1910) William Peddie FRSE LLD (31 May 1861 – 2 June 1946) was a Scottish physicist and applied mathematician, known for his research on colour vision and molecular magnetism. Life He was born in Papa Westray in Orkney ...

George Chrystal George Chrystal FRSE FRS (8 March 1851 – 3 November 1911) was a Scottish mathematician. He is primarily know for his books on algebra and his studies of seiches (wave patterns in large inland bodies of water) which earned him a Gold Meda ...

Robert Boog Watson Robert Boog Watson FRSE (26 September 1823 – 23 June 1910) was a Scottish malacologist and minister of the Free Church of Scotland best known as the author of the report on the Scaphopoda and Gastropoda collected during the H.M.S. ''Cha ...

and Sir James Ormiston Affleck. At this time he lived at 4 Wardie Avenue in northern Edinburgh and appears to have been a partner in a firm named Lorrain & Purves, engineers and patent agents, of 53 York Place in the town centre. In 1902 he moved to

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in south-west England with his brother, William Thomson Purves. Together they founded the

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...

Power and Lighting Company in 1908 and created a consultative company, the Western Electricity Corporation in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

in the same year. The primary purpose of the latter was to promote hydro-electric schemes on

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...

. In 1920 when the Dartmoor Preservation Society successfully blocked the proposal. In 1911 he was living at 6 Pennsylvania Park in

. In 1926 he won the franchise to supply Bampton with electricity. In 1927 he won a franchise to supply electricity to

South Molton South Molton is a town in Devon, England. It is part of the North Devon local government district. The town is on the River Mole. According to the 2001 census the civil parish of South Molton had a population of 4,093, increasing to 5,108 at the ...

. In 1928, with his friend Sir John Snell he began a roll-out programme of electricity supply systems under the West of England Electricity Ltd based in

Honiton Honiton ( or ) is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 11,822 (based on mid-year estimates for the two Honiton Ward ...

. In 1930 he moved to Chilliswood outside Taunton and here he invented the Dynasphere. He died at

Collumpton Cullompton () is a town and civil parish in the district of Mid Devon and the county of Devon, England. It is north-east of Exeter and lies on the River Culm. In 2011 the parish as a whole had a population of 8,499 while the built-up area of t ...

on 11 April 1952.

Family

He was married to Edith Purves (born 1869), and their children included Charles Eric Purves (born 1898).

References

1870 births 1952 deaths People from Taunton Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British electrical engineers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{UK-engineer-stub