Page 128 - Redditch People

Redditch People

Many of Eileen’s friends and colleagues during her lifetime were also dedicated volunteers
and charity workers. They did not seek acknowledgement or praise but without them
many would have been lost and lonely.

Redditch has always had such a group of people, and still has to the present day but Eileen
Pruden was a supreme example of those deeply committed to helping others in need.

John Purcell 1842 - 1938

Blacksmith, Harpoon maker and Lay Preacher Photograph Awaited

John Purcell was born in 1842 in Redditch to parents
Henry and Elizabeth. He married twice and had one
girl with his first wife and five children with his
second.

John was classed in various directories as a
Blacksmith and Harpoon Maker in Oswald Street.
According to the Gloucester Echo, at the time of his
death 7th October 1938 at the age of 97, he was the
oldest Lay Preacher in the Midlands and possibly
England.

Source/Researched by: Ancestry.co.uk & British Newspaper Archives © RLHS 2015
Page: 128