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PURVIS, ROBERT HENRY (BOB) (c1885–1965), sports instructor, bush worker and pastoralist, was born at
Aberdeen in Scotland in about 1885. Little is known of his education but he commenced though never completed
a Law degree. A younger brother, Lou, was to join him for a short period in Central Australia.
He came to Australia for Shorthose, Weaber and Rice, who apparently ran several gymnasiums in Melbourne
and elsewhere. Being a sportsman, Purvis worked for them as an instructor in gymnastics, boxing and wrestling.
In Melbourne, he smashed his right hand during a title fight. He refused to have his hand amputated and returned
to England where a Harley Street surgeon removed two knuckles and reset the hand at an odd angle.
He returned to Melbourne but unable to get work with his crippled hand carried his swag to Tarcoola in
South Australia. He continued north along the Central Australian line to Irrapanta siding where he obtained work
shovelling sand for six Shillings a day.
Eventually Purvis was able to use his hand to grasp tools such as an adze and could take contract work repairing
yards and wells. He helped to rebuild Purple Downs homestead (north of the present day Woomera) in South
Australia in about 1906.
Purvis was also a horse lover and learned to drive a horse team and to handle camels. His first major experience
with camels was as an assistant to a camel team on a trip from Oodnadatta to Daly Waters in the Northern Territory.
Charles Bagot and Fred Marsh of Oodnadatta, who for a number of years ran a camel transport business, owned
the team.
Purvis worked for Bagot and Marsh for about three years and earned enough to purchase his own string of
about 20 camels. He struck disaster on his first trip with these camels when they ate Gastrolobium (a poison bush)
near Murray Downs and most of them died.
It was during this period of time that Bruce Plowman, an Australian Inland Mission padre, was operating out
of Oodnadatta. In his book, The Man from Oodnadatta, Plowman recorded a meeting in about 1915 with Purvis,
whom he referred to as ‘Scotch Bob’. With his brief description of ‘Scotch Bob, with the drinking capacity of a
camel’, the padre revealed one of Purvis’s well-known traits.
It was probably soon after this that he started gouging for wolfram at Hatches Creek (Purvis’s Claim—‘The Ace
of Spades’.) When the Director of Mines, T G Oliver, visited the field in October 1916, he reported that Purvis was
‘getting fair ore.’
In this period, before 1920, Purvis made a track from Burt Well (66 kilometres north of Alice Springs) direct to
Murray Downs. He had a narrow escape on this track, while being accompanied by Jim Glynn, when their camels
bolted during a dry storm at night. Glynn, carrying water, went on foot up to 80 kilometres retrieving the camels.
He returned with them on the third morning but both men went short of water.
On another occasion Purvis and Alf Turner, who had 700 cows and calves spelling at Ti Tree Well, had to walk
the cattle to Turner’s property, Alcoota. With the onset of warmer weather the water supply at the well dropped
and being unable to obtain more men for help the two set off alone with the cattle. The two men had water for
themselves in neck waterbags and food in saddlebags. There was no water for the cattle on the 175 kilometres
journey but water for the men and their horses was obtained at two rock holes and a soak. The latter was known as
Harper (or Harper’s) Spring, a small permanent water supply.
With Dan Pedlar, the man credited with discovering the Hatches Creek wolfram field, Purvis sank Blue Bush
Well on Murray Downs. He later sank wells at Harper Springs soak, to start the station of the same name for Tom
Turner, Woola Downs for Dick Turner and Adnera and Woodgreen for himself. He spent two years looking for
water on the Adnera block, sinking 21 wells and hand bores with depths from nine metres to 55 metres.
In 1919, Purvis applied for some land to the east of Barrow Creek. At the time he described himself as
‘a teamster at present engaged on contract work on Messrs. Scott, Weldons, Stirling Stn. I have a large box wagon
working 20 horses in addition I have also 50 horses... a flock of goats... a full plant such as is required by a station
contractor.’ In 1920, he was granted Pastoral Lease 2412, but later threw it up.
About this time, Purvis became seriously ill from tetanus infection after having a tooth pulled with fencing
pliers by Sergeant Stott of Alice Springs. An Aboriginal woman, unconscious and strapped to the back of a horse,
brought him into town. Townspeople, including Stott and Fred Price, the Postmaster, could not work out what was
wrong with Purvis. There was no doctor in town in those days but contact by telegraph with a doctor in Adelaide
revealed the problem—lockjaw or tetanus. Purvis was taken to Oodnadatta by buggy, then by train to Adelaide.
During the journey, he had to be fed through the side of his mouth.
Purvis recovered and in about 1924 he returned to the Centre. He was granted Grazing Lease 402 over a block
of land from which he built up the station that was to become Woodgreen. In 1925, he was granted Pastoral Lease
163 over the Adnera block but this, as noted above, he threw up because of lack of water.
While establishing Woodgreen Purvis worked on the Overland Telegraph Line repairing wells from Burt Well
to Kelly Well. From 1926 to 1928, he had a contract to sink wells on the Sandover Stockroute from Alcoota to
Argadargada. As Purvis worked further to the east, the wells became deeper and deeper until the project was
abandoned at the sixth well when it reached 82 metres.
Purvis married Adela Violet Zimmermann on 29 April 1936. Before 1940, he defended people in the Alice
Springs court who could not afford a lawyer. He was responsible for establishing the Barrow Creek Racing Club.
He was a good judge of horses and officiated as a judge at shows.
Purvis was well known for his healthy appetite and earned the nickname of the ‘Sandover Alligator’. Some of
his gastronomic feats included the eating of a small goat complete with soup made from the head; 60 boiled eggs;
and most of a pie made for 10 railway gangers. He usually undertook these feats as bets and he lost the bet over the