[citation needed] The founder's son, James Purdey the Younger, took over the company's running from his father in 1858.

James the Younger was always at the forefront of advances in designing and building his guns and rifles and took out several patents for technical innovations over the years.

Apart from occasional refinement and the optional single trigger mechanism, very little change has subsequently been made to the design of the side-by-side gun.

[citation needed] In 1900, Athol Purdey took over from his father and ran the business through the prosperous Edwardian years, as well as supervising Purdey's manufacturing of sniper rifles and aerial gunnery sights for the War Office during World War I. Athol's sons, James and Tom, both of whom had served in France, joined the firm in the 1920s.

In 1946, Tom Purdey convinced Hugh Seely, 1st Baron Sherwood, to purchase the shares, eventually passing them to his nephew, the Hon.

Richard Beaumont became Chairman of the company in 1970, and in 1994, upon deciding to retire, sold James Purdey & Sons Ltd to Compagnie Financière Richemont SA.

Richard Purdey, the sixth generation of the founder's family, was brought into the company as Chairman in 1997, retiring in February 2007.

Richard Purdey’s daughter, Annika, the seventh generation of the founder’s family, currently sits on the company’s board as a non-executive director.

As early as 1838, Queen Victoria is recorded as having bought a pair of Purdey pistols, followed by her husband, Prince Albert, in 1840.

The first were commissioned for Queen Mary’s Dolls House in 1923, and were non-working 1:12-scale replicas of the company’s side-by-side shotguns.

The name remains in use today for high-velocity dangerous game cartridges, and the company continues to build double rifles using a reinforced side-by-side action.

Due primarily to both King George V and Earl de Grey, Purdey have a long association with building back-action hammer ejector guns, most of which were built between 1895 and 1931.

During the inter-war period, Purdey responded to demands from its American clients by introducing a single-barrelled trap gun (1923) and an over & under model (1925).