William Henry Samuel Purcell (1912-1994) was Archdeacon of Dorking from 1968 until 1982.
Purcell was born in or near to Norwich on 22 January 1912.
[1] Purcell was educated at Norwich School and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and ordained in 1938.
[2] After a curacy in Headingley, Yorkshire he was raised to the position of a Minor Canon of Ripon Cathedral in that county.
He held incumbencies (as priest leading a church) in Leeds, Yorkshire and Epsom, Surrey before his appointment as Archdeacon which he retired at the age of 70.