Australian Dictionary of Biography

David (Max) Purnell

NAA A9301, 130773

David Maxwell (Max) Purnell (1916–2000), insurance manager, community worker, and arts administrator, was born on 22 April 1916 at Bathurst, New South Wales, third child and second son of New South Wales-born parents Leslie Harry Purnell, Congregational minister, and his wife Bertha Mary, née Little, formerly a schoolteacher. The family moved often with Leslie’s ministry placements. Max attended Unley Infants’ School, Adelaide, Carey Baptist Grammar School, Kew in Melbourne, and Neutral Bay Intermediate High School, Sydney, where he befriended a fellow student, Sumner Locke Elliott, who was already writing and producing plays and would forge a distinguished career as a novelist and playwright. According to Purnell, he whetted ‘my appetite for theatricals’ (Purnell 1983, tape 4, 10).

In 1931 Purnell was employed as a salesman by the Royal Insurance Co. Ltd, Sydney. He also enrolled in night classes at a drama school and went on to perform in radio plays and amateur theatrical productions. On 30 March 1940 at Mosman Congregational Church, he married locally born stenographer Beatrice Mary (Betty) Holgate. She shared his interest in the theatre and was a keen singer and pianist. He was seconded briefly to Canberra in 1941–42, then in February 1943, during World War II, enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force, serving as a signals clerk in the Northern Territory (1943–44) before being discharged with the rank of leading aircraftman in October 1945.

Purnell and his family moved permanently to Canberra in 1946 on his appointment to manage the Royal Insurance company’s local office. He owned later to ‘having been born a conscientious soul’ who served the company ‘well and faithfully … for forty-something years’ (Purnell 1983, tape 15, 7). With his friend and near neighbour on Canberra’s Mugga Way, Sir Robert Garran, he shared a deep commitment to the cultural development of the still nascent national capital. He performed with Canberra Repertory Society and was a compère at community events over many years, including the popular Carols by Candlelight event organised by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) each December.

Increasingly, Purnell’s talents led him to take on leadership positions across a range of local organisations. In 1953 he was invited to join the Committee on Cultural Development which had been set up under Garran’s leadership by the Commonwealth Department of the Interior to advise a ministerial committee on ‘the allocation of the annual grant and other matters relative to balanced, cultural development’ (Canberra Times 1949, 3) in the Australian Capital Territory. Purnell later chaired the committee (1972–81) and developed a more consultative relationship with local cultural organisations. Over time the committee pressed to put Canberra’s cultural offerings on a more businesslike footing.

The committee played an important advocacy role, contributing to the opening in 1965 of the Canberra School of Music and of the Canberra Theatre Centre. In 1968 Purnell was appointed to the Canberra Theatre Trust which managed the centre, serving as deputy chairman (1971–76) and then as chairman (1977–81). In 1972 he led the development of the trust’s proposal for a Canberra festival to highlight the arts and culture in the national capital, and in 1983 proposed an even larger, two-thousand seat theatre to enable the ‘big shows’ (Purnell 1983, tape 15, 1) to come to Canberra.

To Purnell the arts were a source of hope that would ‘lift our sights and make us think that there can be something better and something worthwhile’ (Purnell 1983, tape 15, 17). Through his contributions to the city’s cultural and broader community life, he helped to transform Canberra into something more than a seat of national government defined exclusively by its political and bureaucratic character. His extensive community involvement also included service as president of YMCA of Canberra (1951–52), of the Rotary Club of Canberra (1961–62), and of Goodwin Homes for the Aged (1980–84). He expressed his zeal for the community in many letters to the editor of the Canberra Times, and was appointed MBE in 1972 and AM in 1982.

His parents’ Congregational influence encouraged in Purnell a respect for individual freedom, social responsibility, and tolerance towards others. He was gifted with organisational skills and, inspired by Chekhov’s view that most drama is comedy, had an ability to see the funny side of things. While he claimed to be a shy person who lacked confidence, he had a ready smile. He was moderate in height and weight.

Purnell died on 17 March 2000 in Canberra. Predeceased by his wife (1993), he was survived by their children, David, John, and Lynne. A street in the Canberra suburb of Forde was named after him. His son David wrote of his parents: ‘I will always value the example they both gave me of an active involvement in the community. I have no doubt their commitment to Canberra affected me strongly’ (Purnell 2014, 26).