Education
Purser was educated in Dublin, Midleton College, Cork and Portora Royal School, Enniskillen where a fellow pupil and student of classics was Oscar Wilde.
Purser was educated in Dublin, Midleton College, Cork and Portora Royal School, Enniskillen where a fellow pupil and student of classics was Oscar Wilde.
In 1897 Purser was appointed Professor of Latin at Trinity College, Dublin. He collaborated with Doctor Robert Yelverton Tyrrell on the translation of the letters of Cicero. He was the brother of the noted Irish artist Sarah Purser.
He is buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery.