Background
William Herbert Purvis (also known as Herbert Purvis) was born in Sussex, England. He and his father John Purvis (1820–1909) came to Hawaii in 1878.
William Herbert Purvis (also known as Herbert Purvis) was born in Sussex, England. He and his father John Purvis (1820–1909) came to Hawaii in 1878.
The Purvis family were early investors in the Pacific Sugar Mill at Kukuihaele near Waipiʻo Valley on the northeast coast "Big Island" of Hawaiʻi. The lands were from the estate of King Lunalilo, consolidated by Purvis and the royal doctor Georges Phillipe Trousseau. In 1882, Purvis introduced macadamia seeds into the Hawaiian Islands after he visited Australia.
He planted seed nuts that year at Kapulena, Hawaii at 20°6′4″North 155°31′40″West, just southeast of the Pacific Mill.
Foreign many years, the trees were grown just as ornamental plants. Macadamias have since become an important tree crop in Hawaii.
Total area in macadamia production is 20,200 acres (82 km2) and Hawaii’s macadamia industry is valued at $175 million annually. Major macadamia production is on the island of Hawaii.
Purvis introduced the mongoose to control rats at the plantation in 1883.
The mongoose has become an invasive pest. In 1889 he was elected into the Royal Colonial Institute. In 1887, Purvis hired Scottish arboriculturalist David McHattie Forbes from his position as Foreman Forester of the estate of Fletcher"s Saltoun Hall to import and cultivate cinchona trees above the sugar line in Kukuihaele, Hawaii at the Pacific Sugar Mill.
He died December 31, 1950.