PURNELL, Frederick Charles (1868-1953) 
Lieut Col F C Purnell.
Frederick Charles Purnell architect, born on 10 February 1868, was the son of William Purnell and Mary nee Lamb and entered the College as a day student on 25 April 1881.
He died at Geelong on 10 February 1950 after a long illness. An architect by profession, he had a great deal to do with the development of the College and with the work of the Town Planning Association. He will be long remembered as a planter of trees for miles along the formerly desolate Melbourne Road.
Early in the 1914-18 war he was known to many Old Boys as Lieut-Colonel in charge of the AIF camp at the Geelong racecourse, Later, he was in France on the staff of the Anglo-American Tasks Commission, service for which he received the special thanks of the French Government. The College was always one of his major interests; in 1919-20 he was President of the OGCA. he was also the organizer and a member of the Old Collegians' Choir. Charles Purnell was also instrumental in acquiring a set of guns as ‘war trophies’ for the School. He was responsible for much of the architectural work at the School until 1927 and also organised the drawing of the Coat-of-Arms in 1927.
Sources: Pegasus May 1914 pp 10-12; Obituary - Pegasus June 1953 p 35.