Peerage Record – 16869

     Prince Vladimir Drutskoy-Sokolinsky lived at Rome, Italy^G.¹

     Prince Alexander Drutskoy-Sokolinsky was born on 29 June 1963.¹ He is the son of Prince Andrei Drutskoy-Sokolinsky and Celia Aimeé Lorna Laurie Pile.¹ He married Monique Debauche, daughter of Dr. François Debauche, in 1990.²
     He was educated at Brussels, Belgium^G, Bachelor of Aeq. (B.Aeq.)¹ He graduated from Darwin College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England^G, with a Master of Laws (LL.M.)¹ He lived in 2003 at 9 Rue de Vervier, Brussels, Belgium^G.¹

     Monique Debauche is the daughter of Dr. François Debauche.¹ She married Prince Alexander Drutskoy-Sokolinsky, son of Prince Andrei Drutskoy-Sokolinsky and Celia Aimeé Lorna Laurie Pile, in 1990.¹
     From 1990, her married name became Drutskoy-Sokolinsky.¹

     William Purcell was baptised on 10 February 1762 at St. Pauls, Deptford, Kent, England^G.¹ He married, firstly, Ann Livett on 10 November 1782 at St. Dunstans, Stepney, London, England^G.¹ He married, secondly, Hannah Maria Castlake on 18 September 1793 at St. Marys, Portsea, Hampshire, England^G.¹ He died on 10 March 1834 at age 72 at Hasler Hospital, Portsea, Hampshire, England^G.¹
     He gained the rank of Senior Warrant Officer on 27 August 1787 in the Royal Navy, on board H.M.A.V. Bounty.¹
     On 27 Aug 1787, William Purcell was signed aboard H.M.A.V. Bounty as Ship’s carpenter, with the rank of Senior Warrant Officer. Although his age is not given, it is reasonable to assume that he was 35 or 40 years of age, and probably a veteran of 10 to 20 years in the Royal Navy.
Purcell was highly conscious of his special status due to his rank and skills which exempted him from flogging. An early unionist, he was quick to call his Captain’s attention to his claimed exemption from ordinary duty, and his proprietary rights to his tools. As recorded in his log, Bligh’s difficulties with Purcell began at a very early date.
On 26 Aug 1788, while in port in Tasmania, Purcell refused ‘in a most insolent and reprehensible manner’ to take part in certain general duties, like hoisting water into the hold. This was probably a sulk, as Purcell had been recently reprimanded for his conduct on a wood-gathering party. His conduct could have resulted in his arrest and confinement pending trial, but Bligh, not wishing to lose the services of an able crewman for the remainder of the long voyage, chose instead to sentence him to laborer’s duties on the ship, a very demeaning assignment for his rank.
He apparently was able to convince his colleague, Senior Warrant Officer Fryer, the Ship’s Master, who was in charge of the assigned duties, that Purcell’s rank and need to attend to his carpentry would not permit his compliance. When Bligh heard of this, he carefully gathered statements and evidence from crewmembers to be used later to back charges against the carpenter. Bligh then confronted Purcell, indicating that ‘until he should work as commanded, all provisions would be withheld.’ Severe punishment would befall and crewmember who assisted him, and the log recalls that ‘he was soon brought to his senses’.
Purcell seems to have been only the first to express the serious rift that was forming between Bligh and his senior staff, all highly experienced older men. Bligh’s well-documented confrontations with Fryer seem to have begun at this point, and grew increasingly rancorous throughout the voyage.
In October of 1788, while in Tahiti, Purcell again outraged Bligh when he refused to cut a grindstone for Bligh’s Tahitian host on the grounds that ‘it will spoil my chisel. There is a law to take away my clothes, but there is none to take away my tools.’ This got him a day of cabin arrest!
Just before the mutiny, which occurred the following April, Fletcher Christian approached Purcell complaining of Bligh’s treatment of his officers. Purcell tried to calm him, saying that ‘it is for a short time only’, but this had little effect on the angry young Lieutenant. Despite his earlier run-in’s with Bligh, when the mutiny actually took place, there was little question of Purcell joining the mutineers. The senior officers knew well the gravity of mutiny, and what fate would await them should they be apprehended. Likewise, the mutineers had little patience for this group of ‘establishment figures’ that had attempted to dissuade them from their course of action. Christian, therefore, chose to force Purcell’s assistants, Norman and McIntosh, to remain with the Bounty to handle carpentry emergencies. Most of Purcell’s tools were likewise confiscated.
Despite the privations and the difficulties of the voyage in the launch that carried Bligh and his loyalists to safety in Timor, constant bickering occurred as the refugees split into camps supporting Bligh or Fryer. Purcell, of course, was one of Fryer’s strongest supporters. On the second leg of the voyage, from Timor to Surabaya in a larger vessel towing the launch, Fryer and Purcell were again in deep trouble that ended with Bligh arresting them at the point of a bayonet!
But Fryer got some measure of revenge by filing charges against Bligh before leaving Surabaya, and from this point forward, Bligh and Fryer were not on speaking terms. On the third leg, from Surabaya to Batavia, the three men shipped on separate vessels in the convoy, with Fryer and Purcell in irons. On 22 September, Fryer apologized in a way acceptable to Bligh and was released, but Purcell remained in irons until 1 October when they reached their destination.
In England, when Bligh filed his reports and charges against his former crew, he chose not to charge Fryer. Purcell was charged on six counts, but the prosecution was unusually mild, and he was let off with only an official reprimand. This sea-lawyer and advocate of the unionism that was later to affect most marine shipping was the only Bounty loyalist against whom Bligh preferred charges.
His career in the Royal Navy likely continued for several more years. He died on 10 March 1834 at Haslar Hospital, on the Gosport side of Portsmouth harbor in England. Ironically, his room overlooked Spithead, from which the Bounty set sail 47 years earlier. He was the last known survivor of the ill-fated crew, having outlived the last of the mutineers by 5 years.¹

     Ann Livett married William Purcell on 10 November 1782 at St. Dunstans, Stepney, London, England^G.¹ She was buried on 24 January 1786 at St. Pauls, Deptford, Kent, England^G.¹
     Her married name became Purcell.¹

     Hannah Maria Castlake was born circa 1772 at Gosport, Hampshire, England^G.² She married William Purcell on 18 September 1793 at St. Marys, Portsea, Hampshire, England^G.¹ She died on 29 April 1843 at Stepney, London, England^G.¹
     From 18 September 1793, her married name became Purcell.¹

     William Purcell was baptised on 9 January 1784 at St. Nicholas, Deptford, Kent, England^G.¹ He was the son of William Purcell and Ann Livett.¹

     John Purcell was baptised on 9 August 1785 at St. Nicholas, Deptford, Kent, England^G.¹ He was the son of William Purcell and Ann Livett.¹ He died on 26 August 1785.¹ He was buried at St. Nicholas, Deptford, Kent, England^G.¹

     Maria Purcell was born on 4 June 1795 at Greenwich, Kent, England^G.¹ She was the daughter of William Purcell and Hannah Maria Castlake.¹ She was baptised on 2 August 1798 at St. Alphage’s, Greenwich, England^G.¹

     John Weller Purcell was born on 7 August 1798 at Greenwich, Kent, England^G.¹ He was the son of William Purcell and Hannah Maria Castlake.¹ He was baptised on 30 September 1798 at St. Alphage’s, Greenwich, England^G.¹ He married Catherine Monkhouse on 24 November 1830 at Patcham, Sussex, England^G.¹ He died on 18 July 1833 at age 34 at Alverstoke, Hampshire, England^G.¹