Purcell, Henry, eminent English musician, born at Westminster; was successively organist at Westminster Abbey and to the Chapel Royal; excelled in all forms of musical composition; was the author of anthems, cantatas, glees, &c., which attained great popularity; he set the songs of Shakespeare's “Tempest” to music (1658‒1695).
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Purbeck, Isle of * Purchas, Samuel