Edward Keynes Purchase was born in Kington, Herefordshire, England in 1862 and was articled to Thomas Nicholson (1823-1895) in Hereford. He worked as an assistant to Jones & Parks in Newtown, Powys, and to Thomas Walter Lawrence Emden (1847-1913) in 1884. He commenced practice as an architect in London in 1886 and was in partnership with George Dennis Martin (1847-1915) until 1895, and with Roland Welch (1875-1940) in 1923.
Purchase was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1906. His address was given as 3 Mecklenburgh Street, London in 1894; and 20 and 22 Maddox Street, London in 1905 and 1922. He died in Croydon, Surrey on 4 May 1923
Numerous business premises, factories, and residential houses in London and country, including Aldlne House, Bedford Street, Strand; Palm Courts, Cecil Hotel, Strand; Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall (joint architect); Regent Carriage Co.'s Factory. Fulham Road; Baryta Factory, Watford; 51A, South Street, Mayfair (flats); Hay Green, Kingston Hill (residence)
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary.