William Henry Purnell

William Henry Purnell (1826–1902) was the Comptroller of Maryland from 1856–1861.

In 1846, Purnell had received a degree from Delaware College (now the University of Delaware). Prior to his election as comptroller Purnell practice law.

Purnell was elected to office as a member of the Know-Nothing Party. He was reelected in 1860, but later quit office to take an appointment as post master of Baltimore and then served as a Union Army officer in the United States Civil War. Purnell had raised a military unit for the Union cause, known as Purnell's Legion, in Worcester County, Maryland. Purnell resigned from the military, holding the rank of colonel, in February 1862 and resumed the position of post master of Baltimore. This resignation was endorsed by Major General John Adams Dix.

In 1870, Purnell became the president of Delaware College. He was the first president of the institution after its revival as a Land Grant College. Purnell was a strong supporter of co-education but after a fifteen-year trial, Delaware College stopped accepting female students by a vote of the board on June 24, 1885. At the same meeting, the board accepted Purnells resignation as college president.

Purnell married Margaret Neill Martin. They were the parents of ten children.