Definition of "purser"

So the Comptroller and I thence to a tavern hard by, and there did agree upon drawing up some letters to be sent to all the pursers and Clerks of the Cheques to make up their accounts.

1660 February 11 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “February 1st, 1659–1660”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume I, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, page 339

There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. […] Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place. Pushing men hustle each other at the windows of the purser's office, under pretence of expecting letters or despatching telegrams.

1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company

If we offend against any of the other rules (A's or B's) - that is if we, say, utter the formula incorrectly, or if, say, we are not in a position to do the act because we are, say, married already, or it is the purser and not the captain who is conducting the ceremony, then the act in question, e.g. marrying, is not successfully performed at all, does not come off, is not achieved.

1962, J. L. Austin, How To Do Things With Words‎

“Cabin 459, sir.” “What deck?” “'A' deck, sir.” “That's second class.” “Yes, sir. You have a second-class ticket.” “There must be some mistake. I can't possibly have a second-class ticket.” The assistant purser examined another ledger, […]

2015 August 25, Michael Kilian, Dance on a Sinking Ship‎, Open Road Media