Whitworth Porter | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Whitworth Porter in 1846 | |
| Born | (1827-09-25)25 September 1827 |
| Died | 27 May 1892(1892-05-27) (aged 64) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1845–1881 |
| Rank | Major general |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Order of Medjidie |
Whitworth Porter (1827–1892) was an EnglishMajor General of theRoyal Engineers, known also as a historical writer.[1]
The second son of Henry Porter, of Winslade House, SouthDevon, he was born at Winslade, nearExeter, on 25 September 1827; his mother was Rose Aylmer, youngest daughter ofSir Henry Russell, 1st Baronet. Porter entered theRoyal Military Academy at Woolwich on 14 November 1842, obtained a commission as second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 18 December 1845, and was promoted first lieutenant on 1 April 1846.[2][3]
After passing through the usual course of professional instruction atChatham, Porter embarked forDominica in the West Indies on 13 December 1847, having married the preceding October. He returned home from Dominica in March 1850, and was stationed atLimerick. He was promoted second captain on 3 January 1855. On 20 December 1853 he embarked forMalta, but in February 1855 was sent on active service to theCrimean War. He served in the trenches at thesiege of Sebastopol until June. For his services he received the war medal, with clasp for Sebastopol, the Turkish medal, and the fifth class of theOrder of Medjidie; and on 2 November 1855 he was promoted brevet-major. After serving at home for 18 months, he returned to Malta in December 1856. On 2 April 1859 Porter was promoted first captain in the Royal Engineers, and returned to England.[2]
Porter was employed at theWar Office under the inspector-general of fortifications from April 1859 until September 1862 in connection with the defence of the United Kingdom. he was the designer ofPicklecombe Fort, as part of the defences of Devonport Dockyard. He served on the jury for the military division of the1862 International Exhibition in London, was instructor in fortification at theRoyal Military College at Sandhurst from 1862 to 1868, was promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel on 23 August 1866, and promoted regimental lieutenant-colonel on 14 December 1868.[2]
In March 1870 Porter was again sent to Malta, where, as executive officer under the commanding Royal Engineer, he supervised the construction of the defences of the new dockyard. While at Malta he was employed on the eclipse expedition to Sicily in 1872, and he designed and erected observatories atCatania andSyracuse. He was promoted brevet-colonel on 14 December 1873.[2]
In February 1874 Porter was appointed commanding Royal Engineer atBarbados; he remained there for two years, returning to England in April 1876, and was stationed for a time at Chatham. He was commanding Royal Engineer of the western district, and stationed atPlymouth from 1877 till 1 October 1881, when he retired from the service on a pension, with the honorary rank of major-general. After retirement he interested himself in charitable works connected with theOrder of St. John of Jerusalem, and was chairman of the metropolitan district of theSt. John's Ambulance Association.[2]
Porter died on 27 May 1892, and was buried at St. Michael's Church, York Town, now inCamberley,Surrey, of which he had been churchwarden for many years. He had contributed towards its enlargement, and had carved the ornamental foliage on thechancel screen.[2]
Porter publishedLife in the Trenches before Sebastopol, London, 1856. It was followed byA History of the Knights of Malta (2 vols. London, 1858); which he revised for an edition in 1883, and also abridged. His major work of later life wasHistory of the Corps of Royal Engineers, which was published in two volumes in 1889. One of his last acts was to present the copyright of the work to the Corps.[2] A continuation was added, through 11 volumes.[4]
Porter married inLondon, on 25 October 1847, Annie Shirley da Costa, by whom he had two children:
Porter erected areredos at St. Michael's Church, York Town, to the memory of Reginald.[2]
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Porter, Whitworth".Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 46. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
