George Porter (Royalist)
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George Porter(1622?–1683) was a royalist army officer of theFirst English Civil War.
Life
[edit]He was the eldest son ofEndymion Porterand Olivia Butler. On 19 June 1641 Charles I recommended him to theEarl of Ormondeto be allowed to transport a regiment of a thousand of the disbanded soldiers of the Irish army for the service of Spain.
At the start of the Civil War he appears to have served underPrince Rupert,and then became commissary-general of horse in the army of theEarl of Newcastle.In March 1644 Porter was engaged in fortifyingLincoln,and at thebattle of Marston Moor,where he was wounded, he held the rank of major-general of Newcastle's foot.
Parliament sent him to theTower of Londonbut later allowed him to be exchanged. On his release Porter became lieutenant-general and commander of the horse in the army ofGeorge Goring, Lord Goring,in the west of England. Over Goring, he was considered a bad influence. AtIlminsteron 9 July 1645, he allowed Goring's cavalry to be surprised and routed byEdward Massey.Goring declared that he deserved to be shot, and a few weeks later toldEdward Hydethat he suspected Porter of treachery as well as negligence; his final verdict was that "his brother-in-law was the best company, but the worst officer that ever served the king". Porter then quarrelled with ColonelSamuel Tuke,over promotion.
In November 1645 Porter obtained a pass fromSir Thomas Fairfax,abandoned the king's cause, and went to London. He made his peace with the parliamentary cause: the House of Commons remitted the fine of £1,000 which the committee for compounding had imposed upon him, and passed an ordinance for his pardon.
Porter was quarrelsome, and in 1646 and 1654 intended duels were prevented by official intervention. In 1659 he was engaged in the plots for the restoration of Charles II, but was not trusted by the royalists. After the king's return, he obtained the office ofgentleman of the privy chambertoCatharine of Braganzaand from 1677 served as aGroom of the Bedchamberto the King until his own death in 1683.
Family
[edit]Porter married Diana, daughter ofGeorge Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich,and widow of Thomas Covert of Slaugham, Sussex, by whom he had three sons and five daughters. His daughter Mary marriedPhilip Smythe, 2nd Viscount Strangford.
References
[edit]- .Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:"Porter, George (1622?-1683)".Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.