Background
Porter was born in Belfast, the son of Reverend John Scott Porter.
Porter was born in Belfast, the son of Reverend John Scott Porter.
He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, and Queen"s University, Belfast.
In 1860 Porter was called to the Bar and by 1872 had become Queen"s Counsel. He was appointed Master of the Rolls in Ireland in 1883 and served in that post until 1907. In 1902, he was made a baronet by King Edward VII. A. M. Sullivan described him as "a fine lawyer of noble presence and true dignity" who did not tolerate any disturbance to the decorum of his Court.
As a judge Sullivan ranked him as one of the four greatest he had known, and as almost the equal of the celebrated Christopher Palles.
Porter married Agnes Horsburgh and they had six children:
Helen Violet Porter (d 1961), unmarried
Margaret Porter, married Captain Cuthbert Avenal John Vernon
Sir John Scott Horsburgh-Porter, 2nd Baronet (1871–1953), succeeded his father in the title
Alexander Porter (1872–1946)
Andrew Marshall Porter (1874–1900), a noted sportsman who killed in the Second Boer War
William Francis Porter (1878–1903)
While living in Dublin, Porter resided at 42 Merrion Square East, as noted in Ulysses by James Joyce.
22nd United Kingdom Parliament]
He sat as Member of Parliament for County Londonderry from 1881 to 1884 and served under William Ewart Gladstone as Solicitor-General for Ireland from 1881 to 1882 and as Attorney-General for Ireland from 1882 to 1883: in his official capacity he was deeply involved in the trials following the Phoenix Park murders.