Background
Porter was born in London in 1784.
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William Porter
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Porter became a prominent sea captain, operating a small fleet out of his own yard at Liverpool. Porter sold his shipyard in Liverpool and took two of his ships, Porter, and Dorset, provisioned with livestock and a range of personnel (including a doctor, tutors and servants), so that he could set up a relatively self-sufficient farming station at Portuguese Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula. Porter himself captained his namesake, the Porter (a 252-ton brig), which he had built in 1824 and which had been strengthened so that it would be fit for the hazardous voyage.
Upon arrival, he used this vessel to set up a shipping service from Portuguese Lincoln and Adelaide to and from other Australian and New Zealand ports.
Porter also built the Dorset (95 tons) in 1838, specifically as a back-up ship for the journey to Australia. This was sold upon arrival.
Porter’s expedition arrived at Portuguese Lincoln in early 1839. The party was just one of three to arrive with settlers for the district in the 1830s and 1840s.
lieutenant became apparent to him that Adelaide would be the main settlement in South Australia and that immediate prospects for Portuguese Lincoln would be limited.
He abandoned the settlement in 1840. Although Porter’s tenure in Portuguese Lincoln only lasted 18 months, he had, nevertheless, been appointed the first Magistrate of the Eyre Peninsular and his family left its name at ‘Porter Bay’. In May 1841, Porter arrived in New Zealand.
She waited until he was properly settled, before joining him in Auckland.
Porter served in the 1st New Zealand Parliament as representative for the Suburbs of Auckland electorate from 1853 to 1855, when he retired, but did not serve in any further Parliaments. He also served on the Auckland Provincial Council.
Porter died on 30 March 1869 at Mangatangi, Waikato.
Membership
He relocated to Auckland in 1841, where he became a member of the New Zealand Parliament.
