PORTER ancestry in Seal, Kent

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Genealogy matters 

According to 'The monumental inscriptions at Seal' in Margaret Stevens’ Past Generations of Seal and Kempsing from the Memorials of the Churches, the Porter family was in Seal, in Kent, at least as far back as 1450. She reported that they lived at Hall Place and elsewhere in Seal.

The Hall Place residence is confirmed in the IGI where an early record gives:

Andrewe Porter, baptised 10 June 1576, Seal, Kent, to William Porter of Hall and his wife.

The IGI does give earlier entries for Porters in Seal, but the majority are estimates rather than parish records. Two actual parish records are:

Andrew Porter, baptised 04 Oct 1562, Seal, Kent, to William Porter and his wife.

Andrew Porter, baptised 10 Aug 1567, Seal, Kent, to John Porter and Johane Holloway. (It is possible that the first of these two Andrews died young and that the record for 1576 is for his brother. Alternatively the Andrews could have been cousins.)

The last two Porter families may also have lived at the Hall, or Hall Place. The IGI does not usually mention residences. It seems from Margaret Stevens' book that the Porter family died out or left Seal, and it was their descendants (presumably via the female line) who took up residence there. To quote: "Thomas Thompson d. 1805 ... was one of the fourth generation of Thompsons at Hall Place."

More evidence of the presence of the Porter family in Seal and their Hall connection comes from the website Manorial Inscriptions in Kent Churchyards:

Old altar stone: Here lyeth interred the body of Andrew PORTER who lived Lord of _ _ _ _  / of Hall in this parish. He departed this life upon the 17th day of March 16  _ _  / being of the age of 70 years and 8 months. He had to wife Mildr _ _ / daughter of Robert FRENCH of Under River by whom he had issue 2  / ters, Elizabeth and Mildred. Elizabeth married Peter STOWELL Regis _ _ _ _ / of the Diocese of Rochester at whose charge this tombstone was erec _ _ _ [end of each line broken away] 

[Note the inter-marrying among the Seal families in connection with the mention of Robert French. Rose Porter was later to marry Francis Barrington whose mother was born Ann French.]

Here lyeth the body rry [sic] PORTER heir of oh [sic] Porter and Jane his wife who departed this life 30th day of April in the year 1742. She was born at Westerham in Kent 31 January in (Mary Porter buried 8^th May 1742 PR F&ZB)

Neil's Porter ancestry comes through Rose Porter of Seal, who married Francis Barrington.

Rose's father, William Porter (1660 - 1729) was baptised on 26 Dec 1660 at Seal. His ancestry, as shown in the chart, is extracted from the IGI, but cannot be guaranteed because William Porter was such a common name. For example there are two candidates in the IGI for the baptism of the earliest William Porter in the chart, both at Seal: 1 Nov 1576, Seal, to John Porter of Chart and Elizabeth; and 8 March 1578, to William Porter of Godden and Mrs William Porter. (Godden Green is a hamlet about a mile south of Seal.)

William (Rose's father) married Rose Roberts at Seal on 26 Nov 1690. The couple's children included:

• Rose Porter, baptized on 31 Jan 1691 at Seal. At the age of 23 she married Francis Barrington and there is more about the couple on her husband's page. Rose died in 1751, 11 years before Francis; she was buried in Seal on 1 September.
• Elizabeth Porter, baptized on 10 Jan 1692 at Seal. She married John Gardner (or Gardener) on 16 April 1723 and had a son John
• Richard Porter, baptized on 15 Apr 1697 at Seal. He had one known daughter Mary Porter
• Anne Porter was baptized on 19 Jan 1708 at Seal.

William Porter was a tanner by trade, and the Porters of Hall Place owned the tannery at Mallets Hill. I am grateful to David Williams for this information and for transcribing the wills of William and Rose. He reported that he formed the impression from the wills that the Porter family was well-to-do. So a Porter-Barrington marriage would have well suited Francis' father, Robert, who appears to have prided himself on his gentlemanly status and Middle Temple membership.

William Porter died on 7 Nov 1729 at Seal, Kent, age 68. His monumental inscription in Seal churchyard reads

"William PORTER of this parish, tanner dy’d 7 November 1729 aged 77 years".

He was probably buried on 13 Dec 1729 at Seal. (The IGI gives this as his date or death, but is probably an error.) His wife Rose survived him by about 17 years. She probably died in 1746 as her will was proved on 10 July of that year.