Sir Andrew Porter, 1st Baronet

Sir Andrew Marshall Porter, 1st Baronet PC, QC (27 June 1837 – 9 January 1919) was an Irish lawyer and judge.

Background and education

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 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. He was appointed Master of the Rolls in Ireland in 1883 and served in that post until 1907. It was announced that he would receive a baronetcy in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 for the (subsequently postponed) coronation of King Edward VII,[1] and on 24 July 1902 he was created a Baronet, of Merrion square, in the city and county of Dublin.[2]

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.

Family

Porter married Agnes Horsburgh and they had six children:[3]

While living in Dublin, Porter resided at 42 Merrion Square East, as noted in Ulysses by James Joyce.

References

  1. "The Coronation Honours". The Times (36804). London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
  2. "No. 27457". The London Gazette. 25 July 1902. p. 4738.
  3. Sir Andrew Marshall Porter, 1st Bt. – ThePeerage.com. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Thomas McClure, Bt
Hugh Law
Member of Parliament for Londonderry
1881–1884
With: Sir Thomas McClure, Bt
Succeeded by
Samuel Walker
Sir Thomas McClure, 1st Bt
Legal offices
Preceded by
William Moore Johnson
Solicitor-General for Ireland
18811882
Succeeded by
John Naish
Preceded by
William Moore Johnson
Attorney-General for Ireland
18821883
Succeeded by
John Naish
Preceded by
Edward Sullivan
Master of the Rolls in Ireland
18831906
Succeeded by
Richard Edmund Meredith
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Merrion Square)
1902 1919
Succeeded by
John Scott Horsbrugh-Porter


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