James Porter

Sir James Porter FRS (1710 – December 1776) was a British diplomat. He wrote papers on astronomy and geology and was a member of the Royal Society.

Life Porter was born in 1710 in Dublin, Ireland. He was the son of a Captain of Horse named La Roche who had adopted the name of Porter. James was apprenticed to a business house in London and studied mathematics in his spare time. He was recalled at his own request on 1 May 1761 and left Constantinople on 24 May. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1749.

Porter then became British minister in Brussels in 1762 but, finding the lifestyle there too expensive, resigned his position in 1765 and retired to Richmond, near London, where his associates included a friend from his travels in Turkey, Lord Bessborough. He was knighted in 1763.

Personal life On 11 October 1755 Porter was married to Clarissa Catherine de Hochepied (1736–) at Pera in Turkey. The eldest daughter of Anna Margaretha Boelema and Elbert de Hochepied, 2nd Baron de Hochepied, the Dutch Ambassador to Constantinople, the de Hochepied family were a dynasty of Dutch diplomats. George Porter (1760–1828), a Lieutenant-General and Whig MP who married Henrietta Grosvenor, widow of Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor and mother of the 1st Marquess Grosvenor. Clara Porter, who was adopted by her elder sister.

Porter died at his home in Great Marlborough Street on 9 December 1776. Upon the death of his brother-in-law, Gerard Johannes de Hochepied, 5th Baron de Hochepied, his son George became Baron de Hochepied, Baron and Magnat of Hungary and, in September 1819, was granted a Royal Licence to bear the title of baron de Hochepied.