Genealogy Data Page 31 (Notes Pages)

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Porter, Robert (b. ABT 1410, d. ?)

Record File Number: 623

Change: Date: 23 APR 1999

Change: Date: 5 NOV 1998

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de Porter, Stephen (b. ABT 1325, d. ?)

Record File Number: 624

Change: Date: 7 APR 1999

Change: Date: 5 NOV 1998

Note: The Porterfields
The genealogy "The Porterfields" by Frank Burke Porterfield,
(Southeastern Press, Inc., Roanoke, VA 1947), in the section on Early
Ancestry, notes:
"The name Alanus de Porter is given in a charter, dated 1160. He was
retained by King Henry II of England, with nineteen other Scots
nobles, as a hostage that the Treaty of Falaise, 1174, be observed.
These nobles were all Norman knights."
Until the beginning of the 15th Century, what now is the County of
Renfrew, or Renfrewshire, was part of the County of Lanark, or
Lanarkshire. Between August 7, 1413 and August 12, 1414, Renfrew
ceased to be a barony, and was made into a shire. Hence, members of
the de Porter family, who in about 1454 adopted the name Porterfield,
were residents of Lanarkshire.
There appear to be a number of landholders in Lanarkshire and later
Renfrewshire, Scotland that are known by the early surname de Porter
or le Porter and who may be ancestors, either directly or
collaterally, to Stephen de Porter. Many of these landholders are
recorded in early lists, one of which is known colloqually as the
"Ragman Rolls" and others appear as witnesses and signatories to
various Medieval documents.
The Ragman Rolls take their name from a game popular in Anglo-Norman
society in the 13th Century. A number of characters were written
consecutively on a sheet of parchment. To each character, a string was
attached, having a piece of wax or metal at the tip. This sheet, when
rolled up, was called a Ragman Roll, and each person playing drew a
character by pulling a string, which he or she maintained for the rest
of the evening.
Upon taking the oath of fealty to the English King in 1291, the names
of the Scots barronage were recorded in French by Norman scribes.
These rolls of names, and others obtained by the King while on his way
through Scotland in 1296, are known as the Ragman Roll, the name
having been given jokingly by some of the young courtiers in
attendance.
Among the signatures of the 1296 list, as given by Charles A. Hanna in
his "History of the Scotch Irish" are:
"Helys le Porter del Rugan, tenant le roi, Lanarshire.
"William le Porter, Lanarkshire."
George Crawford, an early genealogical writer of Scotland, in his
"History of the Shire of Renfrew," printed in 1710, states: That in
the reign of Alexander III anno 1261, John de Porter was a witness to
that donation of the kirk of Dundonald, by Alexander, high steward of
Scotland, to the monks of the abbey. Like as I find Walter le Porter
is mentioned in Ragman Roll, anno 1296."
Another section of Crawford's history notes, "Somewhat lower, upon the
bank of the River Cart, lie the lands of Porterfield, an ancient
possession of a family of the same surname, and from whence they, no
doubt, have taken both surname and designation."
Twelve miles west of Glasgow is Duchall Castle, and twelve miles south
is Hapland, both properties being also estates of the Porterfields.
"Of that Ilk" is a Scottish designation, and means "of that particular
family." This designation "of that ilk" has been applied to the
Porterfields of Hapland, the Porterfields of Porterfield, the
Porterfields of Duchall, the Porterfields of Fulwood, the Porterfields
of Chapeltoun, and the Porterfields of Quarreltoun - all of whom were
related.
The lands of Porterfield, first chartered to Stephen de Porter by
Robert, Earl of Strathern, afterwards King of Scotland; were again
chartered to the Porterfield family, by James IV about 1500 to
Stephen's grandson Robert Porterfield. Stephen's great grandson, John
Porterfield, who succeeded to the Porterfield estates, purchased the
Barony of Duchall from Lord Lyle and moved his family into that
historic place.
Metcalfe's "County of Renfrew," published in 1905, has this
description of the ruins of Duchall:
"Duchal Castle, the stronghold of the Lyles, besieged by James IV in
1498, has almost disappeared. It was situated about two miles
southwest from Kilmacolm on a detached mass of rock which was almost
entirely surrounded by a deep ravine, through which ran the River
Gryffe and confluent. The sides of the rocky site to the height of
about twenty feet are either perpendicular or very precipitous. The
whole position, which measures about seventy yards in length from east
to west by thirty yards wide, was enclosed with a strong wall of
enciente, portions of which still remain. Outside this wall to the
west, the neck of the peninsula was cut across by a deep ditch. The
entrance was probably at the south-east angle, where a precipitous
pinnacle rose about twenty feet from the courtyard. On this seems to
have stood the keep, the foundations of which, surrounded by a higher
wall, are yet traceable. The wall of enciente was of much stronger
character than the ordinary enclosing walls of courtyards, and may
possibly be the remains of a thirteenth century castle."
The Porterfield surname, stems from the de Porter, or le Porter
precursor surname and may be close to 1,000 years old. George F.
Black, Ph.D, in his monumental study, "The Surnames of Scotland -
Their Origin, Meaning, and History," published by the New York Public
Library, 1946, says the precursor name "Porter" or "de Porter" is
taken "from the office of porter, doorkeeper, or janitor of a castle
or monastery."
"The Porter was one of the most important officials connected with the
castle or monastic institution. Lands and privileges were attached to
the office, and in the case of a royal castle, the position was often
hereditary. The porter of a religious house was also the distributor
of the alms of the convent, for the poor were always supplied 'ad
portam monasterii,' at the gate of the monastery.
"He also kept the keys and had power to refuse admission to those whom
he deemed unworthy. (Innes. "Legal Antiquities", pp., 170)
"Radulfus the porter witnessed the gift of the church of Cragyn
(Craigie) in Kyle to the monastery of Pailsey, about 1177 (Registrum
Monasterii de Passelet. . . Passelet, 1877) and, about 1180, Simon the
porter witnesed a charter by William the Lion to Radulph de Graham.
"John de Porter of Linlithgow and Walter de Porter of Lanarkshire
rendered homage in 1296 ("Calendar of documents relating to Scotland
Preserved in Public Record Office, " edited by Joseph Bain, Edingurgh,
1881-84, v. II, pp. 198, 212).
"Robert Porter, dominus de Porterfield, in 1399 gave the monks of
Paisley an annual rent of sixteen pennies from burgage tenements in
Renfrew and also confirmed a former grant of his father, Stephen de
Porter (Regiustrum Monasterii de Passlet, op.cit., pp. 374)
"Porterfield - In several monasteries, a portion of land was
appropriated to the Porter. At Paisley this office and land seems to
have got into the hands of laymen, and to have become hereditary. The
descendants of "John de Porter," in heriting the 'porterfield'
naturlaly took the surname from their office, until territorial
surnames came into fashion, when they lengthened it into 'Robertus
Porterfield de eodem,' who was the 'founder of a family of
consideration in Renfrew" ("Neubotle, Registrum" S. Marie de Neubotle,
Edinburgh, 1849).
"John Porterfield of that Ilk obtained from James III a charter of
confirmation of his lands of Porterfield in 1460. Some notes on the
family are in Crawford's History of the Shire of Renfrew, p. 30-33."
The name seems to have been spelled various ways through the
centuries, vis. Portarfelde 1471; Portarfeild 1609; Porterfeilde 1555;
Porterffeild 1684; Poterfeild 1614.