An Introduction to the Research Project
The Porteous Research Project will provide a resource for family historians and researchers of the Porteous and Porteus name, as well as other spelling variants.

Porteous Family DNA Project
An introduction to Porteous family DNA research and explanation about how participation in this study will benefit researchers.

Origins of the Porteous family
A possible answer to where the Porteous family originally came from, and how they first came to settle in Scotland.

The Porteous home in Scotland
A description of the area in southern Scotland where the Porteous family originally settled in Peeblesshire, from Tweeddale to Annandale and into Dumfriesshire and Lanarkshire.

Early Porteous families
A list of names and dates of the progenitors of the earliest recorded Porteous families, from Glenkirk and Broughton in Peeblesshire to Dumfriesshire, Midlothian and Kincardineshire.

Famous Porteous names
A brief biography of a few famous – and not-so-famous – men and women bearing the Porteous and Porteus name, from bishops to explorers, inventors to missionaries, scientists to war heroes.

Biography of Beilby Porteus
Brief biography of the famous Anglican reformer and Bishop of Chester and London, who was hugely influential in the abolition of the slave trade.

Biography of Captain John Porteous
The captain of the City Guard of Edinburgh who was hanged by a mob in the Grassmarket during the infamous Porteous Riots of September, 1736.

Biography of Captain Patrick Porteous, VC
A brief summary of the events surrounding the Dieppe raid of August 1942, at which Captain Porteous won the Victoria Cross for extreme bravery under enemy fire.

A Historical background to emigration
A brief summary of the main events in Scottish history that had a bearing on emigration, from the Border Reivers to the famines of the nineteenth century.

The Lowland Clearances
The lesser-known Lowland clearances of the eighteenth century, which were one of the factors fuelling the need for many Scots to migrate southwards and to Ireland or Canada.

A Timeline of events in Scotland
A brief timeline of events in Scotland and the New World which had a bearing on the emigration of Scottish lowland families.

Why did they migrate?
What were the factors that caused so many Scots to leave their homeland, firstly to northern England and Ireland and then to cross the Atlantic on perilous voyages that often resulted in tragedy?

Early settlers in the New World
The first emigrants from lowland Scotland and Ireland crossed the Atlantic to Canada and the northern states of America. A few of the early Porteous settlers are listed, together with a summary of the main places of settlement.

Leaving Scotland in the nineteenth century
Huge numbers of Scots and Scots-Irish emigrated in the 1800s, mainly to Canada and the recently independent United States of America.

Emigration to the British colonies
It was in the mid-nineteenth century that vast numbers of Europeans migrated to the then British colonies, such as Australia, New Zealand and India. Some of these are listed.

Emigrants
A listing of over 200 Porteous and Porteus emigrants known to have left Scotland, Ireland and England from 1623 to the present, including dates of emigration (where known). Other variant spellings, such as Porteouss, Portis, Portice, Portus and Porthouse are also included. This list will be added to, as and when information becomes available.

Concentrations of Porteous worldwide
As they emigrated from their Scottish home and spread to various parts of the world, Porteous and Porteus families settled in locations in England, Ireland and around the world where there are now clusters, some of which we attempt to identify.

Early Porteous businesses
Wherever they went, from the eighteenth century on, Porteous family members set up businesses of many kinds – from publishing to agricultural companies and general stores, attorneys and cabinet makers. We list as many as we have found.

Porteous in the Ministry
A surprise when researching the history of the Porteous and Porteus name was the huge number of members who entered the ministry, as either ordained or lay preachers. All those known are listed here, and the list is constantly being added to.

Porteous at War in the 18th and 19th centuries
There is a distinguished history of Porteous family members serving in all the services from the 18th and 19th century onwards, some of whom are listed in this short article.

Porteous Roll of Honour
A list of all officers and other ranks (including one woman) who were killed in action, died as a result of wounds, or were civilian war dead from the First and Second World Wars, the South Africa Campaign and the Vietnam War.

Memorials to Porteous fallen
A list of all known memorials and cemeteries worldwide, where fallen Porteous officers, men, women and civilians are remembered.

Awards and Decorations
A list of bravery awards, Mentions in Dispatches and civilian decorations made to members of the Porteous Family during the periods of the First and Second World Wars.

Porteous in the Vietnam War
Remembering L/Cpl Robert Richard Porteous, who died at Quang Nam, near Phu Bai, South Vietnam on February 5, 1967.

Prisoners of War
A list of all known Porteous Prisoners of War in World War I and World War II, including also those recorded as Missing in Action.

Porteous in the Korean War
Porteous service personnel who are known to have served in the Korean War (1950–53). An incomplete listing – we would welcome information about any omissions or corrections.

Some useful resources for researchers
Online resources for family historians and genealogists researching the Porteous name and all its variants, including homepages, bulletin boards and mailing lists.

A selected bibliography
A list of helpful written sources relating to emigration from Scotland and Ireland to the Americas and former British colonies.

Links to other Porteous family sites
A listing of online links to other Porteous and Porteus family pages and search facilities, including the Porteous Associates.

Links to other related sites
Links to other online sources relating to well-known Porteous family members and other lowland clans and families, some of whom are related to the Porteous family.

Downloads
You can download Excel files listing Porteous and Porteus families who have emigrated from Scotland, Ireland and England, as well as listings of Porteous in business and Porteous in the ministry.

Photographs of Hawkshaw and Tweedsmuir
A previously unknown collection of photographs, taken by Janet Boyd Kelly Anderson in the 1930s, of the Porteous country in Tweeddale.

Lowland Border Towns
Reproduction of an article about Lowland Border Towns, first published in 1914, which gives interesting descriptions of Hawkshaw, the Crook Inn, Tweedsmuir and Talla at that time.

Sources for Porteous family historians
Original sources relating to the history of the Porteous name and the social and economic conditions in Lowland Scotland in the eighteenth century.