Biography of James Porter

Born in Reedham on 19 December 1803 & baptised on 26 December 1803. James married his first wife Mary Dawson on 23 November 1821 at St John the Baptist Church, Reedham. They had 7 children, but Mary died in November 1841, possibly in child-birth - her last son Robert was born & died at the same time. In the 1841 census James (a wherry man) & Mary are living in Reedham with their children James (14), Elizabeth (8), John (6) & William (2).

James remarried Hannah Maria Shreeve on 15 August 1843; they also had 7 children.

In the 1851 census James (a waterman) & Hannah are living at 13 Row 37, Great Yarmouth with their children Sarah Ann (7), Emily (6), Joseph (5) and Robert (3). By 1861 census James (57) & Hannah (40) have moved to Rockland St Mary with their children Sarah Ann (17), Joseph (14), Robert (13), James (7) & Hannah (2).

James became the publican at The Star public house in 1863; in the 1871 census he's 67, living with his wife Hannah (48) & their last child George (7). James was licensee at the Star Inn until 1877 when his son William took over. However, James continued to live at the Star Inn; he's 78 in the 1881 census, living with his son William & his wife Maria, William's children Charlotte (12) & Robert (10), and a lodger (Elizabeth Jordan, 60, a widow).

James died on 8 May 1886 age 82, and was buried on 12 May 1886 at Rockland St Mary.