Porterfield

This name and its diminutive, Porter, derive from the office of doorkeeper or janitor of a castle or religious house. The name is also found rendered in Scots as ‘Durward’. The office was considerably more important than the modern term would suggest: lands and privileges were attached and, in the case of royal buildings, the post was often hereditary. The office of durward to the king was for a considerable time hereditary in the family of Lundin. The Lord High Constable of Scotland had, as part of his traditional retinue, his durward guard of partisans who were all gentlemen of good family. The name is widely known through Sir Walter Scott’s famous novel, Quentin Durward. The family of Porterfield of that Ilk took their name from inheriting the lands or porterfields pertaining to the office of the porter at the great Abbey of Paisley. They grew to have considerable influence in Renfrewshire. John Porterfield of that Ilk obtained from James III a charter of confirmation of his lands of Porterfield in 1460. The Reverend John Scott Porter, minister of the Presbyterian Church in Belfast, was a distinguished theologian, whose family appeared to have been of Scots descent. His eldest son, who married the only sister of Alexander Horsburgh of that Ilk, was Solicitor General for Ireland between 1881 and 1883, and was created a baronet in 1902.