PORTER, ADAM (1845-94) was a native of Glasgow. Being orphaned very young, he came to New Zealand at the age of 12 and worked in the flaxmill of Whitelaw and Co., Auckland, and afterwards gardening at Remuera. He was attracted to the goldfields of Otago, and later walked across the Alps to the West Coast in 1865. There he kept a store in the Grey district, selling out on a new rush occurring; and he acted for a while as a gold buyer for the Bank of New Zealand in Greymouth. In Westport he built and managed the Empire hotel.

Moving to Thames in 1868, he was associated with many mining enterprises at Thames and Coromandel, and prospected with Werahiko at Ohinemuri and Te Aroha. He was a member of the Thames county council and chairman of the Thames drainage board, and twice contested parliamentary seats. In 1881 he settled in Auckland and married Elizabeth Mary (d. 1901), daughter of Charles Atkin, with whom he was a partner in a coachbuilding business. He was chairman of the Eden Terrace highway board and of the licensing committee both there and in the City. He was chairman of the Auckland harbour board (1894) and president of the chamber of commerce (1893-94), and chairman of the Hikurangi Coal Co. He was an ardent horticulturist and advocate of public parks and had a fine mineralogical collection. Porter died on 18 Aug 1894.

Auckland Star, 18 Aug 1894; N.Z. Herald, 20 Aug 1894.

Reference: Volume 2, page 92

🌳 Further sources