Born 1748

Died 3 Oct 1815

(Andrew Crosse's uncle)

Thomas Porter seems to have been much more philosophical about his lack of inheritance than his elder brother Jasper. Presumably, as the younger son, Thomas wasn't expecting much anyway. He took himself off to the Caribbean to seek his fortune and by the time he was 30 he was a very successful planter in Demerara with further plantations in Tobago. He married Sarah, probably in Demerara as I have been unable to trace the marriage in Britain and the marriage settlement was specified in guilders.

On their return to England he bought the old mansion of Rockbeare House, near Exeter, and completely rebuilt it. Thomas and Sarah had three sons, Thomas, Henry and William, and three daughters, Sarah, Elizabeth and Christian. When Thomas died in 1815 he left the plantations to his sons. The girls were left £30,000 each. In the Church at Rockbeare Thomas and Sarah are commemorated by a monument with a lengthy Latin inscription.

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