Basic Biographical Details

Name: Porter & Elcock
Designation:  
Born: c. 1907
Died: 1912
Bio Notes: Practice in Colwyn Bay, North Wales.

John Merry Porter (1863-1942) moved to Colwyn Bay, aged three years, when his father, John Porter, was appointed the local agent for the Manchester and Glasgow businessman, Sir John Pender. Pender, a leading promoter of transatlantic cables, had purchased the Pwllycrochan estate of Lady Erskine in 1865 intending to develop it as a seaside resort.

Following the breaking of a cable in mid-Atlantic in 1875, Pender was forced to sell the Colwyn estates, the bulk of the property being purchased by a Manchester syndicate the Colwyn Bay and Pwllycrochan Estate Company. A member of this syndicate was the Manchester architect Lawrence Booth (1835/6-1894) who continued the planning and development of the resort, later in partnership with Thomas Chadwick (1851-1923).

J M Porter trained as an architect and surveyor in Manchester. After qualifying, he returned to Colwyn Bay entering into partnership with Booth and Chadwick about 1889. and opening an office in the town under the style of Booth, Chadwick and Porter. When the Manchester connection ended the firm was re-named Porter and Hunter in 1905, becoming J M Porter and Elcock when Charles Ernest Elcock was taken into partnership in 1906 or 1907. Following the departure of Elcock five years later, the firm was re-styled J. M. Porter and Company, and kept this name until its closure in 1973.

J. M. Porter married Catherine M. Hawksworth (1875-1935) in 1891. They had three children, Graham Hawksworth, who was killed in action in France, 1916; John Lawrence, who joined his father's practice and Catherine Margaret, who married Norman Milne Harrop of Garth Gynan, Llanfair Dyffryn Clywd. In 1973, the partners in J. M. Porter and Company, (John Lawrence Porter and Leonard Mosely) who had joined in 1920 and became partners in 1940, decided to close the business and retire.

records
J. M. Porter and Co., estate agents, architects and surveyors, records 1864-1972
Reference code(s): GB 0209 DD/PO Held at: Denbighshire Record Office

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 1Estate Office, Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, WalesBusiness   

Employment and Training

Employees or Pupils

The following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 2Charles Ernest Elcockc. 19071912Partner 
Item 2 of 2John Manuel (junior)1910 * Assistant 

* earliest date known from documented sources.


References

Currently, there are no references for this . The information has been derived from: the British Architectural Library / RIBA Directory of British Architects 1834-1914; Post Office Directories; and/or any sources listed under this individual's works.