Agnes Porter (c.1752 – 1814) was a British

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...

known for her diaries.

Life

Porter was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

; her year of birth is uncertain but her birthday was 18 June. Her father was a member of the clergy. She was fluent in French and she had an interest in other languages. She became a governess and she is remembered because of her diaries and correspondence which survive for the period 1788 to 1814. Her correspondents included Elizabeth Moser and Valentine Green, author of ''Triumphs of Reason Examplified in Seven Tales'' (1791). Penrice castle, Glamorganshire, a seat of T

Penrice castle, Glamorganshire, a seat of T

In 1788 Porter moved from

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of ...

to be a governess to the daughters of Ambrose Goddard M.P. The Goddard family lived at Swindon House in Wiltshire. She was later governess to the children of Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester.''A Governess in the Age of Jane Austen. The Journals and Letters of Agnes Porter'', ed. Joanna Martin (London: Hambledon Press, 1998). She continued her care down the generations, educating the cousins

Henry Fox Talbot William Henry Fox Talbot Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE Royal Astronomical Society, FRAS (; 11 February 180017 September 1877) was an English scientist, inventor, and photography pioneer who invented the Salt print, salted paper and calo ...

, the pioneer of photography, and

Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (10 May 1803 – 17 January 1890) was a Welsh landowner, industrialist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. He developed his estate at Margam near Swansea as an extensive iron ...

, politician and industrialist. Porter went to live with her former pupil Mary Talbot in 1799 at

Penrice Castle Penrice Castle ( cy, Castell Pen-rhys) is a 13th-century castle near Penrice, Swansea on the Gower Peninsula, Wales. Nearby is a neo-classical mansion house built in the 1770s. The mansion is a Grade I listed building and the surrounding gardens ...

, where she cared for her children. She retired in 1806 and went to live with her married sister. Porter died in

Bruton, Somerset Bruton ( ) is a market town, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, 10 ...

and was buried there. Porter's diaries and letters were discovered in Penrice Castle in the 1970s and this resulted in the 1998 publication of ''A Governess in the Age of Jane Austen. The Journals and Letters of Agnes Porter''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Agnes 1750s births 1814 deaths Writers from Edinburgh Scottish governesses 18th-century British non-fiction writers 19th-century British non-fiction writers British memoirists 19th-century British women writers 18th-century British women writers British women memoirists 18th-century diarists 19th-century diarists 18th-century English women 18th-century English people 19th-century English women 19th-century English people