John Porterfield ( fl. 1571–1571x3) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

prelate in the sixteenth-century. A mysterious figure, he emerges in 1571 as the successor to

James Beaton II James Beaton (1517 – 24/25 April 1603) was a 16th-century archbishop of Glasgow. He served both pre- and post-Reformation therefore representing both a Catholic Archbishop and a Protestant Archbishop. Life He was the son of James Beaton ...

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. He was described by Robert Keith as "a kind of titular bishop", propped up by the establishment for nominal purposes during a period of disorder. Porterfield probably held on to the archbishopric into 1572, but he disappeared from the records thereafter. In late 1573,

James Boyd of Trochrig James Boyd of Trochrig (c.1530–1581) was a Scottish clergyman in post-Reformation Scotland who served as Protestant Archbishop of Glasgow from 1573 to 1581. He was Moderator of the General Assembly in 1575. He was co-author of the Reformatio ...

became new Archbishop of Glasgow. Porterfield is possibly the John Porterfield, minister of

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

, who died in 1604 to be succeeded by

John Welsh John Welsh may refer to: *John Welsh of Ayr (1568–1622), religious leader *John Welsh of Irongray, religious leader *John Welsh (actor) (1904–1985), Irish actor *John Welsh (Australian footballer) (born 1938), Australian rules football player f ...

.MacDonald, "Welsh, John".

Notes

References

* * MacDonald, Alan R. "Welsh, John (1568/9–1622)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
, accessed 3 April 2008
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porterfield, John 16th-century births Roman Catholic archbishops of Glasgow Year of death unknown Scottish bishops 1560–1638