Sir Robert Evelyn Porter (1913 – 1983), generally known as "Tom", was a South Australian businessman and Mayor of Adelaide from 1968 to 1971. Porter was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, a son of Frederick Windmill Porter (1881–1937) and Clara Frances Niall Porter, née Cudmore (1884–1967), of Adelaide's influential

Cudmore family Cudmore may refer to: People * Alexander Cudmore (1888–1944), American soccer player * Arthur Cudmore (1870–1951), Australian surgeon and professor * Collier Cudmore (1885–1971), Australian lawyer, politician and Olympic rower * Daniel Cudm ...

. His grandfather was James Windmill Porter (c. 1850–1918), pioneer of top-dressing with

superphosphate Triple superphosphate is a component of fertilizer that primarily consists of monocalcium phosphate, Ca(H2PO4)2. Triple superphosphate is obtained by treating phosphate rock with phosphoric acid. Traditional routes for extraction of phosphate rock ...

s; a great-grandfather was

Patrick Gay Patrick Gay was a cabinetmaker and businessmen of Adelaide, South Australia, for whom Gay's Arcade was named. History Patrick Gay, sen. (c. 1815 – 7 October 1866), his wife Agnes Waddell Gay (c. 1816 – 16 November 1903) and their small family ...

, of

Gay's Arcade Adelaide Arcade is a heritage shopping arcade in the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It is linked to, and closely associated with, Gay's Arcade. History The property on which the Arcade was built was the scene of two disastrous fires: the f ...

fame. He grew up with his parents on Edwin Terrace, Gilberton and was educated at St. Peter's College. Porter was for a time the manager of Childerley Park Station, Naracoorte, then served as a lieutenant in the

2nd AIF The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the name given to the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial ...

, promoted to major. He followed his father in the

stockbroking A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks and ...

business, as a partner in F. W. Porter & Co. of

Brookman Building The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

Grenfell Street, Adelaide Grenfell Street () is a major street in the north-east quarter of the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. The street runs west-east from King William Street, Adelaide, King William Street to East Terrace. On the other side of King William St ...

. Porter married June Perry, of King's Park Avenue,

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

, Perth on 31 March 1942. In 1949 he was elected to the

Adelaide City Council The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia and is legally defined as the capital city of Sout ...

as Councillor for Hindmarsh ward, and was appointed Consul for

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He was a noted

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

player, winner of the Barr Smith Cup in 1950, and president of the Australian Polo Council in 1955.

References

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