Agnes Porter

Agnes Porter (c.1752 – 1814) was a British governess known for her diaries. Life Porter was born in Edinburgh; 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 Exemplified in Seven Tales (1791). In 1788 Porter moved from Great Yarmouth 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. She continued her care down the generations, educating the cousins Henry Fox Talbot, the pioneer of photography, and Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot, politician and industrialist.