Early Life
John Porteous was born at The Glen, Quair Water, near Traquair, in the Borders, the son of Stephen Porteous, a tailor of the Canongate, Edinburgh. Little is known of his early life, except that he soon found he was not suited to his father's calling. Having served in the Scots Dutch regiment in Flanders, in 1716 he became drill master to the Edinburgh force in anticipation of a Jacobite rising, and two years later was appointed as ensign to the City Guard, and was promoted in 1726 to the rank of Captain. Porteous seems to have been an overbearing official, despised by the mob and the underclasses of Edinburgh society.
Read more about this topic: John Porteous (soldier)
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