Sarah Porter

Sarah Porter: was born in 1905 and died, aged 75, in 1980.  She came from the travelling family of Williams, her mother being a Barton from Rogate in Hampshire.  They travelled extensively in Sussex, Kent, Surrey and Hampshire, following the usual traditional occupations, mainly fruit and hop picking.

She was to marry James (Jim) Porter and to have five children.  Sometime around 1925 they settled in Stoneywood, Greenwoods Lane, Punnetts Town, along with Jim’s brothers, second cousin and some other travelling families.  Sarah and Jim lived in a 25 foot showman’s waggon with a cut glass skylight.

The men in the Porter family came from Chatham, Kent, where, because of the shortage of work at the time, they falsified their ages to gain entry into the Navy and receive a regular income.  After about ten years, when the land at Stoneywood went into new ownership, they had to move just a few miles down the road to the hamlet of Three Cups. Here they settled into a row of small cottages where Jim was able to carry on his scrap metal business.  Jim and Sarah supplemented their income by fruit and hop picking, where Sarah would sing all day long.

Part of the booklet notes, written by Brian Matthews and Rod Stradling, to the Musical Traditions Records CDs Just Another Saturday Night (MTCD309-10)