Mr. William Lincoln Porter was born at Egworth, near Liverpool, in 1839, and arrived in Auckland in 1848. Subsequently he went to Wairau with Sir Charles Clifford, with whom he remained for two years. He then removed to Canterbury, and afterwards went on to the Otago goldfields, where he remained until 1864. On returning to Canterbury he settled at Woodend, where he engaged in farming. Mr. Porter had the misfortune to lose an arm in the Ravenswood flaxmill, Woodend, about 1875, and in consequence he took up a carrying business between Christchurch, Woodend, and Rangiora, which he still keeps up. His house was destroyed by fire in 1896, and the inhabitants of Woodend and the surrounding district showed their esteem and sympathy by replacing it with a good four-roomed house. Mr. Porter was married, in 1864, to a daughter of Mr. William Judson, of Woodend, and has four sons and six daughters.