Location
A memorial plaque in (the former) St Andrews Church, Henderson Road, Eastney. It is not known whether it remains in situ or has been removed.
Drawing of Grave
Click images to enlarge
MEMORY
OF
GEORGE PORTER
GUNNER R.M.A.
WHO DIED 10TH JUNE 1876
WHILE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS
DUTY IN A SLEDGING PARTY IN THE
ARCTIC EXPEDITION OF 1875 & 1876
ERECTED BY THE OFFICERS
NON COM. OFFICERS AND MEN
OF HIS COMPANY
Further Information
George Porter was one of very few Marines entitled to the Arctic Medal of 1875-76. He also has the distinction of having the most northerly grave of a marine. His full story is told as part of the the history of the expedition led by Captain George S. Nares (HMS Alert) in 1875-76 to northwest Greenland and northern Ellesmere Island.
See the Polar Publishing website
Porter's Grave
One of a set of 16 chromolithographs, based on the work of Staff Surgeon Edward Lawton Moss, R.N. of H.M.S. Alert during the British Arctic Expedition of 1875-76. 'A little mound of ice on the side of a floe-hill, and a rough cross made of a sledge batten and a paddle, mark our shipmate's grave, the most northern of any race or time' - Extract from 'Shores of the Polar Sea'.
The Plaque
Assuming that this memorial was raised soon after Porter's death in 1876 then it must have originally stood elsewhere as St. Andrew's was not opened until 1906. The obvious candidate was the Crinoline Church.
