Montagu Porch

Montagu Phippen Porch (15 March 1877 – 8 November 1964) was a British colonial officer who in 1918 became Winston Churchill's stepfather, although he was three years his junior. Early life Porch was born on 15 March 1877 in Glastonbury, Somerset, the younger son of Reginald Porch (1838-1886) LL.M., of the Bengal Civil Service, and grandson of Thomas Porch Porch, JP, of Edgarley, just outside Glastonbury. His mother was Ann Rebecca (1847-1932), a daughter of James Austin, JP, of The Abbey, Glastonbury. On 8 June 1886, his father died at Puri in British India, leaving an estate valued at £5,212. Porch was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and while there in 1900 he joined the Imperial Yeomanry which was a Cavalry regiment of the British Army, seeing active service as a trooper in the South African War. Returning to Oxford after the war, he graduated BA in 1902 and MA in 1904. Career In 1906, he gained a place as an officer of the Colonial Service in Nigeria (was Assistant Resident in Zaria in 1910) and served in it until 1919, with most of his time spent in Africa. After his marriage in 1918, Porch resigned from the colonial service.