O. Henry O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. His stories are known for their surprise endings. William Sidney Porter was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He changed the spelling of his middle name to Sydney in 1898. His parents were Dr. Algernon Sidney Porter (1825–88), a physician, and Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter (1833–65). William's parents had married on April 20, 1858. When William was three, his mother died after birthing her third child, and he and his
William Haldane Porter from their occupied countries. For his services Porter was made CB in 1917, knighted in 1926, and made an officer of the Order of Leopold of Belgium. He retired in 1930 Many of the procedures which Porter put in place remained operational until the present time, as did the associated jargon, thereby forming the basis of the later Immigration Service (now called the United Kingdom Border Force). William Haldane Porter Sir William Haldane Porter (15 May 1867 – 12 September 1944) was a British civil servant, who was responsible for the creation of the Aliens Branch of the Home Office,