Roy Porter Roy Porter Roy Sydney Porter, FBA (31 December 1946 – 3 March 2002) was a British historian known for his important work on the history of medicine. He retired in 2001 from the director of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine at University College, London (UCL). Porter grew up in South London and attended Wilson's School in Camberwell. He won a scholarship to Christ's College, Cambridge, where he studied under J. H. Plumb. His contemporaries included Simon Schama and Andrew Wheatcroft. He achieved a double starred first and became a junior Fellow in 1968, studying under Robert M.
William T. Porter 1856, another printer, George Wilkes, began a new sporting newspaper, which he called "Porter's Spirit of the Times", and employed Porter as editor. In 1845, Porter served as secretary for the New York Jockey Club, during the famous match race between the fillies Fashion and Peytona at the Union Course on May 15, 1845. Although the "Spirit" and the "American Turf Register" were known for their coverage of horse racing, Porter's main sporting interest for himself was fishing. Porter never married, and three of his brothers died before Porter himself caught a cold and died of consumption on July 19,