MISC POOR 04

Reference code

MISC POOR 04

Title

Eton Poor Estate: Porny School

Level

Series

Administrative / Biographical history

Antoine Pyron du Martre came from Normandy, but after leaving France in 1754, changed his name to Mark Anthony Porny to evade unhappy relatives. He was appointed as a French teacher at Eton College in 1773, where he also began to write books, examples of which are held in College Library. In 1780, he was also appointed as a Poor Knight of Windsor (now known as the Military Knights of Windsor).

Porny amassed a sizeable fortune through his teaching and writings, and on his death in 1802, bequeathed it to the charity school in Eton. This bequest was fought over by his surviving relatives in France, but eventually Eton College leased the trustees land for a new school to be established according to the terms of his will and the school opened in 1812. By 1825, the Porny Free School was instructing 60 boys and 30 girls. The school moved to new buildings on the High Street in 1861-1862, and today it operates as Porny C of E First School with around 120 children.