 Porter's childhood was disrupted by the beginning of World War I, prompting the family to split up; her mother moved to London to work in the Government National Kitchens and her father moved to Yorkshire to work at a different school.Porter and her sister stayed in Surrey to continue attending the Clifton High School for Girls.In her early years, she travelled extensively, canoeing the Danube River in the 1920s and making several trips to Middle Eastern archaeological sites.