imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Eldest sons of hereditary barons to :Category:Eldest sons of British hereditary barons per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 June 24#Category:Eldest sons of barons

2021-07-31T18:04:44Z

Moving Category:Eldest sons of hereditary barons to Category:Eldest sons of British hereditary barons per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 June 24#Category:Eldest sons of barons

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{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Lord Harris
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCSI}}
| image = George Francis Robert Harris by Richard Beard, 1840s.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = George Harris in the 1840s
| order1 = [[Governor of Madras Presidency]]
| term_start1 = 28 April 1854
| term_end1 = 28 March 1859
| predecessor1 = [[Daniel Eliott]] (acting)
| successor1 = Sir [[Charles Edward Trevelyan]]
| order2 = [[Governor of Trinidad]]
| term_start2 =
| term_end2 =
| governor-general2 =
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1810|8|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Belmont House and Gardens|Belmont]], Kent, United Kingdom
| death_date = {{death date and age|1872|11|23|1810|8|14|df=y}}
| death_place = United Kingdom
| nationality = British
| party =
| alma_mater =
| profession =
| occupation =
| spouse =
}}

'''George Francis Robert Harris''', '''3rd Baron Harris''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|GCSI}} (14 August 1810 – 23 November 1872), was a British peer, [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] politician and colonial administrator. He served as the [[Governor of Trinidad]] from 1846 to 1854 and [[Governor of Madras]] from 1854 to 1859.

== Early life and education ==
[[File:Belmont House - geograph.org.uk - 1597121.jpg|thumb|Belmont House, Kent - the Harris family seat]]
Harris was born on 14 August 1810 to William Harris, 2nd Baron Harris and his wife Eliza Selina Anne who owned Waterstown House at Glasson, Co. Westmeath, Ireland, and [[Belmont House and Gardens|Belmont House]], Faversham, England.<ref>Athlone Sentinel 13 June 1845</ref> He was the grandson of [[George Harris, 1st Baron Harris]], who had commanded the army of the [[British East India Company]] in the [[Fourth Mysore War]]. Harris had his early education at [[Eton College]] and under the private tutorship of Rev. John Shaw before joining [[Merton College, Oxford]] in 1829. Harris completed his matriculation from Merton College and graduated in arts from [[Christ Church, Oxford]] in 1832.

He succeeded his father in June 1845 to the barony and the family seat of Belmont House. He also became joint patron of Athlone Yacht Club in 1845 with Lord Castlemaine and Hon. L. H. King-Harman following the death of his father.

Harris was beset will ill-health and remained bed-ridden for some time in the city of [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]] in France where he worked for a time for the [[Church of England]].

== Governor of Trinidad ==
In 1846, Harris was appointed Governor of Trinidad, a role he kept until 1854. In 1850 he married Sarah, daughter of Port of Spain archdeacon George Cummins.<ref>Caribbean-Beat.com: [http://caribbean-beat.com/issue-9/governors-attic#axzz3yMOgYAZJ The Governor’s Attic]</ref> During his tenure, Harris revamped the prevailing education system thereby laying down the foundation for the present-day system of education prevailing in Trinidad. Harris also mooted the idea of importing indentured labourers from India to replace the plantation slaves who had been freed following the abolition of slavery. Harris is considered to be one of Trinidad's best ever administrators though he had also been criticized for favouring his own men in appointments.

== Governor of Madras ==

Soon after taking over as Governor of Madras, Harris found grave deficiencies in the police system in the Presidency and reorganised the force introducing reforms that would eventually give rise to the Indian police as it exists today. On 1 July 1856, Harris flagged off the first regular passenger train service in the province between the city of Madras and the town of [[Arcot]]. The [[University of Madras]] was established in 1857 when Harris was the governor. In September 1854, Harris headed the Torture Commission appointed to investigate the allegations of torture inflicted on Indian peasants by revenue officials.

Throughout his tenure, Harris was critical of the attitude of the [[Anglo-Indian]] press in Madras and tried to regulate the freedom of the press. He criticized them as:

{{quote|disloyal in tone, un-English in spirit, and wanting in every principle}}

When the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] broke out, the province of Madras remained loyal to the British Crown. As a result, Harris lent the whole [[Madras Army]] to the Government of India for quelling the rebellion. The Madras Army participated in the [[Siege of Cawnpore|relief of Cawnpore]] in which [[Lieutenant-Colonel]] [[James George Smith Neill]] of the Madras Fusiliers indulged in indiscriminate massacre of Indians and was eventually killed. However, there is also evidence that suggests that one of the 52 regiments of the Madras Army refused to volunteer for service during the mutiny.<ref name="davidp19">{{Citation | last = David | first = Saul | year = 2003 | title = The Indian Mutiny: 1857 | publisher = London: [[Penguin Books]]|isbn = 0-14-100554-8|pages=19}}</ref>

Harris continued even after the transfer of sovereignty over India from the [[British East India Company]] to the [[British crown]] in 1858, eventually resigning as governor in 1859.

== Later life and death ==

Lord Harris died in November 1872, aged 62. In 1850 he had married Sarah, daughter of the Venerable George Cummons, Archdeacon of Trinidad. She died only three years later. He presided in 1870 over the East and West Kent Club and was until his death president of the [[Kent County Cricket Club]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/150186.html| title=A short history of Kent cricket| access-date=2021-02-03 | publisher=Wisden|date=1907}}</ref> Lord Harris was succeeded in the barony by his son [[Robert Harris, 4th Baron Harris]], who became a successful cricketer and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician.

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|escutcheon = Vert on a chevron embattled, erminois between three hedgehogs Or, as many bombs Sable fired Proper a chief of augmentation thereon the gates and fortress of Seringapatam the draw-bridge let down and the Union flag of Great Britain and Ireland hoisted over the standard of Tippoo Sahib all Proper.
|crest = On a mural crown Or a royal tiger passant-guardant Vert striped Or spotted of the first pierced in the breast with an arrow of the last vulned Gules charged on the forehead with a Persian character for Ryder and crowned with an Eastern coronet both of the first. |supporters = Dexter a Grenadier soldier of the 73rd Regiment in his regimentals Proper supporting with his exterior hand a staff thereon hoisted the union flag of Great Britain and Ireland over that of the standard of Tippoo Sahib and beneath the tri-coloured flag entwined, inscribed with the word " Republique " ; sinister a Malay soldier in his uniform Proper supporting a like staff thereon hoisted the flag of the East India Company Argent striped barwise Gules with a canton, over the standard of Tippoo Sahib with the tri-coloured flag entwined beneath as on the dexter inscribed with the word "Franeaise" all Proper.
|motto = My Prince and My Country.<ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=1949}}</ref>}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[[Lord-in-waiting]] | before=[[George Byron, 7th Baron Byron|The Lord Byron]] | after=[[James Talbot, 4th Baron Talbot of Malahide|The Lord Talbot of Malahide]] | years=1860–1863}}
{{s-gov}}
{{succession box | title = [[Governor of Trinidad]] | before = [[Henry George Macleod]] | years = 1846–1854 | after = [[L. Bourchier]] (acting) }}
{{succession box | title = [[Governor of Madras]] | years = 1854–1859 | before = [[Daniel Eliott]] (acting) | after = [[Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet|Sir Charles Trevelyan]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{succession box | before=[[William Harris, 2nd Baron Harris|William Harris]] | title=[[Baron Harris]] | after=[[George Harris, 4th Baron Harris|Robert George Canning Harris]] | years=1845–1872}}
{{S-end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book | author=Anthony, Michael | author-link=Michael Anthony (author) | title=Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago | publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Md., and London | year=2001 |isbn=0-8108-3173-2}}
*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, {{Page needed |date=February 2013}}
*{{Rayment|date=February 2012}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, George Harris, 3rd Baron}}
[[Category:1810 births]]
[[Category:1872 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Governors of British Trinidad]]
[[Category:Governors of Madras]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) Lords-in-Waiting]]
[[Category:Eldest sons of British hereditary barons]]
[[Category:Presidents of Kent County Cricket Club]]

George Harris, 3rd Baron Harris - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Eldest sons of hereditary barons to :Category:Eldest sons of British hereditary barons per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 June 24#Category:Eldest sons of barons