George Harris, 4th Baron Harris - Revision history

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	The Honourable George Harris was born in St Ann's, [[Trinidad]] on 3 February 1851 when his father, [[George Harris, 3rd Baron Harris]], was serving as [[List of Governors of Trinidad\|Governor of Trinidad]] (1846–1854)<ref name=carlaw216>Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), p.216. ([https://archive.acscricket.com/books/Kent_Cricketers_A_to_Z_Part_One_Revised_Expanded.pdf Available online] at the [[Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians]]. Retrieved 11 March 2021.)</ref> and Sarah ({{nee}} Cummins).<ref>{{Cite web\|last=MacLean\|first=Geoffrey\|date=1994-01-01\|title=The Governor's Attic\|url=https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-9/governors-attic\|access-date=2021-03-11\|website=Caribbean Beat Magazine\|language=en-GB}}</ref> Harris barely knew his mother who died when he was two years old. In 1854, the family moved to [[Chennai\|Madras]] when his father was posted to [[List of colonial Governors and Presidents of Madras\|the governorship there]]. Harris senior retired in March 1859 and returned to England, where he became involved with [[Kent County Cricket Club]] as a committee member and, in 1870, club president.		The Honourable George Harris was born in St Ann's, [[Trinidad]] on 3 February 1851 when his father, [[George Harris, 3rd Baron Harris]], was serving as [[List of Governors of Trinidad\|Governor of Trinidad]] (1846–1854)<ref name=carlaw216>Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), p.216. ([https://archive.acscricket.com/books/Kent_Cricketers_A_to_Z_Part_One_Revised_Expanded.pdf Available online] at the [[Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians]]. Retrieved 11 March 2021.)</ref> and Sarah ({{nee}} Cummins).<ref>{{Cite web\|last=MacLean\|first=Geoffrey\|date=1994-01-01\|title=The Governor's Attic\|url=https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-9/governors-attic\|access-date=2021-03-11\|website=Caribbean Beat Magazine\|language=en-GB}}</ref> Harris barely knew his mother who died when he was two years old. In 1854, the family moved to [[Chennai\|Madras]] when his father was posted to [[List of colonial Governors and Presidents of Madras\|the governorship there]]. Harris senior retired in March 1859 and returned to England, where he became involved with [[Kent County Cricket Club]] as a committee member and, in 1870, club president.

	In 1864, at the age of 13, Harris was sent to [[Eton College]] to further his education. His first important cricket match was the 1868 Eton ''versus'' [[Harrow School\|Harrow]] fixture at [[Lord's]], when he was seventeen; he scored 23 and 6. In the same fixture the following year, when [[Cuthbert Ottaway]] scored 108 to seal victory for Eton by an innings and nineteen runs, Harris was out for 0. In 1870, his last year at Eton, he scored 12 and 7 against Harrow.		In 1864, at the age of 13, Harris was sent to [[Eton College]] to further his education.<ref name=Debrett/> His first important cricket match was the 1868 Eton ''versus'' [[Harrow School\|Harrow]] fixture at [[Lord's]], when he was seventeen; he scored 23 and 6. In the same fixture the following year, when [[Cuthbert Ottaway]] scored 108 to seal victory for Eton by an innings and nineteen runs, Harris was out for 0. In 1870, his last year at Eton, he scored 12 and 7 against Harrow. He also studied at Christ Church, Oxford.<ref name=Debrett/>

	His father died in November 1872, whereupon Harris junior succeeded to the barony as 4th Baron Harris. He was already a [[first-class cricket]]er by then and was henceforward universally known in the sport as Lord Harris.		His father died in November 1872, whereupon Harris junior succeeded to the barony as 4th Baron Harris. He was already a [[first-class cricket]]er by then and was henceforward universally known in the sport as Lord Harris.
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	===Throwing issue===		===Throwing issue===
	In the early 1880s there were a number of bowlers who were widely considered to have [[throwing (cricket)\|unfair actions]], with the [[Lancashire County Cricket Club\|Lancashire]] pair of [[Jack Crossland]] and [[George Nash (cricketer)\|George Nash]] coming in for particular criticism. After playing for Kent against Lancashire in 1885, when he faced the bowling of Crossland and Nash, Harris decided to take action. He persuaded the Kent committee to cancel the return fixture. Later that season, Crossland was found to have broken his residential qualification for Lancashire by living in [[Nottinghamshire]], and Nash dropped out of the side. The two counties resumed playing each other the following season. Harris's ''Wisden'' obituarist wrote: "...there can be no doubt the action of Lord Harris, even if it did not entirely remove the throwing evil, had a very healthy effect on the game."<ref>''Wisden Cricketer's Almanack'', 1933 edition.</ref>		In the early 1880s, there were a number of bowlers who were widely considered to have [[throwing (cricket)\|unfair actions]], with the [[Lancashire County Cricket Club\|Lancashire]] pair of [[Jack Crossland]] and [[George Nash (cricketer)\|George Nash]] coming in for particular criticism. After playing for Kent against Lancashire in 1885, when he faced the bowling of Crossland and Nash, Harris decided to take action. He persuaded the Kent committee to cancel the return fixture. Later that season, Crossland was found to have broken his residential qualification for Lancashire by living in [[Nottinghamshire]], and Nash dropped out of the side. The two counties resumed playing each other the following season. Harris's ''Wisden'' obituarist wrote: "...there can be no doubt the action of Lord Harris, even if it did not entirely remove the throwing evil, had a very healthy effect on the game."<ref>''Wisden Cricketer's Almanack'', 1933 edition.</ref>

	===Administration===		===Administration===
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	==Political and military career==		==Political and military career==
	[[File:Lord Harris c1905.jpg\|thumb\|left\|Lord Harris c. 1905]]		[[File:Lord Harris c1905.jpg\|thumb\|left\|Lord Harris c. 1905]]
	Harris was politically active as a member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)\|Conservative Party]], serving in the [[House of Lords]] as [[Under-Secretary of State for India]] from 25 June 1885, then as Parliamentary [[Under-Secretary of State for War]] from 4 August 1886 to 1890. He was appointed [[Governor of Bombay\|Governor of the Presidency of Bombay]] in [[British Raj\|British India]] from 1890 to 1895.		Harris was politically active as a member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)\|Conservative Party]], serving in the [[House of Lords]] as [[Under-Secretary of State for India]] from 25 June 1885, then as Parliamentary [[Under-Secretary of State for War]] from 4 August 1886 to 1890. He was appointed [[Governor of Bombay\|Governor of the Presidency of Bombay]] in [[British Raj\|British India]] from 1890 to 1895. Harris had also been involved with the British military, starting in the [[List of battalions of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)\|Royal East Kent Regiment]]; and becoming colonel in the regiment; and joining the [[Imperial Yeomanry]], 1900-01. He went on to work as [[Under-Secretary of State for War#Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State for War, 1854–1947\|Under-Secretary of State for War]], 1886-90; then [[Deputy lieutenant\|vice-lieutenant]] for Kent. He was in charge of the [[Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom#Sceptre\|Queen's Sceptre]] with dove at the coronation [[Coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra]].<ref name=Debrett/>

	===Bombay===		===Bombay===
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	Harris died in March 1932, aged 82.		Harris died in March 1932, aged 82.

	He married ~~in 1874~~ the Honourable Lucy Ada Jervis, daughter of Carnegie Robert John Jervis, 3rd Viscount St Vincent, and was succeeded in the barony by their son George Harris, 5th Baron Harris.		In 1874, he married the Honourable Lucy Ada Jervis, daughter of Carnegie Robert John Jervis, [[Viscount St Vincent\|3rd Viscount St Vincent]],<ref name=Debrett/> and was succeeded in the barony by their son George Harris, 5th Baron Harris.

	==Arms==		==Arms==
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	==References==		==References==
	{{~~Reflist~~\|30em}}		{{ref list\|30em\|refs=<ref name=Debrett>{{harv\|Hesilrige\|1921\|page=452}}</ref>}}

	==Further reading==		==Further reading==
			*{{cite book \| last=Hesilrige \| first=Arthur G. M. \| date=1921 \| title=Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy \| url=https://debretts.com/ \| url-status=live \| location=160A, [[Fleet street]], [[London]], UK \| publisher=[[Dean & Son]] \| archive-url=https://archive.org/details/debrettspeeraget00unse/mode/2up \| quote=[[John Debrett]] \| archive-date=13 September 2016 \| page=452 }}
	* {{cite book \|last=Altham\|first=H. S.\|author-link=Harry Altham \|title=A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) \|year=1962 \|publisher=George Allen & Unwin}}		* {{cite book \|last=Altham\|first=H. S.\|author-link=Harry Altham \|title=A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) \|year=1962 \|publisher=George Allen & Unwin}}
	* {{cite book \|last=Grace\|first=W. G.\|author-link=W. G. Grace \|title=W. G. – Cricketing Reminiscences \|year=1899 \|publisher=Hambledon Press}}		* {{cite book \|last=Grace\|first=W. G.\|author-link=W. G. Grace \|title=W. G. – Cricketing Reminiscences \|year=1899 \|publisher=Hambledon Press}}
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	{{succession box \| title=[[Lord-in-waiting]] \| before=[[Cecil Foljambe, 1st Earl of Liverpool\|The Lord Hawkesbury]] \| after=[[Lloyd Tyrell-Kenyon, 4th Baron Kenyon\|The Lord Kenyon]] \| years=1895–1900}}		{{succession box \| title=[[Lord-in-waiting]] \| before=[[Cecil Foljambe, 1st Earl of Liverpool\|The Lord Hawkesbury]] \| after=[[Lloyd Tyrell-Kenyon, 4th Baron Kenyon\|The Lord Kenyon]] \| years=1895–1900}}
	{{s-reg\|uk}}		{{s-reg\|uk}}
	{{succession box \| before=[[George Harris, 3rd Baron Harris\|George Harris]] \| title=[[Baron Harris]] \| after=[[George Harris, 5th Baron ~~Harris\|George~~ Harris]] \| years=1872–1932}}		{{succession box \| before=[[George Harris, 3rd Baron Harris\|George Harris]] \| title=[[Baron Harris]] \| after=[[Baron Harris\|George Harris, 5th Baron Harris]] \| years=1872–1932}}
	{{s-end}}		{{s-end}}
	{{English Test cricket captains}}		{{English Test cricket captains}}
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	[[Category:Gentlemen cricketers]]		[[Category:Gentlemen cricketers]]
	[[Category:Gentlemen of England cricketers]]		[[Category:Gentlemen of England cricketers]]
	[[Category:Eldest sons of barons]]		[[Category:Eldest sons of British hereditary barons]]
	[[Category:Governors of Bombay]]		[[Category:Governors of Bombay]]
	[[Category:I Zingari cricketers]]		[[Category:I Zingari cricketers]]

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{{short description|British amateur cricketer, colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay (1851-1932)}}
{{redirect|Lord Harris|other people known as Lord Harris|Lord Harris (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honorable]]
| name = The Lord Harris
| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCSI|GCIE|CB|TD|ADC}}
| image = Baron Harris.jpg
| caption = Harris in the 1880s
| country = England
| fullname = George Robert Canning Harris
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1851|2|3|df=yes}}
| birth_place = St Ann's, [[Trinidad]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1932|3|24|1851|2|3|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Throwley]], [[Kent]]
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling = Right-arm [[Roundarm bowling|roundarm]] [[Fast bowling|fast]]
| role = [[batting (cricket)|Batsman]]
| international = true
| testdebutdate = 2 January
| testdebutyear = 1879
| testdebutagainst = Australia
| testcap = 13
| lasttestdate = 11 August
| lasttestyear = 1884
| lasttestagainst = Australia
| club1 = [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]]
| year1 = 1870–1911
| club2 = [[Marylebone Cricket Club]]
| year2 = 1871–1895
| club3 = [[Oxford University Cricket Club|Oxford University]]
| year3 = 1871–1874
| columns = 2
| column1 = [[Test cricket|Tests]]
| matches1 = 4
| runs1 = 145
| bat avg1 = 29.00
| 100s/50s1 = 0/1
| top score1 = 52
| deliveries1 = 32
| wickets1 = 0
| bowl avg1 = –
| fivefor1 = –
| tenfor1 = –
| best bowling1 = –
| catches/stumpings1 = 2/–
| column2 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches2 = 224
| runs2 = 9,990
| bat avg2 = 26.85
| 100s/50s2 = 11/55
| top score2 = 176
| deliveries2 = 3,446
| wickets2 = 75
| bowl avg2 = 23.44
| fivefor2 = 1
| tenfor2 = 0
| best bowling2 = 5/57
| catches/stumpings2 = 190/–
| date = 8 February
| year = 2015
| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/14077.html CricInfo
}}
[[Colonel]] '''George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|GCSI|GCIE|CB|TD|ADC}}<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30723 |date=3 June 1918 |page=6528 |supp=y}}</ref> (3 February 1851 – 24 March 1932), generally known as '''Lord Harris''', was a British colonial administrator and [[Governor of Bombay]]. He was also an English [[Amateur status in first-class cricket|amateur]] [[cricket]]er, mainly active from 1870 to 1889, who played for [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]] and [[England national cricket team|England]] as [[captain (cricket)|captain]] of both teams. He had a [[politics|political career]] from 1885 to 1900 and was for much of his life a highly influential figure in cricket administration through the offices he held with [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC). He was President of the [[Kent County Football Association]] between 1881 and 1908.

==Early life==
The Honourable George Harris was born in St Ann's, [[Trinidad]] on 3 February 1851 when his father, [[George Harris, 3rd Baron Harris]], was serving as [[List of Governors of Trinidad|Governor of Trinidad]] (1846–1854)<ref name=carlaw216>Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), p.216. ([https://archive.acscricket.com/books/Kent_Cricketers_A_to_Z_Part_One_Revised_Expanded.pdf Available online] at the [[Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians]]. Retrieved 11 March 2021.)</ref> and Sarah ({{nee}} Cummins).<ref>{{Cite web|last=MacLean|first=Geoffrey|date=1994-01-01|title=The Governor's Attic|url=https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-9/governors-attic|access-date=2021-03-11|website=Caribbean Beat Magazine|language=en-GB}}</ref> Harris barely knew his mother who died when he was two years old. In 1854, the family moved to [[Chennai|Madras]] when his father was posted to [[List of colonial Governors and Presidents of Madras|the governorship there]]. Harris senior retired in March 1859 and returned to England, where he became involved with [[Kent County Cricket Club]] as a committee member and, in 1870, club president.

In 1864, at the age of 13, Harris was sent to [[Eton College]] to further his education. His first important cricket match was the 1868 Eton ''versus'' [[Harrow School|Harrow]] fixture at [[Lord's]], when he was seventeen; he scored 23 and 6. In the same fixture the following year, when [[Cuthbert Ottaway]] scored 108 to seal victory for Eton by an innings and nineteen runs, Harris was out for 0. In 1870, his last year at Eton, he scored 12 and 7 against Harrow.

His father died in November 1872, whereupon Harris junior succeeded to the barony as 4th Baron Harris. He was already a [[first-class cricket]]er by then and was henceforward universally known in the sport as Lord Harris.

==Cricket career==
===Summary of playing career===
Harris made his [[first-class cricket|first-class]] debut for Kent in 1870 after he left Eton. Owing to his position in society, he was immediately elected to the club committee and was associated with Kent cricket for the rest of his life. He went up to [[Christ Church, Oxford]] in September 1870 and played for the [[Oxford University Cricket Club|Oxford University]] team from 1871 to 1874. He was available to play for Kent in the latter half of each of these seasons and became county [[captain (cricket)|captain]] in succession to [[South Norton]] in 1871, although his appointment was not made official until after he left Oxford. Harris held the Kent captaincy until 1889.

He led the [[English cricket team in Australia and New Zealand in 1878–79]] and was a central figure in the [[Sydney Riot of 1879|events of 8 February 1879]] when a crowd riot erupted at a match in [[Sydney]]. The team had previously played a match against an [[Australia national cricket team|All-Australia XI]] at the [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]] and this was later designated [[Test cricket|Test status]] as the third-ever Test match. Harris was therefore the second [[England national cricket team|England]] Test captain after [[James Lillywhite]]. Australia, led by [[Dave Gregory (cricketer)|Dave Gregory]], won the match by 10 wickets.

Harris captained England against Australia on three further occasions. In 1880 at [[The Oval]], in what was later recognised as the inaugural Test match in England, England won by 5 wickets. Harris captained England in two of the Tests played in 1884, his team winning by an innings and 5 runs at [[Lord's]] and drawing the final match in the series at The Oval.

The full span of Harris' [[first-class cricket]] career was from 1870 to 1911, at 42 seasons one of the longest on record, though he made only seven appearances after 1889 when he relinquished the Kent captaincy so his essential playing career was from 1870 to 1889. He appeared in 224 [[first-class cricket|first-class matches]], including four [[Test cricket|Test matches]], as a righthanded [[batting (cricket)|batsman]] who [[bowling (cricket)|bowled]] right arm [[fast bowling|fast]] with a [[roundarm bowling|roundarm action]]. He scored 9,990 [[run (cricket)|runs]] in first-class cricket with a highest score of 176 among eleven [[century (cricket)|centuries]] and held 190 catches. He took 75 [[wicket]]s with a best analysis of five for 57.<ref name="caprofile">{{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/30/30.html |publisher=CricketArchive |title=Lord Harris profile |access-date=8 February 2015}}</ref> Even in old age he was a capable cricketer, scoring a fifty for [[I Zingari]] v West Kent in his 71st year and 25 against Philadelphia Pilgrims at Lord's, 53 years after he had made his first appearance at the home of cricket.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://magazine.cricketarchive.com/Magazine/1921/vol_i_no_17/files/mobile/index.html#11|title=The Cricketer Vol I No 17 1922|website=magazine.cricketarchive.com|access-date=2020-03-21}}{{Dead link|date=June 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> <ref>{{Cite journal|date=30 July 1921|title=Miscellaneous|url=http://magazine.cricketarchive.com/Magazine/1921/vol_i_no_14/files/mobile/index.html#10|journal=Cricketer Magazine}}{{Dead link|date=June 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Throwing issue===
In the early 1880s there were a number of bowlers who were widely considered to have [[throwing (cricket)|unfair actions]], with the [[Lancashire County Cricket Club|Lancashire]] pair of [[Jack Crossland]] and [[George Nash (cricketer)|George Nash]] coming in for particular criticism. After playing for Kent against Lancashire in 1885, when he faced the bowling of Crossland and Nash, Harris decided to take action. He persuaded the Kent committee to cancel the return fixture. Later that season, Crossland was found to have broken his residential qualification for Lancashire by living in [[Nottinghamshire]], and Nash dropped out of the side. The two counties resumed playing each other the following season. Harris's ''Wisden'' obituarist wrote: "...there can be no doubt the action of Lord Harris, even if it did not entirely remove the throwing evil, had a very healthy effect on the game."<ref>''Wisden Cricketer's Almanack'', 1933 edition.</ref>

===Administration===
[[File:Lord Harris Vanity Fair.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=Caricature of a tall thin man with a moustache holding a cricket bat|Lord Harris caricatured in ''[[Vanity Fair (UK magazine)|Vanity Fair]]''.]]
Harris had a long association with Lord's and MCC as both player and administrator. In 1862, aged eleven, he was practising at Lord's. It was not till 1929, at the age of 78, that he played there for the last time, representing MCC v Indian Gymkhana.<ref name=AG14>{{cite book |last=Gibson |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Gibson |title=The Cricket Captains of England |year=1989 |publisher=The Pavilion Library |isbn=1-85145-390-3|page=14}}</ref> He was president of MCC in 1895, a trustee from 1906 to 1916 and treasurer from 1916 to 1932. Additionally, he was at various times chairman of both the MCC finance and cricket sub-committees. Through these offices, Harris wielded considerable power in the world of cricket and it was written of him: "No man has exercised so strong an influence on the cricket world so long..."<ref>Barclay's World of Cricket, p.170.</ref>

In July 1909, Harris chaired a meeting of representatives of England, Australia and South Africa which launched the [[International Cricket Council|Imperial Cricket Conference]] and agreed rules to control Test cricket between the three nations. In 1926, he presided at a meeting at The Oval, when it was agreed that "governing bodies of cricket in countries within the Empire to which cricket teams are sent, or which send teams to England" should be eligible for ICC membership. The meeting had the effect of creating three new Test-playing nations: West Indies, New Zealand and India.<ref name="icchistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/about/1909-1963.html |publisher=ICC |title=ICC History 1909–1963 |access-date=8 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111155/http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/about/1909-1963.html |archive-date=29 September 2007 |df=dmy }}</ref>

Harris was a controversial figure in the world of cricket, revered by cricket's MCC-based establishment<ref name="wisobit">{{cite web |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/233682.html |publisher=Wisden Cricketers' Almanack |date=1933 |title=Lord Harris obituary |access-date=8 February 2015}}</ref> and heavily criticised elsewhere.<ref>{{cite book |last=Birley |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Birley |title=A Social History of English Cricket |year=1999 |publisher=Aurum |isbn=1-85410-710-0|pages=115, 128–129, 140–141, 145, 164, 166, 177, 185, 218–220}}</ref> Not all thought that he used his power well. [[Alan Gibson]] once wrote that he was "an antediluvian old tyrant", though he later retracted this, saying that Harris was a more complex figure than that.<ref name=AG14/> But, complex or not, Harris was never accused by contemporaries of being an intellectual.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} He might have robbed England of the services of one of its greatest batsmen, [[Wally Hammond]], who had been born in Kent but chose to play for [[Gloucestershire County Cricket Club|Gloucestershire]], where he had gone to school. Hammond had not fulfilled the required period of residence to qualify for Gloucestershire and, once Harris became aware of this, Hammond was barred from playing for them until the necessary time had elapsed. The affair resulted in Harris complaining about what he called "bolshevism" influencing cricket.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}

==Political and military career==
[[File:Lord Harris c1905.jpg|thumb|left|Lord Harris c. 1905]]
Harris was politically active as a member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], serving in the [[House of Lords]] as [[Under-Secretary of State for India]] from 25 June 1885, then as Parliamentary [[Under-Secretary of State for War]] from 4 August 1886 to 1890. He was appointed [[Governor of Bombay|Governor of the Presidency of Bombay]] in [[British Raj|British India]] from 1890 to 1895.

===Bombay===
His governorship of [[Mumbai|Bombay]] was not without extensive criticism, with one anonymous writer penning a poem expressing the hope that Bombay would not suffer too greatly from Harris' political inexperience.<ref name=RG56/> He was mainly notable for his enthusiastic pursuit of cricket amongst his fellow [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]] in the colony, at the expense of connecting with the native population. When the interracial Bombay riots of 1893 broke out, Harris was out of the city at [[Pune|Poona]] enjoying cricket matches. He returned to Bombay only on the ninth day of rioting, and then primarily to attend a cricket match there.<ref name=RG56/> Many later writers credited Harris with almost single-handedly introducing and developing the sport in India. The game was, however, well established among the natives before his arrival. Furthermore, in 1890, he rejected a petition signed by over 1,000 locals to relocate European polo players to another ground so that the locals could use the area for cricket matches. It was only in 1892 that he granted a parcel of land to the newly formed [[Muslims cricket team|Muslim Gymkhana]] for a cricket field, adjacent to land already used by the [[Parsees cricket team|Parsee Gymkhana]]. His reluctance to do so is evident in his written comment:<ref name=RG56>{{cite book |last=Guha |first=Ramachandra |author-link=Ramachandra Guha |title=A Corner of a Foreign Field – An Indian History of a British Sport |year=2001 |publisher=Picador |pages=56–75}}</ref>

<blockquote>I don't see how we can refuse these applicants; but I will steadfastly refuse any more grants once a Gymkhana has been established under respectable auspices by each nationality, and tell applicants that ground having been set apart for their nationality they are free to take advantage of it by joining that particular club.</blockquote>

When Harris left India, having virtually ignored famine, riots and sectarian unrest, a publisher circulated a collection of newspaper extracts from his time as governor. The introduction stated:<ref name=RG56/>

<blockquote>Never during the last hundred years has a Governor of Bombay been so sternly criticised and never has he met with such widespread unpopularity on account of his administration as Lord Harris.</blockquote>

===Later career===
[[File:Memorial to George Robert Canning Harris, Canterbury.jpg|thumb|Memorial to George Robert Canning Harris, Canterbury]]
On his return to England, Harris again served in the Conservative Government as a [[Lord in Waiting]] to [[Queen Victoria]] from 16 July 1895 to 4 December 1900.

He was appointed lieutenant-colonel in command of the [[Royal East Kent Yeomanry]] on 6 October 1897. During the [[Second Boer War]], he held a commission as Assistant [[Adjutant general|Adjutant-General]] for the [[Imperial Yeomanry]] from 28 February 1900,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27169 |page=1351| date=27 February 1900}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27173| page=1714|date=13 March 1900}}</ref> until he resigned in April 1901.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}

==Death and family==
[[Image:Lord's Cricket Ground Lord Harris Memorial.jpg|thumb|Memorial stone to [[Lord Harris]] in the Harris Garden at Lord's]]
Harris died in March 1932, aged 82.

He married in 1874 the Honourable Lucy Ada Jervis, daughter of Carnegie Robert John Jervis, 3rd Viscount St Vincent, and was succeeded in the barony by their son George Harris, 5th Baron Harris.

==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>}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Altham|first=H. S.|author-link=Harry Altham |title=A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) |year=1962 |publisher=George Allen & Unwin}}
* {{cite book |last=Grace|first=W. G.|author-link=W. G. Grace |title=W. G. – Cricketing Reminiscences |year=1899 |publisher=Hambledon Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Ranjitsinhji|first=K. S.|author-link=K. S. Ranjitsinhji |title=The Jubilee Book of Cricket |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924031254406|year=1897 |publisher=Blackwood}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Swanton |editor-first=E. W. |editor-link=E. W. Swanton |title= Barclays World of Cricket |year=1986 |publisher=Willow Books |isbn=0-00-218193-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Webber |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Webber |title=The County Cricket Championship |year=1958 |publisher=Sportsman's Book Club}}

==External links==
{{commons category|George Harris, 4th Baron Harris}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* {{cricinfo|id=14077}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-sports}}
{{succession box|
|title=[[Kent County Cricket Club]] [[List of Kent County Cricket Club captains|captain]]
| before=[[South Norton]]|
| years=1875–1889|
| after=[[Frank Marchant]] and [[William Patterson (cricketer, born 1859)|William Patterson]]
}}
{{succession box|
before=[[James Lillywhite]]|
title=[[English national cricket captains|English national cricket captain]]|
years=1878/79–1880|
after=[[Alfred Shaw]]
}}
{{succession box|
before=[[Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley|Hon. Ivo Bligh]]|
title=[[English national cricket captains|English national cricket captain]]|
years=1884|
after=[[Arthur Shrewsbury]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=[[Under-Secretary of State for India]] | before=[[John Kynaston Cross]] | after=[[Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron Shuttleworth|Sir Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, Bt]] | years=1885–1886}}
{{succession box | title=[[Under-Secretary of State for War]] | before=[[William Mansfield, 1st Viscount Sandhurst|The Lord Sandhurst]] | after=[[Adelbert Brownlow-Cust, 3rd Earl Brownlow|The Earl Brownlow]] | years=1886–1890}}
{{succession box |
before=[[Donald Mackay, 11th Lord Reay|The Lord Reay]] |
after=[[William Mansfield, 1st Viscount Sandhurst|The Lord Sandhurst]] |
title=[[Governor of Bombay]] |
years=1890–1895
}}
{{succession box | title=[[Lord-in-waiting]] | before=[[Cecil Foljambe, 1st Earl of Liverpool|The Lord Hawkesbury]] | after=[[Lloyd Tyrell-Kenyon, 4th Baron Kenyon|The Lord Kenyon]] | years=1895–1900}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{succession box | before=[[George Harris, 3rd Baron Harris|George Harris]] | title=[[Baron Harris]] | after=[[George Harris, 5th Baron Harris|George Harris]] | years=1872–1932}}
{{s-end}}
{{English Test cricket captains}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, George Robert Canning, 4th Baron}}
[[Category:1851 births]]
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