Charles Alexander Harris

Sir Charles Alexander Harris KCMG CB CVO (28 June 1855 – 26 March 1947) was a British colonial administrator, Governor of Newfoundland from 1917 to 1922.

Sir Charles Alexander Harris KCMG CB CVO
Governor of Newfoundland
In office 1917–1922
Monarch	George V
Prime Minister	Edward Morris John Chalker Crosbie William F. Lloyd Michael Patrick Cashin Richard Squires
Preceded by	Walter Edward Davidson
Succeeded by	William Allardyce
Personal details
Born	28 June 1855
Died	26 March 1947 (1947-03-27) (aged 91)
Relations	Stanley Harris (son)
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge

Harris was born in Wrexham, Wales, but spent much of his first ten years in St. John's, Newfoundland, where his father, the Rev. George Poulett Harris, moved when Charles was a boy. Harris began his schooling in Newfoundland before returning to England[1] where he attended Richmond School in Yorkshire.[2]

Harris graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1878[3] and qualified for the bar at Lincoln's Inn. He began his career as a clerk in the Colonial Office in 1879.

From 1896 to 1899, he worked on a Boundary Arbitration between British Guiana and Venezuela, for which he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1900 New Year Honours list on 1 January 1900,[4][5] and was invested by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on 1 March 1900.[6] From 1901 to 1904 he worked on another boundary commission between British Guiana and Brazil.[7]

Harris became Chief Clerk of the Colonial Office in 1917. The same year, he was knighted and appointed governor of Newfoundland. Harris wrote essays on the history of Newfoundland and was a contributor to the Dictionary of National Biography. He was offered the position of Governor-General of Australia but turned it down in favour of retiring from the colonial service in 1922 at the end of his term as Governor of Newfoundland.[2]

In 1928 he edited for the Hakluyt Society Robert Harcourt's A Relation of a Voyage to Guiana by Robert Harcourt 1613.[7]

References

1. http://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/colonial-charles-harris.php
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "Harris, Charles Alexander (HRS874CA)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
4. "New Year Honours". The Times (36027). London. 1 January 1900. p. 9.
5. "No. 27150". The London Gazette. 2 January 1900. p. 2.
6. "Court Circular". The Times (36079). London. 2 March 1900. p. 6.
7. Sir C. Alexander Harris, ed., A Relation of a Voyage to Guiana by Robert Harcourt 1613 (Hakluyt Society, 1928), p. 1

External links

• Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador

Preceded by Sir Walter Davidson	Governor of Newfoundland 1917–1922	Succeeded by Sir William Allardyce