Rear-Admiral Gerald Cartmell Harrison (8 October 1883 – 10 August 1943) was an English officer of the Royal Navy and a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

er.

Biography

Harrison was born in

Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Topony ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, the son of John Harrison, a merchant, and entered the Navy on 15 May 1898, aged 14. He was made a midshipman on 15 December 1899, and promoted to acting sub-lieutenant on 15 December 1902. On 30 June 1905 he was promoted to lieutenant, and on 19 July 1911 was appointed to command of the , based at

The Nore The Nore is a long bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades into the cha ...

. From 1 April 1913 he commanded , part of the

6th Destroyer Flotilla The British 6th Destroyer Flotilla, or Sixth Destroyer Flotilla, was a military formation of the Royal Navy from 1911 to 1939 and again from 1947 to 1951 History The flotilla was formed in 1911 at Portsmouth, with its first commander, Captain Mo ...

based at Portsmouth. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander on 30 June 1913, and on 29 August 1913 was appointed to command of the 6th Flotilla with as flotilla leader. On 29 July 1914 he was appointed to command of , and from 26 August 1915 of the

M-class destroyer Several classes of destroyer have been known as "M". These include: * Admiralty M-class destroyer, a class of Royal Navy destroyers built 1913–1916 and that served in World War I ** Hawthorn Leslie M-class destroyer, a variant of the above cla ...

''Manners'', which he commissioned, and as part of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla, took part in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vic ...

in May/June 1916. Harrison was promoted to commander on 1 January 1918. He married Katherine Robertson on 7 March 1918. He was appointed to command of the Thornycroft type destroyer leader ''Wallace'' on 25 January 1919, and on 1 October 1919 was appointed to command of the R-class destroyer ''Rocket'', part of the Portsmouth Local Defence Flotilla. Harrison was promoted to captain on 31 December 1924. He served as a Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence from April 1930 to April 1932. On 22 September 1933 Harrison was granted permission by the King to wear the insignia of Commander of the

Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer ( el, Τάγμα του Σωτήρος, translit=Tágma tou Sotíros), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the ...

that he had been awarded by the President of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

, in recognition of "valuable services rendered ... on the occasion of the earthquake in

Chalcidice Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional units of Greece, regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Macedonia (Gr ...

". From April 1934 to September 1936 he served as commander of , the Boys' Training Establishment at

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite ...

. On 4 January 1936 Harrison was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and was placed on the Retired List the following day. Rear-Admiral Harrison died at Spital House,

Blyth, Nottinghamshire Blyth is a village and civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of the county of Nottinghamshire, in the East Midlands, north west of East Retford, on the River Ryton. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census is 1,233. It sits at ...

on 10 August 1943. A memorial plaque was later erected at St Ann's Church,

HMNB Portsmouth His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

, and reads:

In Memory of Rear Admiral Gerald Cartmell Harrison
Died 10th August 1943 in his 60th year
His ashes were cast upon the Solent from H.M. Minesweeper 205, 17th Sept 1943
Erected by his wife in loving remembrance.

Cricket

Harrison was a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, th ...

. He made his county cricket debut for

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in the 1905

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

against

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

. Harrison played in 27 Minor Counties matches from 1905 to 1910 for the county. Harrison's last appearance for Devon came against Cornwall in the 1910 Minor Counties Championship. In 1912 Harrison made his first-class debut for

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

against the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

at Lord's. In 1913 Harrison played in the same fixture. In 1914 Harrison represented

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

in the 1914 County Championship, making his debut against Leicestershire. Harrison represented Hampshire eleven times in 1914, before the rest of the season was called off due to the start of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. In the 1914 season Harrison scored 504 runs at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 26.52. Harrison made four half centuries, with a high score of 91 * against the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influenc ...

. In 1914 Harrison represented the Navy in a match against the Army. With the conclusion of the First World War, Harrison returned to Hampshire for the 1919 County Championship, playing his first match for Hampshire that season against Surrey. Harrison played seven matches for Hampshire in 1919, scoring his highest first-class score of 111 against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. Harrison also played his only first-class match for the

in 1919, which came against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. Three more matches for the Navy (one a Navy and Army team) followed, as well as a single match for the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

against the

Australian Imperial Forces cricket team When the First World War ended in November 1918, thousands of Australian servicemen were in Europe as members of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and many remained until the spring of 1919. In England, a new 1919 English cricket seas ...

. In 1920 played two matches for the Navy, the last of which came against the Army. During his time representing the Royal Navy, Harrison scored 339 runs at an average of 24.21, which included two half centuries and a high score of 80. 1920 was to also be Harrison's final season with Hampshire, where he played three first-class matches, the last of which came against Leicestershire. In his time with the club Harrison played 22 first-class matches. He scored 991 runs at an average of 28.31, making four half centuries and a single century which yielded his highest score of 111.

References

External links

Gerald Harrison
at

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

Gerald Harrison
at CricketArchive

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Gerald Cartmell 1883 births 1943 deaths People from Congleton Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy officers of World War I English cricketers Devon cricketers Royal Navy cricketers Hampshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Combined Services cricketers Army and Navy cricketers North v South cricketers Military personnel from Cheshire Cricketers from Cheshire