Frederick Rutherfoord Harris (1 May 1856 – 1 September 1920) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician who served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) between 1900 and 1906. Harris was born in Madras, India, where his father, George Anstruther Harris, was a Supreme Court Judge, and was educated at Leatherhead Grammar School, in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

, and at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where he studied medicine. In 1882 he began practising as a doctor in Kimberley,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. He got to know Cecil Rhodes, who appointed him secretary of the British South Africa Company when it was set up. He became a member of the Cape Province House of Assembly, sitting for the Kimberley constituency. In 1895 he was involved in the controversy over the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, under the employment of Cecil ...

, when on Rhodes' instructions he forwarded to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' newspaper a message from the Reform Committee dated in such a way as to falsely suggest that Jameson was responding to an immediate request for help. "The cloud of this act of deception," the Times later wrote, "was heavy over Harris for the rest of his life". Moving to England, he was first elected as MP for

Monmouth Boroughs Monmouth Boroughs (also known as the Monmouth District of Boroughs) was a United Kingdom constituencies, parliamentary constituency consisting of several towns in Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (Uni ...

in the 1900 general election, winning the seat from the Liberal party, but was unseated after a lawsuit alleging electoral irregularities. Although he was disqualified by the court from standing again in the constituency for seven years, the judges insisted that no blame should attach to Harris personally. A local committee subsequently raised nearly a thousand pounds for a gift on his behalf. He was elected MP for

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half ...

at a by-election in 1903, but sat for only three years before resigning to return to South Africa. He died in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

at the age of 64. He was a descendant of General George Harris, victor of the

Battle of Seringapatam A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

, and a cousin of

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (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 cricketer, mainly active ...

, the cricketer. In 1900 he married Florence Ling. She hanged herself three months after his death, apparently overcome by grief.''The Times'', 22 December 1920

References

* ''The Times'', 16 December 1903 * Obituary, ''The Times'', 3 September 1920

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Frederick Rutherfoord 1856 births 1920 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1906–1910 Politics of the London Borough of Southwark Alumni of the University of Edinburgh