Albert Walter Allen Harris (9 April 1873 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

– 21 April 1897 in Birmingham General Hospital) was a professional racing cyclist. He was raised in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

and attended Holy Trinity School. He started cycling competitively at the age of 14 and came second in the 'Infirmary Sports' at Aylestone Road Sports Ground (now the Grace Road Cricket Ground) two years later. Transcript of memorial, photographs and brief biography
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Early life

Harris was born in Birmingham on 9 April 1873, the son of Walter James and Emma Harris.

Cyclist

Harris gained his first major win at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 1889, completing the Five Mile race in 18 minutes and 25 seconds. Harris broke the records for the mile and three-quarter mile events in 1893 before turning professional in 1894 and joined the London Polytechnic Cycle Club. Bert was coached by

Sam Mussabini Scipio Africanus "Sam" Mussabini (6 August 1867 – 12 March 1927) was an English athletics coach best known for his work with Harold Abrahams. In total, he led athletes to eleven medals over five Olympic Games. However, in an era where amateuri ...

to his first professional cycling championship victory in 1894. During a race in Cardiff in April 1895, he came off his bicycle and was knocked unconscious for 48 hours. However, by September he was well enough to break the English professional record at

Herne Hill Velodrome The Herne Hill Velodrome is a velodrome in Herne Hill, in south London. It is one of the oldest cycling tracks in the world, having been built in 1891. It hosted the track cycling events in the 1948 Summer Olympics and was briefly the home of Cry ...

, completing the half-mile in 57.3 seconds and the mile in 118.3 seconds. Harris competed alongside the big names in cycling in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

during the southern summer of 1895-1896, receiving £400 for winning one race alone. On average he earned £15 a week. He was so successful that people began to refer to 1896 as ''Harris Year''.BBC Inside Out, East Midlands
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Death

Harris's last event was a ten-mile race on Easter Monday in 1897, about four miles into the race he came off his bicycle after a wheel buckled, he struck his head on the hard surface. He died two days later without recovering consciousness. His funeral was held on 26 April which included a cortege from his home at Portsmouth Road in the Belgrave district of Leicester to the Welford Road cemetery two miles away. The Leicester chronicle reported it as "Such a scene at a funeral has never been equalled in Leicester" with crowds of people ("tens of thousands") turned out along the route. As the cortege arrived at Welford Road it was joined by representative gathering of cyclists and athletes from the midlands area.

Harris' remembrance

A memorial erected at Welford Road Cemetery,

is evidence of popularity: Dick Swann wrote a book titled ''Bert Harris of the Poly: A Cycling Legend'' which was published by V Harvey in January 1974. Roger Lovell, a Leicester businessman is hoping to raise £30,000 in order to erect a public statue to commemorate Harris.Tribute to a Sporting Hero, Alison Curtis, thisisleicestershire.co.uk
/ref> Lovell also approached the BBC to film a drama documentary, which was subsequently made by Victorian reconstructionists on location in Leicester. In a bizarre coincidence, the actor who played Bert turned out to be his descendant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Bert English male cyclists 1873 births 1897 deaths Sportspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands Burials at Welford Road Cemetery Cyclists who died while racing Sport deaths in England