Christopher Harison (c. 1825 - 8 November 1897) was a British military officer and forestry official in

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

. He served as Conservator of Forests and was an authority on forest practice in the region. Harison was born at Sutton Place,

Seaford, East Sussex Seaford is a town in East Sussex, England, east of Newhaven and west of Eastbourne.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. In the Middle Ages, Sea ...

. He first arrived in the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

in 1849 as a captain in the Perthshire Regiment (later the 2nd Battalion of the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

, Royal Highland Regiment) to take part in the Eighth Frontier War (1850–1853). He resigned his commission on returning to England, married Louise Marie Millett Moorman, the daughter of a naval officer, and returned to

Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; pt, Cabo das Agulhas , "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian ...

to breed horses. The stud farm was not a success, and Harison joined the Government Forest Service. In 1856 was appointed Conservator over a large section of the Southern Cape forests, namely the Tsitsikamma forests eastward to

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. His headquarters were located at Witelsbos near Storms River. In 1874 he became Conservator of a newly created conservancy including the forests of

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

Knysna Knysna () is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. and is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It lies at 34° 2' 6.3168'' S and 23° 2' 47 ...

and

Humansdorp Humansdorp is a small town and surrounding district in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, with a population of around 29,000 during the census of 2011. It is part of the Kouga Local Municipality of the Sarah Baartman District. The town is th ...

. In 1888, he transferred to Tokai in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

as Conservator over the Western Conservancy.

Thomas Bain Thomas Bain (December 14, 1834 – January 18, 1915) was a Scottish born Canadian parliamentarian. Bain was born in Scotland, the son of Walter Bain, and migrated to Canada with his family when he was three years old. They settled on a bu ...

and Christopher Harison first explored the feasibility of the Grootrivier Pass near

Nature's Valley Nature's Valley is a holiday resort and small village on the Garden Route along the southern Cape coast of South Africa. Nature's Valley lies between the Salt River, the foothills of the Tsitsikamma Mountains, the Indian Ocean and the Groot River ...

in 1868. Harison's interest in the building of the road stemmed from his belief that it could be used to halt the runaway destruction of the forest started by

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

woodcutters in 1777 and carried on by their descendants. During his career as Conservator he was tireless in his efforts to preserve the forests and wildlife for posterity. A giant yellowwood in the Tsitsikamma Forest is named in his honour. He retired to Knysna in 1895, and died two years later. His son, Launcelot Malcolm Harison, attended St Andrew's College in

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

from 1869 to 1874. He was finally attached to Lord Methuen's staff and became president of the Military Court. His daughter, Eliza 'Bessie' Georgiana Harison, married Charles Wilhelm Thesen (1856–1940) of Knysna and produced ten children. She died in 1901 of complications during pregnancy at the age of thirty-eight.

References

*''Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa'' 1825 births 1897 deaths South African foresters {{forester-stub