Daniel Harris ( – 13 June 1840) was an English builder, prison governor, civil engineer, and architect prominent in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Family

Harris's birthplace is obscure but he was born about 1761, as the entry in St-Peter-le-Bailey's register for his death in 1840 records his age as 79.Colvin, 1997, page 484 He married Elizabeth Tomkins of Oxford in 1789, and they had four daughters between 1791 and 1801.Davies & Robinson, 2003, page 77 Harris died at his home in New Road, Oxford in June 1840.

Career

Harris came to Oxford as a journeyman carpenter and rose to become Governor of

Oxford Castle Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the late 12th or early 13th century and ...

and Prison from 1786 until 1809. He developed a contracting business with convict labour, supplemented by hiring wage-earning tradesmen. Harris became involved in waterway engineering, starting by being the contractor to extend the

Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Thames ...

in Oxford from

Hayfield Road Hayfield Road is a residential road that runs north-south in Walton Manor, north Oxford, England. Location To the south, the road continues as Kingston Road, Oxford, Kingston Road, although it is blocked to through traffic. Aristotle Lane lea ...

to Worcester Street and build the Worcester Street wharves 1788–89. He built four

pound lock A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...

s to replace flash locks, the first being

Osney Lock Osney Lock is a lock on the River Thames in Oxford, England, where the village or island of Osney is next to the river. The first lock was built of stone by Daniel Harris for the Thames Navigation Commission in 1790. Across the weir poo ...

for the

Thames Navigation Commission The Thames Navigation Commission managed the River Thames in southern England from 1751 to 1866. In particular, they were responsible for installing or renovating many of the locks on the river in the 18th and early 19th centuries History The f ...

in 1790. In central Oxford the Oxford Canal and the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

were originally linked by a flash lock at Hythe Bridge.Davies & Robinson, 2003, page 43 In 1795–97, Harris replaced it with

Isis Lock Isis Lock (known to boatmen as "Louse Lock") is a lock connecting the Oxford Canal and the Castle Mill Stream, a backwater of the River Thames in Oxford, England. Location The Isis Lock is close to Sheepwash Channel, just to the south and link ...

, a broad lock to allow Thames barges in and out of the Oxford Canal Company's Worcester Street wharves. None of Harris's pound locks survives in the form in which he built them. The Oxford Canal rebuilt Isis Lock as a narrow lock in 1844, and all of his Thames locks have been either rebuilt or replaced. From 1812 until 1837, Harris worked in partnership with the architect John Plowman.

Work

*Oxford Prison, Oxford: enlargement, 1785–1805 (to designs by

William Blackburn William Blackburn (17501790) was the leading prison architect of the Georgian Era. Following the principles of John Howard, his designs aimed to provide inmates with dry and airy cells. Blackburn was born in Southwark, London, the son of a tr ...

) *

, Oxford: Worcester Street Wharf, 1788–89 *

, Oxfordshire:

, Oxford, 1790 *River Thames, Oxfordshire:

Godstow Lock Godstow Lock is a lock on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England. It is between the villages of Wolvercote and Wytham on the outskirts of Oxford. The first lock was built of stone by Daniel Harris for the Thames Navigation Commission in 1 ...

, Godstow, 1790 *River Thames, Oxfordshire:

Pinkhill Lock Pinkhill Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England. It is close to Farmoor, Oxfordshire. The first lock was built of stone by Daniel Harris for the Thames Navigation Commission in 1791. The weir is on the other side of the island and c ...

Farmoor Farmoor is a village west of the centre of Oxford, England. The village was part of Berkshire until the 1974 local government boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is from Pinkhill Lock on the River Thames. Farmoor has ...

, 1791 *Oxford Canal, Oxford: New Road Wharf, Oxford, 1793 and 1801 *River Thames, Oxfordshire: Sandford Lock,

Sandford-on-Thames Sandford-on-Thames, also referred to as simply Sandford, is a village and Parish Council beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire just south of Oxford. The village is just west of the A4074 road between Oxford and Henley. Early history In 1086 ...

, 1795 *Oxford Canal, Oxford: Isis Lock 1795–97 (rebuilt 1844) *Wyaston House,

New Inn Hall Street New Inn Hall Street is a street in central Oxford, England, and is one of Oxford's oldest streets. It is a shopping street running north–south parallel and to the west of Cornmarket Street, with George Street to the north and Bonn Square at ...

, Oxford 1795–97 (for the Oxford Canal Navigation Company) (now Linton House, part of

St Peter's College, Oxford St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom. It occupies the site of two of the university's medieval halls, dating back to at least the 14th ...

) *Braziers Park House, Ipsden, Oxfordshire: re-fronting, 1799 *Saint Mary's parish, Bampton, Oxfordshire: alterations to rectory, 1799 *Saint Botolph's parish, Swyncombe, Oxfordshire: rectory, 1803 *Abingdon Prison, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, 1805–11 (to designs by

Jeffry Wyattville Sir Jeffry Wyatville (3 August 1766 – 18 February 1840) was an English architect and garden designer. Born Jeffry Wyatt into an established dynasty of architects, in 1824 he was allowed by King George IV to change his surname to Wyatvill ...

) *Saint Mary Magdalene parish, Stoke Talmage, Oxfordshire: extension to rectory, 1820Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 790

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Daniel 1761 births Year of birth uncertain 1840 deaths English civil engineers