Frederick Rutherfoord Harris (1 May 1856 – 1 September 1920) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) between 1900 and 1906. Harris was born in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, 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, where he studied medicine. In 1882 he began practising as a doctor in Kimberley, South Africa. He got to know

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Bri ...

, who appointed him secretary of the

British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

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 R ...

, when on Rhodes' instructions he forwarded to '' The Times'' 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 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 at a by-election in 1903, but sat for only three years before resigning to return to South Africa. He died in Eastbourne 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 force ...

, 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 f ...

, 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