Sir Christopher John Ashford Harris, 3rd Baronet (26 August 1934 – 26 April 2022) was a New Zealand businessman, and the third baronet of the
Harris Baronetcy of Bethnal Green, County of London, which was created for his grandfather,
Percy Harris Percy Harris is the name of:
*Percy Harris (lawyer), British barrister
*Percy Harris (politician), British politician
See also
*Percy Harris Bowers, Anglican priest
*Percy Harrison (disambiguation)
{{human name disambiguation, Harris, Percy ...
, in 1932.
Biography
Born in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
on 26 August 1934, Harris was the son of
Jack Wolfred Ashford Harris and
Patricia Penman.
His mother was a feminist and writer, while his father was a businessman who succeeded as the 2nd Baronet Harris, of Bethnal Green, County of London, in 1952. The baronetcy was created for Jack Harris's father, the British
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
politician, Percy Harris, in 1932.
Harris was educated at
Wanganui Collegiate School
Whanganui Collegiate School (formerly Wanganui Collegiate School; see here) is a state-integrated, coeducational, day and boarding, secondary school in Whanganui, Manawatū-Whanganui region, New Zealand. The school is affiliated to the Anglican c ...
from 1948 to 1952.
On 24 April 1957, he married Anna Karen de Malmanche, and the couple went on to have three children.
Harris joined the family business, Bing, Harris and Co., a New Zealand general importing and exporting company established in 1858 by his grandfather, Wolf Harris (1858–1926), and ran it for many years.
He was also a director of
Todd Corporation
The Todd Corporation is a large private New Zealand company with a value of $4.3 billion, owned and controlled by the Todd family and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand. The corporation is currently led by chairman of the board, Henry Tait ...
.
Harris was a long-time member of the
National Party,
and was in charge of
Stephen Franks' unsuccessful campaign for the at the
2008 general election.
Harris was involved in the "Vote For Change" group that campaigned against the MMP voting system in the
2011 New Zealand voting system referendum
The 2011 New Zealand voting system referendum was a referendum on whether to keep the existing mixed member proportional (MMP) voting system, or to change to another voting system, for electing Members of Parliament to New Zealand's House of Repr ...
.
An enthusiast of
James Cook, Harris advocated, unsuccessfully, over a number of years for
State Highway 1
The following highways are numbered 1.
For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads.
For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads.
For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads.
For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads.
For roads numbere ...
to be renamed the Captain Cook Highway.
He was active as a yachtsman, and was a member of the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club.
He took his yacht ''Chinchilla'' out during the
''Wahine'' disaster in 1968, in an attempt to rescue survivors.
Harris died in
Masterton on 26 April 2022. In 2023, his son, Andrew Frederick Ashford Harris, proved succession to the baronetcy.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Christopher
1934 births
2022 deaths
Businesspeople from Wellington City
People educated at Whanganui Collegiate School
303
__NOTOC__
Year 303 ( CCCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. It was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequently, y ...
New Zealand businesspeople
New Zealand National Party politicians