Monument to Sir Thomas and Elizabeth Harris in St Peters church, Cornworthy Thomas Harris (1547–1610) was an English barrister and politician. He became

serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writ ...

in 1589. He was the son of Edward Harris of

Cornworthy Cornworthy is a village and civil parish in the South Hams, Devon, England. The hamlet of East Cornworthy lies due east of the village at . The nearby Cornworthy Priory, originally established for nuns of the order of St. Austin, is now a G ...

and Phillipa Vowell. His father, of Welsh origin, purchased Cornworthy in 1560. Thomas married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Pomeroy of

Berry Pomeroy Berry Pomeroy is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon, England, east of the town of Totnes. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Ipplepen, Marldon, Torbay (unitary authority), Stoke Gabri ...

. He went to the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1566, and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

by 1573. He succeeded to his father's estates in 1592. He was a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

for

Callington Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston. Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had inc ...

in 1584,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in 1586 and 1589,

Bossiney Bossiney ( kw, Boskyny, meaning ''Cyni's dwelling'') is a village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is north-east of the larger village of Tintagel which it adjoins: further north-east are the Rocky Valley and Trethevy. Until 1832 t ...

in 1593 and 1597, and

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

in 1601. He retired from public life, with a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

, in 1603. He died in 1610; his widow died in 1634. Sir Thomas Harris was called by his contemporary the Devon historian

Tristram Risdon Tristram Risdon (c. 1580 – 1640) was an English antiquarian and topographer, and the author of ''Survey of the County of Devon''. He was able to devote most of his life to writing this work. After he completed it in about 1632 it circulated ar ...

(d. 1640) "a man much commended for his pregnant wit and learning". Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.167

Family

There is a monument to Harris and his wife, Dame Elizabeth Harris (born Pomeroy), at the parish church in Cornworthy, Devon. Their eldest daughter

Anne Southwell Anne Southwell (1574 – 1636) ée Harris later called Anne, Lady Southwell, was a poet. Her commonplace book includes a variety of works including political poems, sonnets, occasional verse, and letters to friends. Life Southwell was born to ...

was born at Cornworthy Priory and she was baptised on 22 August 1584 at St Peters church in Cornworthy in Devon. Anne was a noted

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

.Jean Klene, ‘Southwell , Anne, Lady Southwell (bap. 1574, d. 1636)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 12 Oct 2017
/ref> Their eldest son Sir Edward Harris moved to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

where he became a prominent judge. Edward was the grandfather of the celebrated faith healer

Valentine Greatrakes Valentine Greatrakes (14 February 1628 – 28 November 1682), also known as "Greatorex" or "The Stroker", was an Irish faith healer who toured England in 1666, claiming to cure people by the laying on of hands. Early life Greatrakes was born on ...

. He was buried in his local church at Kilcredan in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, but the inscription on his parents' tomb strongly suggests that he was reinterred with them. They had two other children, Christopher, a soldier who was killed fighting in

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and Honor, who married Sir Hugh Harris (not apparently a relative, and evidently a Scotsman). The Harris family died out in the male line in about 1643, leading to a particularly acrimonious lawsuit between Sir Edward's female heirs, his daughters and daughter-in-law.

References

1547 births 1610 deaths English barristers Serjeants-at-law (England) English MPs 1584–1585 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 English MPs 1597–1598 English MPs 1601 16th-century English lawyers Members of the Parliament of England for Callington Members of the Parliament of England for Bossiney Members of the Parliament of England for Truro Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Portsmouth Members of the Middle Temple English people of Welsh descent {{17thC-England-MP-stub