Life

He was born about 1675, probably in Southwark

Southwark

Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

, where his mother was living as a widow in 1692. Walter Wilson

Walter Wilson (biographer)

Walter Wilson was an English biographer of nonconformist clergy and their churches.-Life:He was born about 1781, the illegitimate son of John Walter, the newspaper publisher. He was brought up a Presbyterian, and went to work at East India House as a clerk. In 1802 he went into journalism, and in...

, following Josiah Thompson, thinks he was educated at Timothy Jollie

Timothy Jollie

Timothy Jollie, , was a nonconformist minister and notable educator in the north of England.-Biography:Timothy Jollie, son of Thomas Jollie, was born at Altham, Lancashire, about 1659. On 27 August 1673 he entered the dissenting academy of Richard Frankland at Rathmell, Yorkshire...

's Attercliffe Academy

Attercliffe Academy

Attercliffe Academy was a Dissenting academy set up in the north of England by Timothy Jollie.Richard Frankland had founded Rathmell Academy at Rathmell, but was forced to move several times. The school moved to Attercliffe, a suburb of Sheffield, Yorkshire, leaving it at the end of July 1689, in...

, near Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

 (opened in 1689); records of the presbyterian board show that in 1692–6 he studied successively in the academies of John Southwell at Newbury, Berkshire

Newbury, Berkshire

Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...

, and James Waters at Uxbridge

Uxbridge

Uxbridge is a large town located in north west London, England and is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. It forms part of the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is located west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres...

, Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

.

He began early to preach, and was some time assistant (unordained) to Henry Read at Gravel Lane, Southwark. On Read's death (1698) Harris was called to succeed Timothy Cruso at Crutched Friars

Crutched Friars

The Crutched Friars or Crossed Friars were a Roman Catholic religious order of Augustinian canons who went to England in the 13th century from Italy, where they existed for some time, and where they were called Fratres Cruciferi.-History:...

, in spite of some opposition, and received presbyterian ordination. He became a hoarse-voiced leader of liberal dissent. For over thirty years (from 1708) he acted as one of the Friday evening lecturers at the Weighhouse, Eastcheap

Eastcheap

Eastcheap is a street in the City of London. Its name derives from cheap, market, with the prefix "East" distinguishing it from the other former City of London market of Westcheap . In medieval times Eastcheap was the City's main meat market, with butchers' stalls lining both sides of the street...

. He was one of the original trustees (1716) of Dr. Daniel Williams's foundations. At the Salters' Hall debates in 1719, he sided with the non-subscribers. In 1723 he was one of the original distributors of the English regium donum

Regium Donum

The Regium Donum was an annual grant formerly voted by Parliament to augment the stipends of the Presbyterian clergy in Ireland. The Regium Donum originally began in 1673 during the reign of Charles II. The grant was then renewed and increased by King William III in 1690 as a reward for the loyalty...

.

On 12 April 1727 he succeeded William Tong

William Tong

William Tong serves as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives. First elected in November 2006, he represents the 147th district, which includes parts of Stamford and New Canaan...

 in the merchants' lecture at Salters' Hall. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....

 from the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

, 8 November 1728; and a similar honour from the University of Aberdeen

University of Aberdeen

The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...

. Nathaniel Lardner was his colleague in his pastoral charge from 1729; an earlier colleague was John Billingsley the younger (1657–1722). He died, after a short illness, on 25 May 1740, and was buried (30 May) in Dr. Daniel Williams's vault, Bunhill Fields

Bunhill Fields

Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....

. Funeral sermons were preached by his friend Benjamin Grosvenor and by Lardner. To Dr. Williams's library he left nearly two thousand volumes; his portrait, which went to the library, was presented in 1768 by Lardner's executor; an engraving from it is given in Wilson's Dissenting Churches.

Works

Harris published much, and, according to Wilson, ranked as ‘the greatest master of the English tongue among the dissenters.’ Among his works are:

• ‘Exposition of the Epistles to Philippians and Colossians,’ in the continuation of Matthew Henry
  Matthew Henry
  Matthew Henry was an English commentator on the Bible and Presbyterian minister.-Life:He was born at Broad Oak, a farmhouse on the borders of Flintshire and Shropshire. His father, Philip Henry, had just been ejected under the Act of Uniformity 1662...
  
  's ‘Exposition,’ 1710.
• ‘Practical Discourses on … Representations of the Messiah, throughout the Old Testament,’ &c., 1724, (intended as a reply to Anthony Collins
  Anthony Collins
  Anthony Collins , was an English philosopher, and a proponent of deism.-Life and Writings:...
  
  ).
• ‘Memoirs of … Thomas Manton, D.D.,’ &c., 1725.
• ‘Funeral Discourses,’ &c., 1736.
• ‘Four Discourses upon … the Lord's Supper,’ &c., 1737.

Besides other writings, Wilson gives a list of thirty-eight individual sermons, the earliest in 1702, including eleven funeral and three ordination sermons.