John Harris

Although James Larra, publican at Parramatta, is the primary focus of this research, it is almost essential to first introduce John Harris.

Harris, sentenced on 15th January 1783 to transportation for life for the theft of eight silver spoons, had already ‘feloniously returned from transportation’ when he was again sentenced to transportation to New South Wales. To ‘feloniously return from transportation’ was absolutely forbidden – and especially so if the sentence had been ‘for life’. So, the eight silver spoons may not have been his worst offense but just another episode in a growing history of interactions with the courts.

Having been found guilty in connection with the spoons, Harris was initially destined for the United States, and then, when the American War of Independence prevented his banishment to that place – to South Africa. However, under circumstances that are, at the very least, obscure, he had , in 1784, turned up in England – without a pardon of any description. He was then re-transported – once again ‘for life’ – to New South Wales, arriving on 26th January 1788.

Turning to the annals of Australian history, Harris is said to have suggested the formation of a Night Watch at Port Jackson and to have been its first principal officer. However, there is room to question at least one of these claims, noting this is only the first of a few issues to arise in connection with him. In making their suggestions, quite a few historians have relied upon a book written by David Collins, Judge Advocate to the Colony of New South Wales, first published in 1798. In connection with the night watch Collins states in this book that ¹ Harris proposed to him, as Judge-Advocate, the establishment of a night watch, ‘to be selected among the convicts for the purpose to stem the frequent commission of offences in the settlement’. Some biographies state that, according to Collins, when the watch began on 8th August 1789, Harris was one of its principal members. However, Collins’ Account does not support this claim and there is reason to question the actual extent of Harris’ involvement with the Port Jackson Night Watch. To ensure a degree of clarity, this is probably best discussed here… after which the rest of the story can be told.

John Harris and the [Port Jackson] Night Watch

The ADB contribution prepared by G.F.J. Bergman ² together with Australian Genesis ³ and the Historical Records of Australia .⁴ were adopted as a starting point for further enquiry into the history of John Harris and also, of James Larra. However, aspects of both Bergman’s research and the Historical Records of Australia appear to have been based upon locally held copies of Government dispatches, in the belief that source records held in Australia would be, as they certainly should have been, true copies of those sent to London.

Conveniently, many of the records of the Colonial and War Office of the United Kingdom are now available on line, which, for the purposes of the current research, facilitated comparison of dispatches from the Colony in New South Wales as received by the Colonial and War Office with the copies archived in Australia. The outcome was to identify differences between the dispatches of the Colonial Governor (Arthur Phillip) as sent to England ⁵ and the local copy used for the earlier research. One of the more significant differences involves a listing that purports to reflect the original members of the Port Jackson Night Watch. Images of (1) the list sent to London and of (2) the copy held at Port Jackson are reproduced below.

*Members of the Night Watch per the copy dispatch sent to the Colonial Office in London by Governor Arthur Philip*.

Note that Phillip did NOT sign this list – perhaps because the document on file is a copy – i.e. one sent by a different ship to that which carried the original. In this case the signed original may have been included in the papers of the Minister occupying the role of Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. However, the lack of an original signature does leave a slight uneasiness.

Member of the Night Watch per the copy created by Governor Arthur Philip’s Secretary/clerk and held in the Colony. Note the locally held COPY originally recorded twelve names and was almost certainly signed by the Governor before the alterations were made – and that Arthur Phillip’s signature appears to be genuine.

One of six names struck out on the local copy of Governor Phillip’s dispatch is that of John Harris. However, as the upper image shows, his name was not on the list of initial watchmen sent to London, for which reason there may be room to suggest Harris never was a member of the [Port Jackson] Night Watch. However, Bergman’s research found he had appeared at a Magistrates’ Court hearing in August 1789, one week after formation of the Watch, having “apprehended two men who had broken into the home of a Mrs. Sarah Bellamy as he was going on his duty of the watch”⁶.

Bergman considered the removal of John Harris was because he ( Harris ) was transferred to Norfolk Island. However, the Norfolk Island Victualing Book indicates that Harris did not arrive on the island until 29th January 1790, more than 5 months after the Port Jackson Night Watch was formed. In view of this, it might be considered odd that Harris – if he ever was a member of the night watch – was not included in the list dated 7th August 1789.

A possible explanation is that the locally held copy of Governor Phillip’s dispatch represents an initial draft with changes to the list being made because some of the candidates demonstrated they were not suited to the role before the dispatch was finalised. However, the ‘London’ version the dispatch is not signed by Governor Philip whereas the ‘initial draft’ is… There is less cause for certainty about the signature of the Judge Advocate…

It might also be noted that by this time the (Deputy) Judge Advocate ⁷ had also become secretary to the Governor and that, by implication, his staff also acted as the Governor’s clerks – a situation that, due to the consolidation of duties, facilitated the graft and corruption exposed by Governor John Hunter eleven years later and reported to London by Philip Gidley King in 1801 ⁸.

Finally, it has also been stated that James Larra replaced Harris as a member of the night watch. However, as Larra did not arrive in New South Wales until Harris had been on Norfolk Island for almost six months, it becomes a little difficult to accept the claim that he ‘replaced’ Harris.

Whatever really happened, the night-watch situation sets the tone for the rest of the Australian story of John Harris. This commences at the point, early in 1790, when he was removed to Norfolk Island.

John Harris on Norfolk Island 1790 to 1796

On February 14th 1788, Philip Gidley King, with nine men and six women convicts had sailed to Norfolk Island to form the nucleus of a settlement at that place. Harris was not included in this initial group, who were chosen for their particularly good behaviour. However, the records of the Norfolk Island administration do indicate that Harris arrived there on 29th January 1790 for a sojourn of about six years under the rather disciplinarian eye of Philip Gidley King.

About eighteen months after the Norfolk Island settlement was established the convicts started to agitate for permission to become settlers (and so be at liberty to cultivate their own allotment of land rather than work for the Administration) on the basis that their terms of transportation were expired. Lieut-Governor King noted in his journal that “Ninety convicts made affidavit that their term of Transportation being expired, Seventy of whom wished to become Settlers, but many of them having very indifferent Characters, this indulgence was granted to only Twenty Seven of that number. “⁹ Harris was not one of the ninety who had claimed their terms of transportation were expired.

The number of convicts-turned-settler in relationships with convicts soon created exactly the situation King had anticipated, and he sought advice from Port Jackson…

…1792 May 7th
… As many of the fifty convicts whose Transportation is expired & who had my permission to become settlers, had applied to the Master of the Pitt to take them off the Island, I found it necessary to take some steps with those people, in order to prevent the evils & inconvenience which will happen, if they get their Grants, & then leave the Island, which inconvenience to the Publick Welfare will be still more aggravated if they are permitted to make over their Grants to those Women whom they have Married, or to sell them to whom they think proper/ which it does not appear to me, they can be hindered from doing, when they are in possession of their Grants If it should happen to be an industrious man or woman that the settler gives or sells it to, it may be well, but I am almost Certain of it falling into People of a very different description…
.. I am certain that the welfare of future inhabitants and the good of the industrious individual would suffer greatly, by such a partition of the grounds, as Fifty of the best & most desirable lots, would in time, become the Property of Abandoned Women burthened with children… The only method which occurred to me to prevent these evils was to make those Settlers sign One out of the following Three conditions:
The first was “Whether they meant to leave the Island the First Opportunity?”
The Second was “Whether they meant to retain their Grounds until they could get money enough to carry them off the Island?”
The Third was “Whether they meant to continue on their lots & to abide by such Conditions as the Governor in Chief might prescribe?”
The two who signed the first were deposed of their grounds, Thirty signed the second & eight the third, which I shall transmit to the Governor in Chief by the first opportunity, that their Grants or leases may be made out or withheld as he may Judge proper. ..
…Nor do I find that this idea is confined to this description of settlers alone as I find a great part of the Marine Settlers have the same intentions, A greater Publick Inconvenience will happen in this Case, as most of the Marine Settlers are married to Convict Women, who will in that case have Sixty Acres each…. ¹⁰
…The only orders I have ever received (in regard to the treatment of term-expired convicts) , are as follows & extracted from Governor Phillip’s letter to me on the 3^rd January 1792. “By the next ship you will receive a copy of the terms for which the different convicts have been sentenced, when those terms expired, the convicts certainly are at liberty to leave the Island if they wish it, but as very few of those people are likely to support themselves by their industry, and will, it is to be feared, return to their old habits, it is not to be expected that the Crown will be at any expense in removing them”.

During this period John Harris remained a convict. However, as had been the case at Port Jackson, increased levels of friction between the populace on Norfolk Island and increases in theft and various other crimes led King to involve Harris when he established a Night Watch. The watch was announced on 25th December 1791 and consisted of six groups of watchmen, one group to be located at each of the principle areas of the scattered settlement.

Of significance, King formulated a system of rewards for night-watchmen on Norfolk Island, based upon length of service and the convict’s term of transportation. viz… A convict transported for seven years was to receive an absolute pardon after serving in the night watch for three years, one transported for fourteen years could expect an absolute pardon after seven years, but Harris, a convict-for-life, could, at best, expect a conditional pardon, and then only after ten years service in the watch…

Some sources have suggested John Harris became the head of the Norfolk Island watch. However, King’s record shows that he was the last-mentioned of four night-watchmen responsible for policing an area referred to as ‘Sydney, Arthurs Vale & Grenville Valley’. The first-mentioned at this location was Nathanial Lucas, while Philip Gidley King’s journal notes the Head Constable, with overall management of the watch, was Charles Grimes and that the ‘Superintendent’ was John Jamieson. As Harris was last-mentioned of four constables assigned to his designated area, it is unlikely that he was in charge of that group or any other. Philip Gidley King’s records are silent on the subject except to note the names of the Head Constable and the Superintendent. Harris was neither… However, to be fair, his status may have improved during the years of his involvement with the watch.

It is perhaps useful to let extracts from Philip Gidley King’s letterbook explain the situation that had developed on Norfolk Island, and which probably had a favourable influence on Harris’ relationship with King… The problems commenced with a replacement detachment of the Rum Corps in March 1793 which arrived without a senior officer because the Captain who would have occupied that role was under arrest…

When these replacements arrived, King’s letterbook records numerous incidents, some of which are as follows…

[p207]
…Soon after the arrival of this detachment they were found to be very intimate with the convicts, living in their huts, Eating, Drinking, and Gambling with them & perpetually enticing the women to leave the man they were married to, or them they lived with, repeated complaints have been made to me on this head, by Settlers and Convicts in all which complaints, I have referred them to the Commanding Officer of the Detachment, who I believe ever did his utmost to prevent it… .

[p209]
…two constables, who were also settlers, with a Sergeant, interfered and saved the cockswain’s life, who was brought to me by one of the Constables, and made a complaint of the ill-treatment he had received, of which referred them, as usual, to the Commanding Officer of the Detachment, who instantly sent a file of men & confined the two soldiers in the guard house.

(p 210)
And the next morning (December 26th) they were tried by a General Court Martial which sentenced the soldier (Barker) who went on the Settler’s Ground with a lighted stick, which he thrust in the Settler’s face, to receive One Hundred lashes but was recommended for mercy by the Court, one of the other two (Condell) was acquitted, and the other (Downey) was sentenced to receive one hundred lashes & to give the cockswain who was so ill-treated a Gallon of Rum..

The undercurrent of antagonism between the Corps and the rest of the populace continued to simmer over the next twelve months, until, on 17th March 1794, a riot occurred in consequence of a major confrontation between the detachment on the one hand, and the settlers, administrators and convicts on the other.

The incident which sparked the riot arose when certain members of the Corps demanded they be allowed to occupy seating that had been reserved for the Lieutenant-Governor (Philip Gidley King) and members of his staff in a (convict organised) play house. They were opposed in this action by the rest of the audience, most of whom were convicts or former convicts. Suffice it to say, John Harris was one of a few who intervened and restored a degree of order.

Shortly after this incident, Philip Gidley King approached his superior, Lieutenant-Governor Grose, who was based at Port Jackson, asking that Harris (a convict for life) be granted an absolute pardon, in part, perhaps, in recognition of his efforts in maintaining order as a member of the night-watch and especially during the playhouse situation. However, the request was put aside by Lieutenant-Governor Grose who, perhaps unfortunately, was also Commanding Officer of the Rum Corps and in particular, overall commanding officer of the detachment who had instigated the altercation in the play-house. In fairness to Grose, there may have been another problem of which he had seen vague indications. Let’s call it the convict indents matter which is discussed later. The significant point is that Harris had been part of the Norfolk Island Night Watch for less than three years and was a convict-for-life…

More than twelve months after his approach to Grose, King followed up with a letter to the governor’s Secretary, David Collins…

Norfolk Island, July 12^th 1795
To the Secy of the Colony
Dear Sir
Having received Lieut Gov Grose’s promise that the Convicts as per margin should be emancipated agreeable to my request, and not having received any answer to that Effect by the Fancy I have to request you will inform me, whether those emancipations have been made out – To that number I beg to add another list, as men who came out in the First Fleet, & who have ever behaved with Propriety and advantage to the Public; If your laying this list before the Governor for the time being, should induce him to grant those men a Conditional Emancipation I shall consider myself obliged; it may be necessary to remark that only one Man has ever been emancipated on this Island by my Application.
I have also to request that you will move the Governor for the time being to Grant the several Instruments by which the different settlers are to continue the occupation of their respective allotments, as they are very anxious to obtain them.
I am &c
Philip Gidley King

In a note to the margin of this letter King added: “Jno Harris – Free: Thos Eccles – do: Michl Newland – Condl: Wm Fisher – do:”

David Collins responded on 17th October 1795…

In reply to your letter of 12^th of last July ; respecting the Convicts Harris, Eccles, Noland (sic) & Fisher I am to acquaint you that Lieut Governor Grose emancipated, previous to his departure, Harris Absolutely, the others Conditionally, which I believe was the amount of the favor you asked for them;

John Harris, Licensed Victueller

Harris’ Norfolk Island experiences ended with his return to Port Jackson in February 1796, just over 8 years since the arrival of the First Fleet from England. The convict-for-life had achieved an absolute pardon. But he had ‘set himself up’…

In connection with the rest of John Harris’ story it is timely to note the undermentioned information, as advised to London by John Hunter, the second London-appointed Governor of the Colony. ¹¹ The Port Jackson Night Watch appears to have continued operations during this period, and, in his dispatch to London of 30th April, 1796, Hunter advised the establishment of a system of rewards for night watchmen at Port Jackson…

ENCOURAGEMENT TO CONSTABLES
…4th. Those who may have been sent to this country for seven years, and who shall officiate as a constable to the satisfaction of the magistrates of the district in which he acts for the space of three years from his appointment as such, shall be entitled to emancipation, and be at liberty to leave the settlement whenever he chooses.
5th. Those who may have been sent to this country for fourteen years, and who shall officiate as above for the space of seven years, shall be entitled to the same reward and advantages.
6th. Those who may have been transported for life, and who shall officiate as above for the space of ten years, shall be entitled to the above advantages and to conditional emancipation, i.e., freedom in this country and liberty to become settlers…

This ‘encouragement to constables’ put the Port Jackson Night Watch on an equal footing with the Norfolk Island watch in terms the rewards on offer for dedicated service. The Port Jackson watchmen had not previously had any formal promise of reward.

Also of considerable significance in connection with John Harris’ future was a General Order issued by Governor Hunter on 7th March 1796, only weeks after Harris returned from Norfolk Island . On 18th June that year, Hunter added a second, even more specific, order… In combination these orders ¹², more than anything else, should have put John Harris (Convict-for-Life emancipated for services at Norfolk Island under conditions only applicable to convicts transported for seven years) – on notice, for, if ever there was a red flag, this pair of the Governor’s orders should have been it…

7th March 1796
FROM the frequent state of inebriation in which great numbers of the lower order of people in these settlements have for some time past been seen, there is much reason to suspect that a greater quantity of spirituous liquors has been landed from the different ships which have enter’d this port than permission had been obtained for, it becomes highly necessary to put a stop, as early as possible, to a practice so pregnant with every possible mischief.
The Governor has therefore judg’d it necessary, the more effectually to suppress the dangerous practice of retailing spirits, to desire the aid of all officers, civil and military, and in particular manner all magistrates, constables, &c, as they regard the good of his Majesty’s service, the peace, tranquility, and good order of the colony, that they use their utmost exertions for putting an end to a species of traffic from which the destructions of health and the ruin of all industry may be expected, and that they do endeavour to discover who those people are, who, self-licensed, have presumed to open public-houses for this abominable purpose.
The Governor also informs those who may, after the publication of this Order, be daring enough to continue to act in opposition to its intention, that their house shall be pulled down as a public nuisance, and such other steps will be taken for their farther punishment as may be judged necessary.

18th June 1796
THE number of people who have obtained licenses for the retailing Spirituous liquors in moderation appear to the Governor to have already answer’d a purpose very different from that which he expected from them. Those licenses were granted for the purpose of preventing that continual state of intoxication in which many of the settlers and others employed in farming seem disposed to indulge themselves; but instead of their answering that salutary end, he finds nothing but drunkenness and idleness throughout every part of the settlement amongst that description of people, and he is sorry to add that robberies appear more frequent now than formerly. The Governor has therefore judged it necessary to direct that none of those who have obtain’d licenses do presume to carry on a traffic with settlers or others who may have grain to dispose of, by paying for such grain in spirits. Should it be hereafter discovered that any have, in defiance of this order, carried on this destructive trade, they will immediately lose their license, and such other steps be taken for their punishment as the nature of the case may deserve. The Governor desires it may be understood that the trading with spirits to the extent which he now finds it practised is strictly forbidden to others as well as those who have licenced public-houses. The practice of purchasing the crops of settlers for spirits has too long prevailed in this settlement. It is high time that a trade so pernicious to individuals and so ruinous to the prosperity of his Majesty’s colony should be put an end to. It is not possible that a farmer who shall be idle enough to throw away his labor for twelve months for the gratification of a few gallons of a poisonous spirit, and by which he is to be deprived of his senses for several days, can ever expect to thrive or enjoy those comforts which are only to be procured by sobriety and industry. Such a character will be considered as unfit for a settler. The assistance allowed him shall be withdrawn, and by leaving him to himself he will have less time to waste in drunkenness and riot.

Governor Hunter had declared war…but unfortunately the very people ¹³ who should have been available to assist in bringing the situation under control were at the core of the problem… There is much much more to this piece of Australian history, but if it is worth going over the subject again, it belongs in a page dedicated to the subject. However, there is a quite succinct summary to be found in Wikipedia under the heading “Francis Grose, British Army Officer”…

There is also much more to the story of John Harris, but, because his life in Australia became so intertwined with that of James Larra, it is time to introduce Larra and then the web of interactions between Harris, Larra, Governors Philip Gidley King and Lachlan Macquarie, William Cox and others, that lead eventually to the naming Larra’s Lake. After all, for the purpose of this web page, Larra is the central player…

GOTO James Larra >

1
Lieut. Colonel David Collins An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales Cadel and Davis, London, 1798, p77
2
Bergman was a historian whose special interest was the history of Jewish people in the Colony of New South Wales. One of Bergman’s works is Australian Genesis which recounts the history of several Jews who played an important part in fashioning the Australian nation
3
Australian Genesis J.S.Levi and G.F.J.Bergman Robert Hale & Co, London 1974.
4
These were an encyclopedic compilation of Governor’s Dispatches to London together with supporting documentation and very extensive notations.
5
It was usual for the Governor of a British Colony to send an original plus one or more copies of his various dispatches to England. By sending the copies on different ships to that which carried the original, a degree of assurance was generated that at least one would be received in England
6
referenced by Bergman as being recorded in ‘Proceedings of the Bench of Magistrates, 15th August 1789’, held at the time of his research, by the Mitchell Library in Sydney
7
as Collins is described in an extensive article about him in the ADB
8
refer to the later page entitled ‘Links between Harris and Larra’
9
1791 Nov 22nd in Philip Gidley King –Journal of Transactions on Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean Between November 4th, 1791 & November 6th 1794 in Mitchell Library collection of the State Library of NSW, Sydney)
10
Philip Gidley King –Journal of Transactions ibid
11
Hunter arrived four years after Arthur Phillip returned to England. Thus, from 1791 until September 1795 the Commanding Officer of the NSW (Rum) Corps was the most senior member of the administration. At the time Phillip left the commanding officer was Grose, whose title was Lieutenant-Governor. He continued in overall responsibility for both Port Jackson and Norfolk Island (where Philip Gidley King remained as the local Lieutenant-Governor) until his return to England, under circumstances that are obscure, on 17th December 1794. The next most senior officer of the Corps, Captain William Paterson, then stepped into the role. Paterson, now, apparently, promoted to Major, continued as Lieutenant-Governor at Port Jackson until 11th September 1795 when John Hunter arrived and attempted to wrest control from the Rum Corps, who had by this time established military rule and gained control over most aspects of life in the colony, including, especially, the import of Rum (hence the Rum Corps) and other spirits, together with a broad range of other imports.
12
underlining added.
13
The Rum Corps