HARRIS
,
JOHN
(
1680
-
1738
),
bishop of Llandaff
;
son of
George
Harris
,
Milford, Pembs.
He entered
Jesus College
,
Oxford
, in
1697
(
B.A.
1701
, and
M.A.
1714
). He was for some time
rector
of
Rudbaxton, Pembs.
, and from
1708 to 1729
rector
of
Lampeter Velfrey.
In
1728
he became
Fellow
of
Oriel
; in the same year he received the degree of
D.D.
from the
university of Cambridge
and was made
canon
of
Canterbury cathedral
. In
1729
he became
vicar
of
Ticehurst
,
Sussex
,
dean
of
Hereford cathedral
,
and on
19 Oct.
was consecrated
bishop
of
Llandaff
by the
archbishop of Canterbury
in
Lambeth Palace chapel
. In
1736
he relinquished the deanery of
Hereford
to become
dean
of
Wells
.
Harris
was an active
bishop
, as is instanced by his numerous ordinations, but he will be remembered chiefly for his restoration of
Llandaff cathedral
. Assuming his position as ‘
head of the chapter
,’ he threw himself into the task of collecting funds and commissioned the famous
architect
of
Bath
,
John
Wood
, to erect the ‘
Italian Temple
’ within the walls of the cathedral — a work highly appraised in his day but unstintingly condemned in the following century.
He d.
28 Aug. 1738
and was buried in
Wells cathedral
. A mural tablet was erected to his memory, in the south cloister, by his son.
Bibliography:
-
Foster
,
Alumni Oxonienses
;
-
Acts of the Bishops of Llandaff
, Books
i–iv. Llandaff Records, vol. ii–iv, 1908–12
;
-
A. Ollivant
,
Some account of the condition of the fabric
of Llandaff cathedral from 1575 to its reopening in 1857;
with extracts from the act books of the Cathedral
,
1857
;
-
E. J. Newell
,
Diocesan History of Llandaff
,
1902
;
-
J. H. James
,
A history and survey of the cathedral church
of SS. Peter, Paul, Dubritius, Teilo, and Oudoceus,
Llandaff
, 1898
;
-
Annual report of the Friends of Llandaff
Cathedral
,
1937
.
Author:
Archdeacon Lawrence Thomas, D.D., (1889-1960), Aberafan
