Joseph Strelley Harris

Joseph Strelley Harris (1811–1889) was a pastoralist in Western Australia. Between 1840 and 1888, he was a resident magistrate, serving in the towns of Williams, Toodyay, Busselton and Kojonup.

Harris was born on 23 November 1811 to Dr Joseph Harris and Lucy (née Strelley). In 1833, he arrived with his parents at Fremantle on the Cygnet, and moved to Guildford.

In 1838 he was contracted to deliver mail from Albany to Perth, and in 1839 pioneered the droving of sheep from Albany to the Avon and Swan districts. He also drove stock from Swan to York, although losing many of them to poison.

By 1839, Harris was a pastoralist at the farming town of Williams. While based there he met with the botanist James Drummond who was on one of his collecting expeditions from his home Hawthornden in Toodyay. The men shared an interest in the causes of stock poisoning and conducted experiments with the known poison plants in the region.

In 1840 Harris was appointed acting resident magistrate in Williams, then resident magistrate in Toodyay from 1850 until early 1861 when he was transferred to Busselton. He also served at Kojonup for a time. Although known for his sociability, Harris was regarded as an "eccentric, tactless man, unpopular with people in authority for the unsolicited advice he offered, on subjects ranging from roadmaking to Aboriginal farm settlements, and from mail routes to commercial hunting of kangaroos". However, as a former pastoralist and drover, Harris must have gained practical experience about some of these matters before becoming involved with government bureaucracy.

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