William Harris (Birmingham Liberal)

William Harris
Born	1826 Cheadle, Staffordshire
Died	25 March 1911 (aged 84) Edgbaston, Birmingham
Nationality	British
Education	Rose Hill School, Handsworth
Occupation	Architect
Known for	Liberal politics
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William Harris (1826 – 25 March 1911) was a Liberal politician and strategist in Birmingham, England, in an era of dramatic municipal reform. On his death, he was described by one obituary-writer as "one of the founders of modern Birmingham".J. L. Garvin called him "the Abbé Sieyès of Birmingham" (in allusion to one of the chief political theorists of the French Revolutionary era); and Asa Briggs "a most active and intelligent wire-puller behind the scenes". He was dubbed the "father of the Caucus", the highly organised and controversial Liberal party machine that had its origins in Birmingham, but was afterwards introduced at national level to the National Liberal Federation. He served as the first Chairman of the National Liberal Federation from 1877 to 1882. By profession he was an architect and surveyor; and he was also a prolific journalist and author.

William Harris was born in 1826 in Cheadle, Staffordshire, the son of Joseph Harris and his wife Elizabeth, née Swindell. His parents' liaison had met with the disapproval of their families, and they had eloped together in 1822, to be married at Gretna Green. William moved to Birmingham when young, and was educated at Rose Hill School, Handsworth.

Harris was articled to a Birmingham architect, Isaac Newey, at the age of 15. On completion of his articles in 1847, he established his own architectural practice. He was the first architect in Birmingham to practise as a quantity surveyor, and came to specialise in this branch of the profession. In the late 1850s, he entered into a professional partnership with John Henry Chamberlain: it was short-lived, but the two remained friends, and in later life Harris would marry (as his second wife) Chamberlain's widow. In 1876 he began a partnership with Henry Martin, and in 1879 these two were joined by Harris’s son, Arnold Elsmere Harris (1854–1929), the firm subsequently practising as Harris, Martin and Harris. Two notable commissions were, in 1881–4, an extension to the headquarters building of the Birmingham Banking Company in Bennetts Hill, Birmingham; and, for the same company in 1883, the "Old Bank" (now a branch of HSBC) in Stratford-upon-Avon, which was decorated with 15 terracotta panels of Shakespearean scenes by Samuel Barfield (1830–1887) of Leicester. The Old Bank is described by Chris Pickford for the Pevsner Architectural Guides as "Stratford's best Victorian building". Martin left the partnership in 1889, and William Harris retired in 1895.

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