Christopher Harris

Sir Christopher Harris (c. 1553 – 1625) of Radford in the parish of Plymstock in Devon, was a Member of Parliament for Plymouth in Devon in 1584. He was knighted in 1607. He should not be confused with his great-nephew and heir apparent Christopher Harris (d.1623) of Lanrest in the parish of Liskeard in Cornwall, a Member of Parliament for West Looe in Cornwall.

He was a close friend of Admiral Sir Francis Drake, who on one occasion lodged part of his captured treasure at Radford. In partnership with John Hele (died 1608) of Wembury in Devon, serjeant-at-law and MP, Harris acquired the estate of Buckland Abbey in Devon as a seat for Drake. He owned The Armada Service, a set of 31 silver dishes now in the British Museum. His contemporary the Cornwall historian Richard Carew (d.1620) wrote that he: "admitteth no partner in the sweetly tempered mixture of bounty and thrift, gravity and pleasantness, kindness and stoutness, which grace all his actions".

Origins He was the son and heir of William Harris (born 1504) of Radford, a Member of Parliament for Newport-juxta-Launceston by his wife Catherine Trecarrel, a daughter and co-heiress of Henry Trecarrell (alias Esse) ), a daughter of Richard Grenville, lord of the manors of Bideford in Devon and of Stowe in the parish of Kilkhampton, Cornwall.

Succession As he died without surviving children, his heirs became the descendants of his only sister Jane Harris, ) of the Borough of West Looe in Cornwall (established in 1574 However, as he predeceased his uncle by two years, he did not inherit, nor did his eldest son Christopher II Harris (1590 – November 1623) of Lanrest, a Member of Parliament for West Looe in Cornwall (1621), who also predeceased his great-uncle by two years, having survived his father by only a few months. It was thus Christopher II's younger brother John Harris (c. 1596 – 1648) of Lanrest, MP, who gained the inheritance.