Peter Harrison

Peter Harrison (14 June 1716 – 30 April 1775) was an English-born architect who emigrated to New England and is credited with introducing the Palladian architectural movement to the Thirteen Colonies.

Early life and education Born in 1716 in Grimston, York, England, to Thomas H. Harrison and Elizabeth Denison, Harrison immigrated to the colony of Rhode Island in 1740 with his surveyor brother, Joseph. They initially established themselves as merchants and captains of their own trading vessels.

Having gained a stake, between 1743 and 1745, Harrison returned to England to receive formal training as an architect.

Steeple, Christ Church, Philadelphia, PA (1745) Fort George I, Goat Island, Newport, RI (1745, demolished) Leamington Farm, Newport, RI (1747, altered) Matthew Cozzens House, Middletown, RI (1748, demolished 1949) Redwood Library, Newport, RI (1748–49) Beavertail Lighthouse I, Jamestown, RI, (1749, burned) King's Chapel, Boston, MA (1749) John Still Winthrop House, New London, CT (1754, demolished) Beavertail Lighthouse II, Jamestown, RI, (1755, destroyed) Touro Synagogue, Newport, RI (1759) Christ Church, Cambridge MA (1759–60) Saint John’s Freemasons Hall, Newport, RI (1759) Steeple and enlargement, Trinity Church, Newport, RI (1762) Old Brick Market, Newport, RI (1762–72) Johnson Hall, Johnstown, NY (1763) Saint Paul’s Chapel, New York, NY (1766, recent identification)

He was dedicated to Toryism and English culture. He died of a stroke at his home in New Haven in 1775. He is buried in an unmarked grave at Trinity Church on the Green, on New Haven Green. His widow survived him by nine years; her place of burial is not known.

Soon after his death, aged 58, in 1775, his home was attacked by a mob of revolutionaries. They burned his library and all of his original drawings. This act of political violence destroyed the collection of one of the most erudite architects of the colonial period. It prevented the preparation of a catalogue of his designs for posterity.

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