William Harrison

William Harrison (c.1553–1621) was an English Roman Catholic priest. He was the third and last archpriest of England.

Life Born in Derbyshire circa 1553, he entered the English College, Douai in 1575. Ordained a deacon, he afterwards went to Rome.

Following the death of George Birkhead in 1614, Harrison was appointed archpriest of England by Pope Paul V on 23 February 1615. His brief was dated 11 July 1615. Besides the usual faculties, Pope Paul V granted to Harrison "Facultates pro archipresbytero Angliæ, in regnis Angliæ, Scotiæ, Hiberniæ, Monæ, et aliis locis dominii regis Magnæ Britanniæ, ac pro personis eorundum regnorum et dominiorum tantum" on 23 July 1615.

On 9 March 1617, Harrison issued a prohibition wherein secular priests under his jurisdiction were forbidden to attend plays by common players upon common stages, under penalty of losing their ecclesiastical faculties. In 1621 he sanctioned a protest sent to Rome by ten representatives of the secular regarding the institute established by Mary Ward as being opposed to the decrees of the Council of Trent.

His general policy was to restore peace between the secular clergy and the Jesuits while endeavouring to secure the independence of the former. To this end he aided Dr Matthew Kellison, president of the English College, Douai, in lessening the influence of the Jesuits there. He also aimed at restoring episcopal government in England. His influence ultimately secured this, though he himself died on 11 May 1621, just as his envoy was setting out for Rome.