He was born at Cornworthy in Devon, eldest son and heir of Sir Thomas Harris (died 1610) and his wife Elizabeth Pomeroy (died 1634). His father rose from a rather obscure background to hold the rank of serjeant-at-law. His mother belonged to the prominent local family who gave their name to the village of Berry Pomeroy.
He entered Middle Temple in 1598 and was called to the bar in 1599. In 1608 he was sent to Ireland as Chief Justice of Munster. As Lord Cork"s nominee, Harris sat in the Irish House of Commons in the Irish Parliament of 1613-1615 as one of the two members for Clonakilty, a borough newly created at Lord Cork"s initiative as part of his political "empire" in the south of.
Ireland.
Harris received a special grant of land for his "extraordinary services to the Crown" in 1617 and a knighthood in 1619. In 1623 he was appointed a judge of the Court of King"s Bench (Ireland). He was Treasurer of the King"s Inn in 1632.
He died in County Cork in 1636 and was buried in Kilcredan cemetery, near Ladysbridge.
lieutenant seems likely, from the later inscription on the impressive tomb which his mother had erected in 1610 to his father"s memory in Cornworthy Church, that he was reinterred at Cornworthy. Valentine Greatrakes Valentine Greatrakes.
