Biography

Richard Poulett-Harris, (1817-1899) was born at Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, on 26^th October 1817. He was the eldest son of Charles Poulett- Harris and Anna Maria Van Stout, daughter of the Honorable R. Van Stout of Nova Scotia. Charles Poulett-Harris was at that time a captain in the 60^th Rifles.

Richard was educated in England at Manchester Free Grammar School, and then graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge. His first appointment was as vice-principal of Huddersfield College. He remained there only a short time, and was ordained deacon at Chester by Bishop Sumner, later Archbishop of Canterbury, and made priest two years later at Manchester, where he was given a curacy.

On 25^th June 1844 the Reverend Harris married Catharine Prior Hall, eldest daughter of William Hall of Cambridge. There were six children of the marriage. Catharine died on 27^th June 1856 at Blackheath.

In 1849, the Reverend Harris was appointed classical master of the Blackheath Proprietary School for seven years. He emigrated to Tasmania after his wife's death in 1856, and his arrival in Hobart coincided with the first occasion of the city being lit with gaslight.

The Reverend Harris was appointed rector of the High School, Hobart, and retained this position until his retirement in 1885.

On 13^th June1858 he was married a second time to Elizabeth Eleanor Milward, the eldest daughter of John Milward, of Tessierville, Hobart. There were five children of this marriage.

When Harris retired, the family went to live at Woodbridge, Peppermint Bay. He spent many of his holidays in Launceston and attended St. John's Church. He was a member of the Freemasons and assisted at the opening of the masonic premises in Brisbane Street in June 1884, delivering the address on that occasion.

He was interested in the British & Foreign Bible Society, and was a most prolific writer on all manner of subjects. For the Union Steamship Co. he wrote, "A Visitors Guide to Tasmania", and for a national volume entitled "Picturesque Australia", he wrote the Tasmanian section. These are just a few items that remain from his vast private library and manuscripts which were destroyed by fire in 1896.

The Reverend Richard Deodartus Poulett-Harris died in Tasmania on 23^rd December 1899 aged 83. In Launceston he was held in great esteem, and a stained-glass window was erected to his memory in St. John's Church. It was placed in the centre window of the old north wall. During the 1901-11 building period, the window was removed and stored and later re-positioned in the new chapel south wall. The subject of the window is 'The Call of St. Andrew and St. Paul'. Its inscription reads:
IN MEMORY OF
THE REV'D RICH'D POULETT-HARRIS M.A. CAMBRIDGE,
FOR 30 YEARS RECTOR OF THE HIGH SCHOOL HOBART

Source

Extract from 'Engraved in Memory' by J.S.Gill. 1988

Australian Dictionary of Biography
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/harris-richard-deodatus-poulett-3726
Wikipedia - Richard Deodartus Poulett-Harris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Deodatus_Poulett-Harris