Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Joseph Henry Harrison, known as Joe, was born at Timaru on 15 April 1870, the son (second) of Joseph and Mary Ann (née Wilson) Harrison. He was baptized at St Mary’s Timaru on 3 July 1870. Joseph and Mary Ann, both from Northern Ireland, married in 1864 in New Zealand. Known children of Joseph and Mary Ann are John Valentine Harrison (born and baptized at St Mary’s in 1866), Jane Harrison (born and baptized at St Mary’s in 1868, William Derby Harrison (born in 1871 and baptized at St Mary’s in 1872, David Robert Harrison (born at Timaru in 1875 at Timaru and died in 1939 at Napier). None of the births appears to have been registered. Joseph, along with his siblings Jane, William and David, was educated at Timaru Main School. John Valentine Harrison die din 1877 at the age of eleven. Mr Joseph Harrison, senior, died on 1 August 1912 and was buried with his son John Valentine. Mrs Mary Ann Harrison died on 14 August 1917 and was buried in the same plot. Two infant children of David are also buried there. Mary Ann had drawn up her Will soon after her husband’s death, appointing her sons Joseph Henry Harrison, bootmaker, Timaru, and David Robert Harrison, tailor, Timaru, as executors and trustees. She gave her son Joseph her house and section and her son David all the residue of her estate. When it came to probtate, Joseph Henry Harrison was serving with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and was on the Salisbury Plains in England. David, therefore, executed the Will.

Joseph Henry Harrison married Elizabeth Sophie Gunter (Lizzie) on 1 June 1899 at Timaru. Their only child, Eric William Harrison, was born on 30 August 1900 at Timaru. Private J. H. Harrison, Timaru (Infantry) was one of the recruits for the Tenth Reinforcements who were despatched from the South Canterbury district to camp at Trentham in mid-November 1915. Joe was in the boot business at Timaru when he enlisted on 17 November 1915 at Trentham. He named his wife as next-of-kin – Mrs E. S. Harrison, Campbell Street. He had served with the Timaru Port Guards for seven years, and with C Battery (Canterbury) Artillery. Quartermaster Sergeant J. H. Harrison embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade of the 2nd Reinforcements, leaving for Suez, Egypt on 1 April 1916. Sergeant Arthur Griffiths (14th Reinforcements) who had embarked on 26 June 1916, wrote in a letter home soon after arriving at Plymouth on 22 August 1916 and enduring a seven-hour train trip, that he had met Joe Harrison and six other Timaru pals – “all of them looking very fit” – soon after reaching camp.

Later in November 1919, Mrs J. H. Harrison received word from headquarters that her husband, Sergeant J. H. Harrison, was expected by the “Ruahine”, due to arrive at Auckland on or about Dec. 20. He had embarked at Torquay on 3 November. He was discharged on 24 January 1920, on the termination of his period of engagement. He had served overseas – in Egypt - for well over three years and was awarded the British War Medal and te Victory Medal. Joseph resumed his boot-making business. By 1922 he had moved, it appears, to his late mother’s address in Theodocia Street, while his wife Elizabeth remained at their Campbell Street address, their son Eric with her throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s. Joseph Henry Harrison, bootmaker, was residing at Dannevirke in 1925 and again in 1928. Elizabeth Sophia Harrison died on 23 August 1933, a widow, and was buried at Timaru. When Elizabeth Sophia Harrison – wife of Joseph Henry Harrison of Timaru, bootmaker - drew up her Will in 1927, she appointed her son Eric sole executor and bequeathed all to him. Eric William Harrison died in 1996 at the age of 95 and was buried at Timaru with his wife. What became of Joseph Henry Harrison is not apparent.

David Robert Harrison was living in Bank Street, Timaru and had five or more children when he was listed on the Reserve Rolls in 1917. David had several very difficult years. He married in 1904 and had nine children, a first-born twin and another daughter dying in infancy. His wife Mary Ann Catherine née Stuart died on 3 April 1917, at the birth of her ninth child. David was left with two daughters and five sons ranging in age from 12 to newborn. When four of the little sons were baptized at St Mary’s in 1918, they were at St Saviour’s Home. The children attended various Timaru Schools. Between 1922 and 1925, David moved from Timaru to Napier. Perhaps he had family support there. There, his second son Valentine Joseph Harrison was killed in the Napier earthquake in 1931. Three sons of David, and nephews of Joseph Henry Harrison, served in World War Two – David William, James Abraham and George Stuart. His eldest daughter, Jane (Jean) Elizabeth, married a Timaru World War One returned serviceman, Reuben Charles Logan. Four Wilson brothers, who were grandsons of Elizabeth (Bessie) Harrison, a sister of Joseph Harrison (senior), and John Wilson, served in World War One - Frank Wilson, Sidney Wilson, John Valentine Wilson and James Erasmus Wilson.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [28 May 2025]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [29 May 2025]; St Mary’s Timaru Baptism records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG records) [29 May 2025]; Timaru Herald, 13 November 1915, 18 October 1916, 24 November 1919, 2 December 1919 (Papers Past) [07 August 2014; 29 May 2025]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.