HARRIS, John (c.1690-1767), of Hayne, nr. Crediton, Devon.

Of a Tory family, Harris was called ‘the Hanover Rat’ by his neighbour, Samuel Rolle, whose widow he married. At George II’s accession he was brought in for Helston by the Government, with whom he voted consistently throughout his parliamentary career, moving the Address in 1735. In 1739 his wife succeeded to the estates of her brother, Roger Tuckfield, carrying an interest at Ashburton, for which Harris subsequently returned himself and another government supporter without opposition. In 1742 it was incorrectly rumoured that he was to be displaced as master of the Household.1Walpole to Mann, 7 July 1742. He is described in the 2nd Lord Egmont’s electoral survey of c.1750 as ‘a man who to keep his place I should think would vote and bring in another as directed’. He died 5 Oct. 1767, aged 77.