Very Worshipful Brother
Eli Harrison, Jr.
(1852 - 1930)
Vancouver & Quadra Lodge, No. 2
Here is some biographical information on Very Worshipful Brother Eli Harrison, Jr., taken from various sources:
“JUDGE HARRISON PIONEER OF B.C. DIED YESTERDAY
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Late Jurist Joined Bar here 52 years Ago; Served in Nanaimo and Cariboo
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After only a few days’ illness of pneumonia, Judge Eli Harrison, former County Court judge of Cariboo and Nanaimo and member of a well-known pioneer family of this Province, passed away yesterday at the Mayfair private hospital, aged seventy-eight years. He is survived by his widow and six children: Mrs. J. Colborn Coote, of Vancouver; Mrs. Forsythe, of Seattle; C.L. Harrison, city prosecutor of Victoria; P.P. Harrison, barrister of Courtenay; V.B. Harrison, barrister of Nanaimo, and H.R. Harrison, a California attorney.
IN COVERED WAGON
Judge Harrison’s father came to the United States from England in 1850. Judge Harrison was born in 1852 while the family was in Missouri. In 1853 the family joined the covered wagons in the long trek across the plains and mountains to California.
From San Francisco his father came to British Columbia reaching here in 1858, and became prominent in the masons, having been Grand Master of British Columbia in 1878 and in later years. As Grand Master he laid the corner stone of the Masonic Temple in Victoria in 1878, and in the same year dedicated it.
JOINED B.C. BAR FIFTY-SEVEN YEARS AGO
Judge Harrison accompanied his father to British Columbia and was educated at the Collegiate School. He studied law in British Columbia, and later at San Francisco. Returning to the province, he was called to the bar of British Columbia nearly fifty-seven years ago.
In 1875 he was acting registrar of titles and law clerk to the Legislature 1876 and 1878. He was solicitor in the Attorney-General’s department in 1878 and in 1883 was elected a bencher of the Law Society. In 1884 he was appointed stipendiary magistrate for the Province and in the same year County Court judge for Cariboo and Lilloet. He was transferred as County Court judge to Nanaimo in 1889, and was appointed local judge of Supreme Court with full powers in that jurisdiction.
ON GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONS
During the twenty-five years he held office as a judge, he was given numerous government commissions, including one to inquire into the management of the fire and water departments of New Westminster after that great fire of 1898, and as commissioner to inquire into the grievances of the settlers within that tract of land granted to the E & N Railway.
On many occasions he held court in Victoria, and at times was requested by the chief justice to take Supreme Court work in Victoria as well. He was named as a judge of the assizes several years. He also held Court of Revision for many years in different parts of the Island.
During his many years on the bench, Judge Harrison earned a wide reputation as a fair-minded, painstaking and able judge, and some of his cases were selected for publication in the law reports of the day. His opinions and career are favorably cited in Canadian and English publications, both legal and lay.
HELPED REVISE LAWS
Judge Harrison was often requested to aid in the revisions of the laws of the Province or the adaptations of the English statutes to this country, repeatedly receiving letters of commendation and appreciation from the government.
He was a member of the Church of England, and in 1901 attended as a special lay delegate to represent the church at the general convention in San Francisco.
Judge Harrison was, like his father, a prominent member of the Masonic craft, and had reached the thirty-second degree. In 1912 he compiled and annotated the first Masonic Code of British Columbia, a highly regarded and widely-used work. At the time of his passing he was still representative of the Grand Lodge of England, having held the office since his appointment in July 29, 1886.
Funeral services will be held on Monday at 1:45 o’clock from Hayward’s B.C. Funeral Chapel, proceeding to Christ Church Cathedral for services at 2 o’clock. Interment will be made in Ross Bay Cemetery.”
Source: Victoria Daily Times, 8 February 1930, page 15
.The grave of Very Worshipful Brother Eli Harrison, Jr.and his father, M.W. Brother Eli Harrison, is cuurently unmarked, the gravestone having disappeared at some point. We do not know what happened to the grave marker.
The GPS location of the grave is:
The Ross Bay plot designation is:
V.W. Brother Eli Harrison, Jr.
Eli Harrison, Jr. was the son of Most Worshipful Brother Eli Harrison, P.G.M.
He was a prominent jurist in Brtish Columbia, having appointed to the bench in 1884. For more details of his life, see his obituary posted below.
