Harwood Harrison
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Sir (James) Harwood Harrison 1st Baronet (6 June 1907 - 11 September 1980) was a British politician and Conservative Party member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. He represented the seat of Eye from 1951 to 1979, having first contested it in 1950.
Harrison was the eldest son of the Rev'd E W Harrison and E E Tribe of Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire where his family had owned land since the Eighteenth Century. The family home, Bugbrooke Hall, is now owned by the Jesus Army. He was educated at Northampton Grammar School and Trinity College, Oxford and worked as a company director, feeding-stuffs manufacturer. He served as an Ipswich Borough Councillor 1935-46 and served during World War II with The Suffolk Regiment, commanding the 4th Battalion. He was taken prisoner in Singapore and spent time on the Burma Railway.
Harrison won Eye in Suffolk in 1951, defeating Edgar Granville. He was Harold Macmillan's PPS when Macmillan was Housing Secretary. He served as a Government Whip as a Lord of the Treasury from April 8, 1956 to January 16, 1959, and Comptroller of the Household 1959–61. He subsequently chaired backbench Conservative committees. He was created a Baronet on 6 July 1961.
He was Member of Parliament for the seat of Eye until 1979 when he retired and the seat was contested by another Conservative, John Gummer who was elected MP with a majority of 27%. The seat was abolished before the 1983 General Election and was divided up into the three new seats, Suffolk Coastal, Central Suffolk and Waveney, all of which returned Conservative candidates. John Gummer was elected Member of Parliament for Suffolk Coastal, Michael Lord for Central Suffolk and James Prior for Waveney.
He married Peggy Stenhouse, daughter of Lt Col V D Stenhouse in 1932 and had two children, Sir Michael James Harwood Harrison, 2nd Baronet and Joanna Kathleen Sanders.
| Preceded by Edgar Granville |
Member for Eye 1951–1979 |
Succeeded by John Gummer |
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