HARRIS From Buckingham, Buckinghamshire, England

[argyllshiregirl]

My husband's great grandfather, William HARRIS, was born in 1826 in Buckingham, Bucks, England to James HARRIS and Mary SPICER. He immigrated to Canada in 1844, alone I believe, and left his family behind in England.

My husband has done Y DNA testing to confirm this. There are 2 good DNA matches for him on the Harris Project, one tracing this HARRIS line in Bucks and Oxfordshire back to the 1600s!

Anyone else out there?

[Pam57152]

I have HARRIS ancestry in Buckinghamshire.  My line goes back to a Henry Harris & Rachael nee Symonds who ran the Bull & Butcher pub at Ludgershall, Bucks.  I haven't found a James Harris married to Mary Spicer, however there could be a link further back in time.  I have done the Family Finder autosomal DNA test on Family Tree DNA.  Did your husband test with that company?

[argyllshiregirl]

Hi Pam,

Nice to hear from you. From what I can tell, my husband's 2x great grandfather, William HARRIS, was born in June 1826 in Buckingham, Bucks to James HARRIS and Mary SPICER. This couple married on June 2, 1823, also in Buckingham. I have possible parents for James HARRIS too. They are believed to be John HARRIS and Mary BARRETT October 21, 1779 in Buckingham.

James HARRIS and Mary SPICER had the following children baptised:
25 Oct 1823 - John.
13 Jun 1826 - William.
3 Jun 1829 - Thomas.
27 Nov 1835 - Hannah, aged 2.
27 Nov 1835 - Emmily.
11 Apr 1838 - George Valentine.
29 May 1845 - Emely Elizabeth.
Also a James born 1841 and Frederick born 1848.

I think that both Emmily and Emely Elizabeth died in childhood. I'm not sure of the rest.

My husband is part of the HARRIS Project through https://www.familytreedna.com/

Mary

[Pam57152]

I have done my testing on Family Tree DNA but only autosomal.  I don't actually know any Harris family males who I could ask to be tested.  I am wondering if you could email me at
jcooperp@yahoo.com.au
so that we can discuss in more detail.
Cheers, Pam

[Jacob_Livingston_77]

My great great great great grandfather, Paige Harris brought his family to America from Buckingham, England during early 1800's. He eventually purchased land in what is now Hale County Alabama were they settled an old country plantation, Tanglewood, in 1824. Buckingham is so beautiful! I dream of going there one day and studying my ancestry even further.

[argyllshiregirl]

Hi Jacob,

My husband is a great grandson of William HARRIS, person #392, part of group 52 at https://www.familytreedna.com/public/harris-mtdna?iframe=ycolorized If you have any male HARRIS relatives, they could match Y DNA against this and see what kind of results we might get.

Mary Harris

[Jacob_Livingston_77]

Thank you Mrs. Harris! Unfortunately, I do not know a living male Harris from his line. They are all females. However, I do have an extensive genealogy record predating Paige Harris in my personal library. When I get some free time this week I will provide you with some of my information. 

[Jacob_Livingston_77]

Okay, my Harris line from Buckingham predated Page Harris. Page was born in North Carolina in 1795. His father and mother were John Harris and Nancy Williams Harris. John's father was Sherard Harris and this line goes back to a Captain Thomas Harris  born in England in 1586/7. He came to Virginia on a ship called The Prosperous   in 1611. He served in the House of Burgess in the Necke of land in 1624 and became Captain and Commander in Henrico County in 1639/40. Now, Pagie Harris's wife was the daughter of David Williams who was one of the sons of a wealthy Englishman. He was sent by the English government to Virginia to preach to the colonist. He was educated for the ministry and a primative Baptist preacher. 

[argyllshiregirl]

Wow, that is some great history there! My husband has an American connection too that probably goes back to the 1600s but I cannot seem to get anywhere with it. I sure would love to! His ggf William HARRIS (b. England 1826 - d. Canada 1886) married Maria Ann PIERCE in Ontario, Canada in 1874. Maria's father was Reuel A. PIERCE who was born somewhere in Vermont abt. 1810 and came to Canada abt. 1830. He migrated north with 2 other Vermont families, the SMITH and RHODES. Both of these had Massachusetts roots. Likely the PIERCEs did too. I did trace the SMITHs to Williston, Chittenden VT, so maybe Reuel was born near there? I am sure that there is a treasure trove of wonderful early American history connected to the PIERCEs that I have yet to unlock!!