Hector Harrison (1902–1978) - Minister of the Church of Andrew, Forrest ACT from 1940 to 1978

by Godfrey Laurie

Hector Harrison (1902-1978), Presbyterian clergyman, was born on 5 April 1902 at Northam, Western Australia, third son of Thomas Allan Harrison, a hospital orderly from England, and his South Australian-born wife Hester Ann, née Bray. Educated at Northam State School (dux 1915), at the age of 14 Hector became a Salvation Army bandsman before serving (1918-20) with the Australian Military Forces' Reserve Band in Perth.

Hector Harrison in 1951. Photographer unknown. Courtesy National Library of Australia Catalogue

In 1922 Harrison entered the Salvation Army Training College, Melbourne. After being commissioned, he worked for two and a half years in the inner suburbs of Richmond, Fitzroy and North Melbourne. Because of his beliefs in regard to the sacraments of holy communion and baptism, he decided to prepare for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. He studied part time for the Intermediate and Leaving certificates while acting as a home missionary for the Church. Entering Ormond College, University of Melbourne (B.A., 1930; M.A., 1932), he preached at North Essendon on weekends and obtained his B.D. (1933) from the Melbourne College of Divinity. At St John's Presbyterian Church, Essendon, on 30 May 1931 he married Doris May Sarah Ann Tear.

Appointed to the parish of New Town in Hobart, Harrison was ordained in 1933. Next year he was commissioned as a chaplain in the Militia. In 1936 he transferred to Claremont, Western Australia, whence he accepted a call to be minister of the Church of St Andrew, Canberra; arriving in May 1940, he was to serve this parish until his death in 1978. He encouraged corporate worship, visited his parishioners regularly and comforted the sick in hospital; his drive and enthusiasm led to the establishment of new Presbyterian parishes in the Australian Capital Territory. A counsellor and friend to the highly placed and the humble, he spoke nobly when he conducted Prime Minister John Curtin’s funeral in 1945. Harrison was a part-time chaplain at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, and at the naval depot, H.M.A.S. Harman. In 1953 he was appointed O.B.E.

Harrison was moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New South Wales in 1950-51 and moderator-general of the Presbyterian Church of Australia in 1962-64. He was appointed a vice-president of the World Presbyterian Alliance in 1964. While he was on friendly terms with his fellow clergymen in Canberra and believed in spiritual unity among the Christian denominations, he thought that only 'the religious romantic' could envisage 'one great world church'. He criticized the Federal government's efforts in the 1960s to increase state aid to private schools, and he continued to be totally opposed to alcohol and gambling.

Tall, sparely built, soldierly in bearing and with piercing brown eyes, Harrison had a dynamic personality, abundant energy and a keen sense of humour. From an early age he suffered from a hearing disability. He died on 19 November 1978 in Canberra Hospital and was cremated; his wife, son and three daughters survived him. Alan McIntosh's portrait of Harrison hangs in St Andrew's Church.

First published in The Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, 1996. Online from 2006

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