HOME

Subscribe!

Island Stories:

Rex Gibson Tragedy
Elkhorn 1968
Alexandra Peak
Argus Mountain
Bate/Alava Sanctuary
Beaufort Range
Big Interior Mtn
Big Interior Mtn 1913
Part 1
Part 2
Bolton Expedition 1896
Cliffe Glacier
Clinton Wood
Comox Glacier
Comox Glacier 1922
Comox Glacier 1925
Comstock Mtn
Conuma Peak
Copper King Mine
Crown Mtn
Elkhorn 1912
Elkhorn 1949
Eugene Croteau
Golden Bullets
Golden Hinde 1913/14
Golden Hinde 1937
Golden Hinde 1983
Harry Winstone Tragedy
Jack Mitchell
Jim Mitchell Tragedy
John Buttle
Judges Route
Landslide Lake
Mackenzie Range
Malaspina Peak
Mariner Mtn
Marjories Load
Matchlee Mountain
Mount McQuillan
Mt. Albert Edward
Mt. Albert Edward 1938
Mt. Becher
Mt. Benson 1913
Mt. Benson
Mt. Doogie Dowler
Mt. Colonel Foster
Mt. Maxwell
Mt. Sicker
Mt. Tzouhalem
Mt. Whymper
Muqin/Brooks Peninsula
Nine Peaks
Queneesh
Ralph Rosseau 1947
Rosseau Chalet
Ralph Rosseau Tragedy
Rambler Peak
Red Pillar
Sid's Cabin
Steamboat Mtn
The Misthorns
Victoria Peak
Wheaton Hut/Marble Meadows
William DeVoe
Woss Lake
You Creek Mine
Zeballos Peak

Other Stories:
Huascaran
Antarctica
Cerro del Tepozteco
Citlaltepetl
Mt. Roraima
Nevada Alpamayo
Nevada del Tolima
Nevado de Toluca
Pico Bolivar
Popocatepetl
Uluru/Ayers Rock
Volcan Purace
Volcan San Jose

Biographies
Island 6000
Cartoons

Order the Book
Contact Me
Links

1886 - 1986

Claude Harrison was born in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1886, the forth child of Eunice and Eli Harrison. Judge Harrison was a well known lawyer and later Chief Justice and was the first County Court Judge on Vancouver Island.

Harrison's career began as an articulated clerk to Justice H. B. Robertson of the British Columbia Appeal Court and he worked his way up to City Prosecutor. It was reported he was a "merciless cross-examiner but he was equally known as a humanitarian who would go out of his way to assist an unfortunate person who, through ignorance, became embroiled with the law." This brought him into constant contact with the public and his actions often caused him to be described as harsh. This undoubtedly led to his strong desire for privacy once away from the spotlight of court and city matter.

However, after forty years as prosecuting attorney for the City of Victoria, Claude Harrison retired at the age of sixty-four but decided to run for Mayor in 1951. In a column for The Daily Colonist newspaper it was predicted if elected, "… he [Harrison] will be one of the most original, colourful and vigorous mayors Victoria has ever had." His platform was straight forward and simple: The Dominion, he said, had promised Vancouver Island a steamship service when they joined confederation, but this never materialized. Harrison pushed for the establishment of the Swartz Bay-Mainland Ferry which eventually became a reality in 1962. Harrison's campaign also promoted a better coastal road on Vancouver Island and he was all for opening council, committee and police commission meetings to the press and public. He wanted the public to have the opportunity to personally question the Mayor on issues of the day. The mayoralty race was the keenest Victorian's had for twenty years.

After being voted in Harrison's inaugural address at his first council meeting on January 7, 1952, was the longest on record, covering a huge list of city concerns. Later that month The Daily Colonist described the Mayor as "… a noted conservationist, steeped in nature lore and Vancouver Island's history, [who] wants good, wide walks in the area and permanent tags on each plant and shrub." During his term as Mayor, from 1952 to 1955, Harrison wore a "brilliant blue cape … casually flung around his shoulders revealing crimson lining … [and] a police badge on his suspenders." This cape was merely a flamboyant appendage during his time as Mayor and was used only for effect. A strange contradiction considering Harrison was a man who sought privacy and preferred to be away from the limelight.

Claude Harrison was a member of the Vancouver Island section of the Alpine Club of Canada and hiked and climbed on the Forbidden Plateau in the late 1920's and 1930's. In 1928 he made the first ascent of Castle (Castlecrag) Mountain with William Dougan, Ben Hughes, Sid Williams and a number of others. He also led a club trip out to Shields Lake near Sooke with Lindley Crease where Harrison donated land to the club and a cabin was built and used for many years by ACC members. He was Chairman of the section for eight years from 1934 to 1941.

In his later years his chief interest was his acreage on the Malahat overlooking Saanich Arm which gave him the title "The Squire of the Malahat." Claude Harrison was considered an eccentric and in his home he had a room equipped in such a way that by pushing a few buttons, it could be transformed into a replica of an old Yukon bar-room, complete with genuine relics from some of the actual bars that existed in Victoria. Harrison passed away at Glenwarren Lodge in Victoria on March 12, 1986, at the age of ninety-nine, a few months before his one hundredth birthday. In keeping with his strong beliefs about guarding his privacy, Harrison made provisions for all his personal papers to be destroyed upon his death.

Sources:
"Scale Virgin Peak on Plateau." The Comox Argus. [Courtenay, B.C.] (July 26, 1928) p. 1 & 8.

"Castle Mountain is Picturesque." The Comox Argus. [Courtenay, B.C.] (August 2, 1928) p. 1 & 4.

"Forbidden Plateau as Game Reserve." The Comox Argus. [Courtenay, B.C.] (October 4, 1928) p. 2.

"Forbidden Plateau at Victoria." The Comox Argus. [Courtenay, B.C.] (November 1, 1928) p. 1.

"Forbidden Plateau: Crowd Jammed Native Son's Hall to Hear Mr. C.L. Harrison." The Comox Argus. [Courtenay, B.C.] (December 22, 1928) p.

Harrison, Claude "Forbidden Plateau." The Comox Argus. [Courtenay, B.C.] ((July 13, 1933) p. 5.

"Winter Sports on Plateau." The Comox Argus. [Courtenay, B.C.] (December 6, 1928) p. 1.

Mortimore, G. E. "The Man of the Week." The Daily Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (November 4, 1951) p. 4.

"Mayor-Elect Colorful Chap." The Daily Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (December 14, 1951) p. 1.

"Claude Harrison Chosen Mayor." The Daily Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (December 14, 1951) p. 1.

"Harrison Platform Gets Support of City Voters." The Daily Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (December 14, 1951) p. 1.

"Native Son Will Be Victoria Mayor." Victoria Daily Times. [Victoria, B.C.] (December 14, 1951) p. 1.

"Harrison Will Serve For one Term Only." Victoria Daily Times. [Victoria, B.C.] (December 14, 1951) p. 1.

"Judge Lauds Mayor-Elect." Victoria Daily Times. [Victoria, B.C.] (December 14, 1951) p. 1.

………….. The Daily Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (January 8, 1952) p. 1.

………….. The Daily Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (January 24, 1952) p. 11.

………….. The Daily Colonist. [Victoria, B.C.] (March 13, 1986) p. A3.

Green, Valerie. No Ordinary People: Victoria's Mayors Since 1862. Beach Holme Publishers. Victoria, B.C. 1992. p. 207-209.

top