Sir Christopher Harris, 3rd Baronet

Born in Wellington on 26 August 1934, Harris was the son of Jack Wolfred Ashford Harris and Patricia Penman.[1][2] His mother was a feminist and writer, while his father was a businessman who succeeded as the 2nd Baronet Harris, of Bethnal Green, County of London, in 1952.[3] The baronetcy was created for Jack Harris's father, the British Liberal Party politician, Percy Harris, in 1932.[4]

Harris was educated at Wanganui Collegiate School from 1948 to 1952.[5] On 24 April 1957, he married Anna Karen de Malmanche, and the couple went on to have three children.[1]

Harris joined the family business, Bing, Harris and Co., a New Zealand general importing and exporting company established in 1858 by his grandfather, Wolf Harris (1858–1926), and ran it for many years.[6][7] He was also a director of Todd Corporation.[7] Harris was a long-time member of the National Party,[8] and was in charge of Stephen Franks' unsuccessful campaign for the Wellington Central at the 2008 general election.[9] Harris was involved in the "Vote For Change" group that campaigned against the MMP voting system in the 2011 New Zealand voting system referendum.[8][9]

An enthusiast of James Cook, Harris advocated, unsuccessfully, over a number of years for State Highway 1 to be renamed the Captain Cook Highway.[8] He was active as a yachtsman, and was a member of the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club.[7] He took his yacht Chinchilla out during the Wahine disaster in 1968, in an attempt to rescue survivors.[5]

Harris died in Masterton on 26 April 2022.[10] In 2023, his son, Andrew Frederick Ashford Harris, proved succession to the baronetcy.[1][11]