William Harris was born in about 1675, probably in Southwark, where his mother was living as a widow in 1692. Walter Wilson, following Josiah Thompson, thinks he was educated at Timothy Jollie's Attercliffe Academy, near Sheffield. Records of the presbyterian board show that in 1692–6 he studied successively in the academies of John Southwell at Newbury, Berkshire, and James Waters at Uxbridge, Middlesex. He began early to preach, and was some time assistant to Henry Read at Gravel Lane, Southwark. On Read's death Harris was called to succeed Timothy Cruso at Crutched Friars, in spite of some opposition, and received presbyterian ordination. He became a hoarse-voiced leader of liberal dissent. For over thirty years he acted as one of the Friday evening lecturers at the Weighhouse, Eastcheap. He was one of the original trustees of Daniel Williams's foundations. At the Salters' Hall debates in 1719, he sided with the non-subscribers. In 1723 he was one of the original distributors of the English regium donum. On 12 April 1727 he succeeded William Tong in the merchants' lecture at Salters' Hall. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Edinburgh on 8 November 1728; and a similar honour from the University of Aberdeen. Nathaniel Lardner was his colleague in his pastoral charge from 1729; an earlier colleague was John Billingsley the younger. Harris died, following a short illness, on 25 May 1740, and was buried in Dr. Daniel Williams's vault at Bunhill Fieldsburial ground. Funeral sermons were preached by his friend Benjamin Grosvenor and by Lardner. He left nearly 2,000 volumes to Dr Williams's Library. His portrait was also presented to the library by Lardner's executor in 1768: an engraving based on it is published in Wilson's Dissenting Churches.
Works
Harris published much, and, according to Walter Wilson, ranked as "the greatest master of the English tongue among the dissenters". Among his works are:
Exposition of the Epistles to Philippians and Colossians, in the continuation of Matthew Henry's "Exposition", 1710
Practical Discourses on … Representations of the Messiah, throughout the Old Testament, 1724; intended as a reply to Anthony Collins
