Frederick George Harris

ca. 1866, England - 16 December 1942, Glasgow

Mr Harris was born to Thomas Harris and Caroline Drummond Tidman; his parents married in the Chelsea district of London in 1865.

It is not known when Mr Harris arrived in Scotland, but he represented the West of Scotland in the match against the East in 1896 and by 1898, the year he married Jessie Nicol Cunningham, his name appears in matches played by Burns Chess Club (Glasgow).

Before the formation of the Glasgow Chess league in 1908 it was common for players to be members of more than one club. Harris also played for Central CC (Glasgow) and was on that club's winning 1906 Spens Cup team. In 1911 he played for the losing finalist, Athenaeum CC, in the Richardson Cup final, winning his individual game. He later became an important figure in the Bohemian CC, founded in 1905, winning the club championship on numerous occasions. He was on the Bohemian team that won the 1924 and 1929 Spens Cup, and lost the Richardson Cup finals of 1913,  1927, 1930 and 1931.

Mr Harris won the 1916 West of Scotland championship. Because of the war, the number of entries was less than usual, but in the double-round event he scored a convincing victory.

	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	Points
F.G. Harris	■	0	1	1	■	1	1	1	5
W. Gibson	1	■	1	1	0	■	½	1	4½
J. Borthwick	0	0	■	0	0	½	■	1	1½
C. Wardhaugh	0	0	1	■	0	0	0	■	1

When Mr Harris died in 1942 he was retired from a management position with Milner's Safe Company, Ltd., of 132 St Vincent Street, Glasgow.

 

Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotland

Added 28/11/2019