Biographical entry Harrison, James (1816? - 1893)

Summary

James Harrison worked as a journalist on various newspapers in Victoria from his arrival there in 1839 until his return to England about 1873. He was also a keen inventor, being a pioneer in all kinds of refrigeration and in 1873 he won a gold medal at the Melbourne Exhibition by proving that meat kept frozen for months remained perfectly edible.

Details

Born Renton, near Ben Lomond, Scotland, April 1816?. Died Geelong, Victoria, 3 September 1893. Educated Evening College and Mechanics' Institute, Glasgow. Apprentice printer, Glasgow; compositor, London 1832-37; to Sydney with printing equipment for the Literary News 1837; foreman, Sydney Monitor and work for the Sydney Herald 1837-39; worked for the Port Phillip Patriot 1839-40; founder, Geelong Advertiser 1840, editor 1840-67, owner 1842-62; also founded Geelong Almanac and Intelligencer 1950; founder Geelong Register 1865-67; editor, Melbourne Age from 1867. Designed and built the plant for the first Australian manufacture of ice 1854; formed the Sydney Ice Company with P.N. Russell 1860; designed a revolutionary refrigerator 1860; work on the refrigeration of ships for the export of meat from 1870; in England ca 1873-92, working as a journalist on the Age under the name "Oedipus"; returned to Geelong 1892, continuing to write and making plans to produce soda from his block. His portrait is in the Geelong Art Gallery.

Published resources

Books

• Lang, William Rawson, James Harrison, Pioneering Genius, Neptune Press, Newtown, 1982. Details

Book Sections

• Bruce-Wallace, L. G., 'Harrison, James (1816?-1893), journalist and inventor', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 1, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 520-521. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010479b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Harrison, James, 'Ice Making Machinery (Patent, 27 July, 1860)', Specifications of Letters of Registration of Patents for Inventions - South Australia , vol. 1, no. 8, 1848-68. Details
• Jones, L., 'James Harrison - Pioneering Genius', Australian Physicist, vol. 10, 1983, p. 179. Details
• Morrison, Elizabeth, 'James Harrison: Inventor and Science Journalist', Australasian Science, vol. 19, no. 10, 1998, p. 48. Details
• Young, Neville, 'Back to the Future: the James Harrison Memorial Oration', AIRAH Journal, vol. 45, no. 3, 1991, pp. 9-12. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Harrison, James', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1463439. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/scripts/tia-dynindex.php3?EID=P000479. Details