Memorable Manitobans: Thomas James Harrison (1885-1964)

Agronomist, professor.

Born near Graysville, Manitoba on 15 April 1885, he attended Kilmory School then was the first student to enrol in the Manitoba Agricultural College at Winnipeg. After graduation he taught field husbandry there until 1913, when he became Superintendent of the Dominion experimental farm at Indian Head, Saskatchewan. He came back to the college in 1915 to become professor of field husbandry. His research on crossbreeding and high-yield barley was important for the malting industry.

He helped found the Manitoba Agronomists Conference in 1920 and became assistant commissioner for Manitoba with the Board of Grain Commissioners in 1925. He also served as President of the Canadian Seed Growers Association. In 1932 he became Chair of the National Barley Committee and was instrumental in founding the Barley Improvement Institute. He was a member of the Winnipeg Kiwanis Club and was responsible for a public-speaking contest open to members of boys’ and girls’ clubs of the province.

He was elected to the Agricultural Institute of Canada and the Royal Academy. In 1951 the University of Manitoba gave him an honorary doctorate. He is a member of the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame.

He died at Winnipeg on 3 March 1964 and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

Sources:

Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 6 March 1964, page 29.

The Rural Municipality of Dufferin, 1880-1980 compiled and edited by June M. Watson with the assistance of the History Book Committee, RM of Dufferin, 1982, page 163.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by J. M. Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 22 April 2012

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