 In 1858 he married Elizabeth Eleanor Milward, with whom he had another six children.It was at Harris' suggestion that an act was passed in 1858 founding a system of school examinations based on the Oxford and Cambridge local examinations, and also founding the Tasmanian scholarships of £200 a year tenable at English universities.He was one of the original members of the council of education founded in 1859, and long advocated the establishment of the University of Tasmania.