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I learnt about this family name from a first cousin in 1970 who explained by letter that it was the surname of my 2nd great-grandfather. She told me what she knew of his origins in Hannover as a Jewish tailor. Because of conscription to the army he left Prussia probably in 1840 as an 18 year old travelling via Rotterdam and setting up a business as a high -class tailor in the West End of London. She claimed that he "bought" his adopted name of Harris but there is no evidence of this nor any that pertains to anyone else in similar circumstances. It is stated on his marriage certificate that he was the son of a Mitchell Harris so he may have been persuaded to part with money in order to establish an English-sounding family connection to further his business ambitions. I was told that the family originated from Roumania.