The papers in this collection represent two generations, brothers John (1755?-1818) and William (1762?-1804), and William (1790-1869), John's son.

John Harness M.D., F.L.S., was born c.1755. He married Sarah Dredge (born in 1765) and had five children: John, William, Richard, Mary and Henry. Except for two or three years from 1796 in Lisbon, the family lived in Wickham, Hampshire and later in Harrow. Dr Harness died in 1818.

Details of his professional training are not known. With time, he became a distinguished naval surgeon, a friend of Nelson, and godfather to his daughter. He was allegedly the doctor called to Nelson when the latter lost his eye. Harness was also a friend of Lord Collingwood. He served under the successive commands of Admirals Hood, Hotham and St. Vincent. In 1796, the year the conflict with Spain broke out, Harness was appointed Physician to the Mediterranean Fleet based at His Majesty's Naval Hospital in Almada. He was succeeded in 1798 by Dr. Weir. Around 1799 he offered his services to General O'Hara in Gibraltar and was appointed superintendent of the hospitals there. For many years (from January 1806), he held the position of a Medical Commissioner of Transport. In 1808 the Admiralty ordered Dr Harness to conduct an enquiry into a scandal concerning bad supplies sent to the Channel Fleet from the Royal Hospital in Plymouth. He retired in 1817. He devoted the latter part of his life to collating evidence that would substantiate his claim to being the person largely responsible for persuading the Admiralty to sanction a sufficient supply of lemon juice to naval ships to prevent scurvy amongst the crews.

William Harness was born c.1762. In 1791, he married Elizabeth Bigg from Aylesbury (born c.1765). Their children were Charles, Jane and Jemima. He died on 2 January 1804.

He followed a military path, spending most of his career in India fighting in the Mysore and Maratha wars. He was already a captain when he married Elizabeth. He was promoted to major before leaving Guernsey in 1794. He served in several regiments across Europe (mainly in the Netherlands) and South Africa, staying longest with the 80th Regiment, within which he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in September 1796. The next two years he spent in Trincomalee, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He reached his next destination, Madras (Chennai) on promotion to a lieutenant-colonelcy with the 74th Regiment in 1799. Following troubles after the battle of Seringapatham in May of that year, he was entrusted with command of the army during Colonel Wellesley's absence. In 1801 he marched to Egypt, where he was reappointed lieutenant-colonel of the 80th Regiment and held the temporary rank of brigadier in 1802. Back in India, he played a prominent role in one of the most decisive battles of the Second Maratha War, the battle of Assaye in September 1803. He died at the age of 42 while serving as a colonel under Wellesley.

William Harness (1790-1869), son of John, was a literary scholar and author of an eight-volume edition of Shakespeare. Further biographical details can be found in the Dictionary of National Biography.