William Harrison (sea captain)

William Harrison (October 1812 in Maryport, Cumberland – 21 January 1860) was a British merchant navy officer.

On the expiration of his articles, he obtained the command of a vessel, and served in the East and West Indies, and on the coast of South America.

During that period, he crossed the Atlantic upwards of one hundred and eighty times, and was one of the most popular of the commanders on that route.

In January 1856, he was selected by the directors of the Eastern Steam Navigation Company out of two hundred competitors to take the command of the Great Leviathan, then building at Millwall in the Thames.

He was buried in St. James's cemetery, Liverpool on 27 January, when upwards of thirty thousand people followed his body to the grave.