He was born in
Barnstaple,
Devon, England. He was educated at
Blundell's School in Tiverton, and
Exeter College, Oxford, and played rugby football for
Oxford University and
England. In 1900, Harper entered the Colonial Service as a Cadet in the
Gold Coast Civil Service and was attached to the Ashanti Field Force. He left the Gold Coast in 1909 when he was called to the Bar of the
Inner Temple; the following year he married Marjorie Ford. Harper returned to the Gold Coast and in May 1914 was appointed Acting Colonial Secretary in
Accra. At the outbreak of
World War I, he served as Senior Political Officer with the Togoland Field Force during the occupation of the former German colony, a post he held until December 1914. During 1916 he deputised for the Governor,
Sir Hugh Clifford, during the latter's absence. The following year Harper proposed retiring from the
Colonial Service in order to join the Army but the Colonial Office decided that he could not be released from his post in the Gold Coast. In 1920 Harper was appointed Chief Commissioner of Ashanti. One of the most memorable events of Harper's career in Ashanti concerned the crisis that arose in 1921 when the
Golden Stool of Ashanti, venerated by the Ashanti people as the symbol of the soul and spirit of their race, was discovered damaged and desecrated. Harper at once assembled the Chiefs and handed over to them the trial of the offenders, making it clear that the Government made no claim whatever to the Golden Stool. For his handling of this situation, he was awarded the
CMG in 1921. He was appointed an
OBE in 1919 and
knighted in 1930. In 1925 Harper was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the island of
St. Helena (1925–1932) and he served with the
Ministry of Food from 1939 to 1941. ==Sources==