Paul Harris first visited Merseyside in 1893 when he was working as deckhand and later cattleman on the SS 'Baltimore' of 3730 tons which carried cattle from Philadelphia to Birkenhead and took 14 days on the crossing. By all accounts, it was rough in almost every way, with primitive conditions, poor food and stormy seas. Once in the Mersey, Harris left the ship and took the opportunity to spend a few days in Liverpool staying at the Sailors' Home before signing on for the return journey. This time the crossing from Liverpool was on another of W Johnston's ships, the slightly smaller, at 3318 tons, but newer SS 'Parkmore'. Both vessels were British owned and Liverpool registered and Harris seems to have found this return voyage more agreeable. He had also enjoyed the chance to do some sightseeing in Liverpool during the stopover.

In 1928, Paul Harris on a tour of Britain passed through Liverpool on the way to Belfast on Monday June 4, returning on the morning of Thursday June 7. A Liverpool Echo reporter was able to interview him that morning in time to put a piece in the evening edition. The article is interesting in throwing a little further light on an earlier visit by Harris. It read:- "In conversation with an Echo reporter, Mr Harris who practises as a lawyer in Chicago, recalled an earlier visit to the city under very different circumstances. 'Liverpool was the first British city I ever saw', he said, 'I was then 22 years old, had completed my college course and had a great longing to see England. As I had no means, I worked my passage on an old fashioned cattle steamer called the 'Baltimore' which sailed from the USA to Liverpool. When the ship anchored in the Mersey, some of us were taken off in lighters and landed in Liverpool while the rest went with the cattle to Birkenhead. I spent several days seeing the sights of Liverpool and District before signing on for the return voyage at the Sailors' Home. I worked my passage back. I spent five years seeing as much of the world as I could,' he added, 'before settling in the practice of law in Chicago.'"

Paul Harris was scheduled to give a talk to a large gathering of Rotarians, many of whom were curious to learn what sort of man Rotary's founder really was. Indeed, the advance notice for this meeting had specifically said, "No Rotarian will lightly forego this unexpected opportunity of meeting and hearing their illustrious pioneer." The meeting was held in the Banqueting Hall of the Exchange Station Hotel in Tithebarn Street, Liverpool, with the Club President Bill Gibbons in the Chair. Unlike other such meetings, there seems to have been only a handful of visitors from other clubs, three from Wallasey, two from Warrington and one each from Stockport, St Helens, Buxton and Manchester. Arthur Chadwick, the President elect of RIBI, however, had travelled North to meet Harris and was also present. Most of those who heard him thought that he seemed to radiate power with his every gesture. "Perhaps it was this suggestion of unbounded energy that impressed us most", wrote one commentator. At the Liverpool Club meeting, he spoke on 'Rotary and its Critics' and later asked Chadwick, which of the talks he thought most suitable, the one on 'The Genesis of Rotary' which he had made at Birmingham earlier on the tour, or this one 'Rotary and Its Critics'. As Harris wrote "...his explosive declaration in favour of the (latter) subject caused me to relegate the other to the repair shop..." In practice, he did 'repair' the other talk and used it again at Doncaster and elsewhere on his tour. Arthur Chadwick may well have been aware that in some places, Rotary's image was being tarnished by the writings of eminent commentators and authors among them H L Mencken and G K Chesterton, while the novelist Sinclair Lewis had made the comment that "A Boy Scout is a Rotarian, and a Rotarian is a Boy Scout in long trousers."

Although such statements probably had little effect on the general public, they did very little for the morale of the distinguished business and professional men who made up the bulk of British Rotary at that time. However, as Paul Harris observed in his address, "There are two types of criticism, constructive and destructive. The constructive critic is the Rotarian critic of other people; the destructive critic is the critic of Rotary." This comment not only brought forth much laughter but the humour of the remark and other similar comments had another effect. As David Shelley Nichol in his excellent book 'The Golden Wheel' wrote about this speech, "His sense of fun was infectious; to many, and for the first time, came the realisation that the essential principle of belonging to a Rotary Club was nothing less than enjoyment." It is interesting to note that more recently in 1989, the President of RI, Hugh Archer, adopted as his theme 'Enjoy Rotary!'. Perhaps modern Rotarians needed reminding of their founder's attitude.

If beforehand these Rotarians had been wondering what manner of man their Founder really was, this address by Paul Harris left them in no doubt. As the Liverpool bulletin editor observed later, "Let it be said at once that there can be no doubt that he is a very remarkable character indeed. His appearance itself arrests attention, for he has the bright eye of the enthusiast and visionary, combined with the mouth and jaw of the practical man, firm, calm, judicial. The characteristic which struck the present writer most forcibly was the underlying volcanic emotional energy of the man." Before this tour, Paul Harris might have been the forgotten man of Rotary, but now, in 1928, the impression created by such appearances as this one in Liverpool, had reinstated him as a key player in the movement and his visits were eagerly awaited throughout Britain.

After the lunch, he was taken on a tour of Port Sunlight and the Lever Brothers' soap works. He was particularly impressed with the social work being done in the Leverhulme estate village and in the Lever factories. Later, Harris went to see the new Anglican Cathedral which although it was still incomplete, was nevertheless "worthy of special mention." That night the President Emeritus was the guest of the Liverpool Club President Bill Gibbons before resuming his travels the following day.

In 1934 Harris again visited Liverpool, catching the 12.30 from Manchester Central. At Lime Street President A W Duncan and a party of eight other local members were on hand to greet their guest. At the Adelphi Hotel, the whole group had a late and informal lunch with the Liverpool Club President while several other Rotarians called in to meet their President Emeritus during the afternoon. They then went down to the Pierhead to board the White Star liner 'Laurentic' for Canada, took tea in one of the ship's lounges and said their goodbyes. Curiously, neither Paul Harris' visit nor this gathering in Liverpool is mentioned in the Liverpool Club's 50th or their 75th anniversary booklets.

In 1937 in the company of Manchester Rotarian Will Nixon, Harris again passed through Liverpool en route for the Isle of Man. They spent the night of Friday July 9 in the city before taking the morning boat to the Isle of Man at 10.30. A few days later Paul Harris returned to Liverpool where he was met by members of local clubs. There is a curious reference in the Liverpool Club's anniversary booklet that "Paul Harris paid another fleeting visit to Liverpool in July 1937 on his way back to Chicago after a Convention in Nice. Past President Norman Bollans bade him farewell and was one of the last two Rotarians to see Rotarian Paul on this side of the Atlantic." Whether this happened as Paul Harris was on his way to the Isle of Man or on the way back is uncertain, but Paul and Jean's return transatlantic crossing was made on the 'Transylvania' from the Clyde not the Mersey!