Thomas Harrison established his organ building company in 1861 in Rochdale, and moved to Durham in 1872. The firm quickly established a reputation for meticulous craftsmanship, and a number of Harrison organs from this period are still in good working order today, after more than a century.

But it was not until Thomas's sons, Arthur and Harry, took over in 1896 that the firm began to achieve greater recognition. With Harry designing the organs, and Arthur becoming a voicer of legendary vision and perfectionism, the company made its name with an outstanding series of four-manual organs, most famously in Durham Cathedral, the Royal Albert Hall, King's College Cambridge and Westminster Abbey. Between 1904 and 1939 Harrisons rebuilt no fewer than nineteen of England's cathedral organs. It is the warm and exquisitely blended tone perfected by Arthur Harrison that, not without development, has remained characteristic of the firm's work.

Mark Venning joined the firm in 1972, and in 1975 he succeeded Cuthbert Harrison as Managing Director (they are seen here together outside the old Durham works). In 2009 David Hirst became Managing Director; Mark Venning remains active as Chairman.

Harrisons has maintained its traditional strengths and its sense of identity while continuing to develop: since the 1980s the firm has revived its tradition of tracker-action organs, with fine examples in the parish churches of West Ham, Twickenham, Chestertown, Maryland and Douglas (Isle of Man), and in Glenalmond College, Perth. The same period has brought a series of acclaimed restorations, including the cathedral organs of Peterborough, Salisbury, Winchester, Southwark, Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne. H&H is one of the few organ building companies in Britain which can claim significant recent experience of pneumatic restoration.