Clan MacEwen: How Many Famous MacEwens do you know?

Our first notable McEwen is the 18th Prime Minister of Australia, Sir John 'Black Jack' McEwen. Interestingly McEwen's career did not start out in Politics as he joined the army when he turned 18 to fight in World War I, however the war was over before he was deployed. Regardless, he was eligible for the soldiers settlement and he was given 86 acres of farmland, and he was able to turn this into a 3000 acre farm to become known as one of the best farmers in the area. It was his success in farming that resulted in John's involvement in politics, he was chosen by his fellow farmers to represent them during meetings and this led him to join the National Party of Australia. In 1940 he was appointed deputy leader of the party, rising to be elected leader in 1958, McEwen held this position until 1971. During this time he was appointed as Australia's prime minister in 1967, however he only held this position for 23 days until he was succeeded. Although this sounds like a short amount of time, surprisingly this is not the shortest time span an Australian Prime Minister has held office, as in 1945 Francis Forde only served for 7 days.

The next notable McEwen is considerably different to Sir John McEwen and it is Jade Ewen member of the pop band Sugababes. The Sugababes were very successful here in the UK and she is one of the only female notable figures part of Clan MacEwen. Before Jade joined the Sugababes she had successful careers in singing, songwriting and acting. Having grown up in London she attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School and through this she gained roles in many big TV Programmes including The Bill and Casualty. After this she focused her attention on singing, as she was a member of girl band Trinity Stone and after they disbanded she released three solo singles. In 2009 she represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest alongside Andrew Loyd Webber, they finished in fifth place which is the UK's highest placing since 2002. Later on the same year she replaced Keisha Buchanan in the pop group Sugababes, releasing one album while Jade was part of the band, and while her time with them was short she is one of the more recognisable members.

Thomas 'Tom' McEwan was a Scottish Painter born in Glasgow. His paintings are very highly regarded within the Art world, especially today, with Art dealers all around the world selling his pieces. He gained his artistic ability from his father who was an amateur artist and started out his career by working as an apprentice for a Glasgow based pattern designer whilst also attending night classes at the Glasgow School of Art. His hard work paid off as in the 1860's he exhibited a number of his paintings at the Royal Glasgow Institute. Considered a very successful painter at the time, he was president of the Glasgow Art Club and elected as a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour.

Our final notable MacEwen is a Ewing and his surname is actually a sept of Clan MacEwen. Patrick is a very successful American basketball player and now basketball coach. Ewing was born in Jamaica, and moved to the United states when he was 12. Throughout his career he played for a number of different basketball teams including Georgetown University, New York Knicks, Seattle Super Sonics and Orlando Magic, he even competed twice in the Olympics once in 1984 and again in 1992 with his team winning gold both times. Honoured with numerous awards throughout the years, Patrick was named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history, included in the Basketball Hall of Fame and ESPN named him as the 16th greatest college player of all time. So, it is clear to see that he has had a very rewarding career, doing Clan MacEwen proud!