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Clan Morrison: How many famous Morrisons do you know?
There are a number of different lines of Morrisons families that are all unrelated, each originated from different parts of Scotland. The mainland Morrisons derive from the first name Morris, this was another spelling of Maurice. Another line of Morrisons originate from the Isle of Harris, changing their name from Ó Muirgheasáins to Morrison. The third line of Morrisons come from the Isle of Lewis, their name was originally MacGilleMhoire but this was anglicised to Morrison over time. In 1965 it was decided that one man would be chief of all Morrisons in order to simplify things. Due to all of these different origins there are now Morrisons found all over the world, today I thought we could look at some notable people who don the name.
Matthew Morrison
Matthew Morrison is an actor and dancer from California most famous for his role as Will Shuester in the musical comedy-drama TV series Glee. He studied musical theatre at School and College before landing his first role in the musical adaption of Footloose, however his big break came when he played Link Larkin in the Broadway production of Hairspray. This role is what kick started his career in TV and film, gaining roles in Sex and the City and California Man. Throughout his career he has received nominations for Tony, Grammy and Golden Globe Awards.
Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison was a sing, songwriter and poet and also the lead singer of the rock band The Doors. He was born in Florida but was always moving around America due to his dads job in the military. He studied film at the University of California, it was here that he met Ray Manzarek and they formed The Doors together in 1965. They reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1967 with the single "Light My Fire", this song now sits on the list of the greatest rock songs ever recorded. They recorded six albums all together and the band went on to record another two after Morrisons untimely death in 1971, however the band couldn't cope with the loss and they broke up two years later. Morrison is regarded as one of Rock Music's most iconic frontmen.
Ruia Morrison
Ruia Morrison MBE was the first New Zealand woman and first Maori person to compete at Wimbeldon in 1957, her coach fundraised so she could travel to the tournament and she reached the fourth round. She then went on to compete at the 1958 and 1959 Wimbledon tournaments. Her dad was a tennis player and was actively involved in the tennis community in the town where they lived. At the age of 8 Morrison wanted to play tennis but she was too little to play on a proper court so her dad practised with her against the side of their house until she was ready to play properly. Throughout her tennis career she won 13 national New Zealand titles, including 6 singles titles and was awarded an MBE in 1969 for her services to New Zealand tennis and the Maori people. She is still regarded as on of the country's best tennis players.
William Morrison
William Morrison was brought up in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Morrison started selling eggs and butter on a wholesale basis in 1899, this slowly grew into him opening his first store in 1920 and so beginning the Morrisons supermarket chain. Morrisons is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the UK and the headquarters reside in Williams home town. There were only stores in the North of England up until 2004 when they bought over Safeway meaning they could expand their business to the rest of the UK. William handed the business over to his son, Ken, in 1952 when he was only 21.
Can you think of any other Morrisons that haven't been talked about on this list or do you have an interesting Clan Morrison story? If so, we would love to hear from you!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/... Jim Morrison image by Julio Zepppelin Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND 2.0)
