Harrison
Son of Harry.
- Origin
- North West, England
- Famous bearer
- John Harrison (1693–1776), horologist, inventor of the marine chronometer
- Register
- English family
CoreHistoric reach
The seat of Harrison
Seat vacantChief
No one leads the Harrison community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.
Current mission
No shared goal set yet. Once Harrison has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.
The Harrison clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.
Help rebuild the Harrison clan →What does the Harrison name mean?
Son of Harry (Henry). Northern -son patronymic.
The history of Harrison
George Harrison of The Beatles was Liverpool English; Benjamin Harrison was American president of English-line stock, same patronymic river, different mouths.
Champions of the Harrison name
The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has its own page — biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.
Notable bearers of the Harrison name
- John Harrison (1693–1776), horologist, inventor of the marine chronometer
- George Harrison (1943–2001), musician
Stories of Harrison
Frequently asked
What does the surname Harrison mean?
Son of Harry (Henry). Northern -son patronymic. George Harrison of The Beatles was Liverpool English; Benjamin Harrison was American president of English-line stock, same patronymic river, different mouths.
Where does the Harrison family come from?
The Harrison family is rooted in North West, in England. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in Merseyside. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.
Where did the Harrison family historically hold territory?
At its greatest historical extent, the Harrison name has been concentrated in West Yorkshire and Lancashire. The atlas page distinguishes the core territory of the name from this wider historical reach with hatched silhouettes on the map.
Is Harrison a England surname?
Yes, Harrison is a England surname. Its editorial home in this atlas is England, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated.
How old is the Harrison surname?
George Harrison of The Beatles was Liverpool English; Benjamin Harrison was American president of English-line stock, same patronymic river, different mouths. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Harrison name took its modern form within that long settlement.
What is the Harrison family known for?
Son of Harry. George Harrison of The Beatles was Liverpool English; Benjamin Harrison was American president of English-line stock, same patronymic river, different mouths.
Who is the most famous Harrison?
The best-known bearer of the Harrison name is John Harrison (1693–1776), horologist, inventor of the marine chronometer. Other prominent figures of the family include George Harrison (1943–2001), musician.
Who are some famous Harrisons?
Notable bearers of the Harrison name include John Harrison (1693–1776), horologist, inventor of the marine chronometer and George Harrison (1943–2001), musician. Each is profiled on the family page, with cross-links to the geography, stories, and historical events tied to their life.
What stories are told about the Harrison family?
The Harrison family is associated with H4 and the Longitude Prize. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.
What is the story of H4 and the Longitude Prize?
On the eighteenth of November 1761, in the cabin of HMS Deptford lying at anchor at Spithead, John Harrison's son William, thirty-three years old, climbed aboard with the silver pocket-watch H4, the fourth and final marine chronometer designed by John Harrison (1693–1776), the Yorkshire carpenter who had spent the previous forty-eight years on the problem of finding longitude at sea. The Board of Longitude, by the Longitude Act of 1714, had offered a reward of £20,000 to anyone who could devise a method for determining a ship's longitude to within half a degree (about thirty miles at the equator) on a voyage from Britain to the West Indies. The event is dated to 1761.
Where is the Harrison surname found today?
England is the primary historical home of the Harrison surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same England origin recorded on this page.
What does the Clan Rising page for the Harrison family cover?
The Clan Rising page for the Harrison family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of England so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.
Who is the head of the Harrison family today?
The seat for the head of the Harrison family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.