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Shirley Manson
Shirley Ann Manson
(Born Edinburgh, 26 August 1966)
Shirley is a singer, songwriter and actress with an international reputation as the face and voice of the rock group Garbage, and as a solo performer. Her forthright style, rebellious attitude and distinctive voice have won her millions of fans around the world.
Shirley's ancestry
Shirley Manson's father's family come from the Shetland Islands, at least five generations lived in the fishing community of Hillswick. The fishing industry and island life were a major feature of the exhibition. Her grandfather left the islands first to join the Royal Flying Corps, the predecessors of the R.A.F., and then to follow a career as a commercial traveller. Shirley's mother, Muriel, was adopted and we explored the family lines of both her natural and adoptive parents. Muriel was born when her unmarried mother was working as a governess for a wealthy family at Borrobol in Sutherland. Family stories record that the father, Hugh, was a butler at Dunrobin Castle for the Duke of Sutherland. In another story we met a woman who, having married a man from New York, mysteriously shaved 5 years off her age when she married for the second time. We also visited a Perthshire farm where generations of the family Forbes worked.
“Discovering my family history made me feel 100% Scottish”.
The photograph on the right shows the beach at Northmavine, Shetland (click to enlarge). Fish were dried in the stone huts in the background or, in better weather, out on the sand. The young 'beach boys', who included William S. Manson, Shirley's great grandfather, organised the drying of the fish landed by the older fishermen.
Image: Private Collection
The photograph on the left is Shirley's grandfather, William Manson (1898-1949), RFC & RAF wireless operator, from about 1918 (click to enlarge).
Image: Private Collection
1948 statutory death records
The document on the right is death registration of Elizabeth Sutherland, Shirley's great grandmother (click to enlarge). It gives the names of her two husbands, Bain and Mackay, and her age as 76. Her birth record suggests that she was actually 81.General Register Office for Scotland Statutory Deaths 052/00 0012
Images of Shirley's exhibition
Shirley visited the Centre on Monday 25 May to review her exhibition, accompanied by family members, including her father, Dr Mitchell Manson. Dr Manson has a longstanding interest in genealogy and is a great collector of old family photographs. The exhibition featured many of these hidden gems (some of which were even a surprise to Shirley!) Footage of Shirley's visit was captured in this short film, reproduced with permission of Paul Anderson. Photographs from the visit are reproduced with kind permission of the photographer, Rob McDougall.
A partnership between the National Records of Scotland and the Court of the Lord Lyon© Crown copyright
