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Famous Scots Exhibition:
Shirley Manson

Image: King's College, London

Shirley Manson

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 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 predecesors 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.

William Manson (1898-1949), RFC & RAF wireless operator, about 1918. He was Shirley's grandfather.
• Click image to enlarge

The death registration of Elizabeth Sutherland, Shirley's great grandmother. 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)
• Click image to enlarge

The beach at Northmavine, Shetland where 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)
• Click image to enlarge

Photographs of Shirley's visit to the Famous Scots Exhibition can be viewed on the Gallery page.

Shirley Manson and her father John visiting the Centre

Famous Scots Exhibition: Shirley Manson

Image: King's College, London

William Manson (1898-1949), RFC & RAF wireless operator, about 1918. He was Shirley's grandfather. • Click image to enlarge

The death registration of Elizabeth Sutherland, Shirley's great grandmother. 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) • Click image to enlarge

Famous Scots Exhibition:
Shirley Manson

William Manson (1898-1949), RFC & RAF wireless operator, about 1918. He was Shirley's grandfather.
• Click image to enlarge

The death registration of Elizabeth Sutherland, Shirley's great grandmother. 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)
• Click image to enlarge