what is the origin of the name harrison
in London, England
title: Harrison family of Virginia text: Harrison family of Virginia The Harrison family of Virginia, primarily consisting of two branches, is a notable political family in U.S. history. The family's origin is in England; members of one branch immigrated to Virginia before 1633, settled on the James River, and are occasionally referred to as the James River Harrisons. This branch includes successive generations who served in the colonial Virginia legislature, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and several Virginia Governors. Also notably descended from the James River family were two presidents of the United States, William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison. The family produced as title: Harrison family of Virginia text: well two mayors of Chicago, and members of the U. S. House of Representatives. The second branch of the Virginia Harrisons descends from an interim chaplain of the Jamestown Colony, who returned to England. The family later immigrated in 1687, first to New England, and then settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia fifty years later. They include the founder of the city of Harrisonburg, and brought forth another of the nation's presidents, Abraham Lincoln. This branch also includes noted physicians, educators, and local officials. Genealogists believe the Harrisons were Viking warriors of Norse origin, and that they arrived in title: Harry Harrison (writer) text: a cult hero in Russia. Harrison was born as Henry Maxwell Dempsey in Stamford, Connecticut. His father, Henry Leo Dempsey, a printer who was partly of Irish descent, changed his name to Harrison soon after Harry was born. Harry did not know this himself until he was 30 years old, at which point he changed his name to Harry Max Harrison in court. His mother, Ria H. (Kirjassoff), was Russian Jewish. She had been born in Riga, Latvia, but she grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her brother, Max David Kirjassoff (1888-1923), had been an American consul in Japan, but title: William Henry Harrison text: 9, 1773, at Berkeley Plantation, the Harrison family home along the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. He was a member of a prominent political family of English descent, whose ancestors had been in Virginia since the 1630s. Harrison was the last U.S. president born as a British subject before the American Revolution. His father was a Virginia planter who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774–1777) and who signed the Declaration of Independence. The senior Harrison also served in the Virginia legislature, and as the fifth governor of Virginia (1781–84) in the years during and after title: Harrison family of Virginia text: "gules" (red) signaling strength/martyrdom. This is established by the pedigree of Robert Harrison in 1630, depicting him as the grandson of Rowland Harrison of Barnard Castle in Durham. Among the First Families of Virginia, the James River Harrisons came to the Colony of Virginia in 1630 when Benjamin Harrison I (1594–1648) (the first of many to bear that name) left England for the Americas. Benjamin had three brothers, Richard, Edward and Thomas, who followed him, but took different routes. No records have been found to provide earlier definitive genealogy, but a couple of traditions persist. There is one tradition holding