Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Harrison, William (1802-1884)
HARRISON, WILLIAM (1802–1884), antiquary, son of Isaac Harrison, hat manufacturer and merchant, was born at Salford, Lancashire, on 11 Dec. 1802. Early in life he sought his fortune at the Cape of Good Hope. Returning to England he settled down about 1845 on a small estate of his own in the Isle of Man, where he became a member of the House of Keys, and afterwards a justice of the peace. Through his exertions the Manx Society was formed in 1858 for the publication of documents relating to the Isle of Man, and he contributed fourteen volumes to the works of the society, including ‘The Bibliotheca Monensis, a Bibliographical Account of Works relating to the Isle of Man,’ 1861, 2nd edit. 1876; ‘Manx Proverbs and Sayings, Ballads,’ &c. 1868; ‘Account of the Diocese of Sodor and Man,’ 1879; and ‘Manx Miscellanies,’ 1880. He was an occasional writer on antiquarian matters in the ‘Manchester Guardian’ and other papers. He married Mary Sefton Beck in 1832, and died at Rockmount, near Peel, Isle of Man, on 22 Nov. 1884.
[Manchester Guardian, 27 Nov. 1884; Pedigree of the family of Beck of Upton by M. Gregson, and continued by W. Harrison, in Misc. Gen. et Her.]