Contents [hide]

Morrish History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Ireland United States Australia West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Morrish History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Wales

This old Welsh surname comes from the Latin personal name Mauritius, which means dark. In Britain, Maurice was the learned form of the name, while Morice was the common form. The surname Morris was likely also assumed as a surname after being a nickname for a dark or swarthy person.

Early Origins of the Morrish family

The surname Morrish was first found in Herefordshire, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Morrish family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Morrish research. Another 115 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1660, 1663, 1670, 1672 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Morrish History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Morrish Spelling Variations

There are relatively few surnames native to Wales, but they have an inordinately large number of spelling variations. Early variations of Welsh surnames can be explained by the fact that very few people in the early Middle Ages were literate. Priests and the few other literate people were responsible for recording names in official documents. And because most people could not specific how to properly record their names it was up to the individual recorder of that time to determine how a spoken name should be recorded. Variations due to the imprecise or improper recording of a name continued later in history when names originally composed in the Brythonic Celtic, language of Wales, known by natives as Cymraeg, were transliterated into English. Welsh names that were documented in English often changed dramatically since the native language of Wales, which was highly inflected, did not copy well. Occasionally, however, spelling variations were carried out according to an individual's specific design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by minor variations. The spelling variations of the name Morrish have included Morris, Morriss, Moriss, Morrice, Morice, Moris and others.

Early Notables of the Morrish family

Another 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Morrish Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Morrish family to Ireland

Some of the Morrish family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 68 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Morrish migration to the United States +

Many Welsh families joined their Scottish and Irish neighbors during the late 1800s and early 1900s in seeking refuge in North America. Like the Irish and Scottish, many Welsh anxiously awaited the work, freedom, and opportunities that they believed lay in North America. Those who did journey over to the United States and what became known as Canada often realized those dreams, but only through much toil and perseverance. Whenever and however these Welsh immigrants arrived in North America, they were instrumental in the creation of the industry, commerce, and cultural heritage within those two developing nations. In the immigration and passenger lists a number of early immigrants bearing the name Morrish were found:

Morrish Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Antone Morrish, who arrived in Texas in 1850-1906 1

Morrish Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Mr. Charles Morrish, (b. 1881), aged 24, Cornish carpenter, from Penzance, Cornwall, UK travelling aboard the ship "Campania" arriving at Ellis Island, New York in 1905 en route to Bloomfield, New Jersey, USA 2
Mr. James E. Morrish, (b. 1862), aged 43, Cornish miner, from Truro, Cornwall, UK travelling aboard the ship "Caronia" arriving at Ellis Island, New York on 6th March 1905 en route to Bisbee, Arizona, USA 2

Morrish migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Morrish Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Richard Morrish, (b. 1774), aged 45 born in Cornwall, UK convicted in Launceston on 22nd March 1819, sentenced for life for , transported aboard the ship "Dromedary" in 1819 to Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania, Australia 3
Mr. Richard Morrish (b. 1774), aged 45, Cornish settler convicted in Cornwall, UK on 22nd March 1819, sentenced for life, transported aboard the ship "Dromedary" in September 1819 to Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania, Australia 4
Mr. Richard Morrish, (b. 1774), aged 45, English farm labourer who was convicted in Cornwall, England for life, transported aboard the "Dromedary" on 11th September 1819, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), he died in 1823 5
Edward Morrish, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Constance" in 1848 6
William Morrish, aged 51, who arrived in South Australia in 1854 aboard the ship "David Malcolm" 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Morrish migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 8

Morrish Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Jo Morrish, aged 18, who landed in St Christopher in 1635 1
Mr. John Morrish, (b. 1617), aged 18, British settler traveling aboard the ship "William and John" arriving in St Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635 9

Contemporary Notables of the name Morrish (post 1700) +

Jay Morrish (1936-2015), American golf course designer who worked for Jack Nicklaus (1972-1982)
Dan Wesley "Blade" Morrish (b. 1950), American politician, Louisiana State Senator from District 25 (2008-)
Norman Morrish, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Presidential Elector for Michigan, 1916 10
Anna B. Morrish, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Kansas, 1920 10
James John Morrish (1868-1956), Welsh-born, Australian politician
Alfred Southcott Morrish FRCO (1906-1978), English organist and composer
Rory Michael Morrish (b. 1968), Irish cross-country skier at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Paul Morrish (b. 1968), Australian rules footballer who played from 1986 to 1989
Ken Morrish (1919-2006), Canadian politician, 4th Mayor of Scarborough, Ontario in 1978
Tom Morrish, Australian eponym of the Morrish Medal, an Australian rules football award

Historic Events for the Morrish family +

HMS Cornwall

Basil Christopher Morrish (d. 1942), British Coder aboard the HMS Cornwall when she was struck by air bombers and sunk; he died in the sinking 11

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_ellis_island_1892_on.pdf
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 30th May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/tasmanian_convicts_cornish.pdf
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 30th May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_convicts.pdf
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th July 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/dromedary
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) CONSTANCE - 1848. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1848Constance.htm
South Australian Register Wednesday 5th January 1854. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) David Malcolm 1854. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/davidmalcolm1854.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's (Retrieved October 4th 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 29) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Force Z Survivors Crew List HMS Cornwall (Retrieved 2018, February 13th) - Retrieved from https://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listcornwallcrew.html#A