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AT LOS ANGELES
A HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
A
History
OF
The Isle of Man
BY
A. W. MOORE, M.A.
TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF KEYS
Author of
"MANX SURNAMES AND PLACE-NAMES," "SODOR AND MAN "
"THE FOLKLORE OF THE ISLE OF MAN," ETC.
WITH
A NEW MAP OF THE ISLAND
VOLUME II
LONDON
T. FISHER U N W I N
Paternoster Square
1900
1 « 1
« « •
CONTENTS
BOOK IV
FROM THE BEVESTMENT TO THE RENEWAL
OF HOME RULE
PAGE
CHAPTER I
THE ENGLISH ADBIINISTRATION OF THE ISLAND ... 527
CHAPTER II
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY (1765-1866) ... 550
CHAPTER III
CHURCH AND NONCONFORMITY ... ... ... 652
BOOK V
THE RECENT HISTORY
THE RECENT HISTORY... ... ... ... 685
V
*-* "-fc- ' ju: 'Lt' i3 *Jt
vi CONTENTS
BOOK VI
CONSTITUTIONAL HISTOBY
PAGE
CHAPTEE I
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION ... ... ... 737
CHAPTEE II
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION ... ... 842
BOOK VII
THE LAND QUESTION AND ITS SETTLEMENT
THE LAND QUESTION AND ITS SETTLEMENT ... 871
BOOK VIII
THE THREE GREAT INDUSTRIES
CHAPTEE I
.\GKICULTUKE ... ... ... ... 913
CHAPTEE II
FISHING ... ... ... ... ... 941
CHAPTEE III
MINING ... ... ... ... ... 960
SUPPLEMENT ... 973
LIST OF AUTIIOKITIES 981
INDEX ... ... ... ... ... 989
BOOK IV
FROM THE REVESTMENT
TO THE RENEWAL OF HOME RULE
VOL. II. 35 ^25
CHAPTER I
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTRATION OP THE ISLAND
rriHE immediate effect of the changes brought introductory.
-^ about by the Revestment was certainly the
reverse of beneficial to the interests of the Isle
of Man.* The hereditary lords, whose reign had
now come to an end, were no doubt far from being
model rulers. Their policy may often have been
tyrannical or unwise, or influenced by motives of
self-interest. But, at any rate, most of them had,
to a greater or less extent, taken a personal share
in the government of the island, and interested
themselves in the well-being of its inhabitants.
But when their place at the head of the Manx
State was taken by the King of England, the
whole direction of its affairs was handed over to
officials, for the most part connected with the
Treasury, who regarded the island as a pestilent
nest of smugglers, from which it was their duty
to extract as much revenue as possible, but for
which they were under no obligation to do any-
- See Chap. II. § 2.
527
528 HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
thing. In the records of the first twenty- eight
years after the Revestment there can scarcely be
found an indication, on the part of the Enghsh
Government or its representatives, of anything Hke
concern for the prosperity of this portion of the
sovereign's dominions.
In the year 1793, however, a step was taken
which opened the way to a more favourable state
of things. The Duke of Atholl was made governor
of the island. This appointment, which practically
amounted to a partial renewal of the ancient lord-
ship, seems to have been made partly in the hope
that it would put an end to the persistent efforts
of the duke to obtain from the Government in-
creased compensation for the enforced surrender by
his family of their ancient sovereignty, and partly
because it was thought that the Manx people might
prove more amenable under his control than under
that of the Treasury officials. If the Govern-
ment really hoped by this means to appease the
restless ambition of the duke, they must soon have
discovered that they had been grievously mistaken.
On the other hand, as a means of reconciling the
islanders to English rule, and in the interests of the
people themselves — though that consideration seems
hardly to have entered into the thoughts of those
in authority — the appointment was, on the whole,
a fairly successful one. The career of the fourth
Duke of Atholl, and his struggles with the people
of Man on the one hand, and with the English
Government on the other, in defence of what he
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTEATION 529
deemed to be his hereditary rights, form an im-
portant part of Manx history during this period,
and deserve to be related at some length. It has ^^^gsting^ct.
already been stated that the Revesting Act, while
depriving the Duke of Atholl of his political
dominion over the the Isle of Man, left him in
undisturbed possession of the rights and privileges,
in themselves by no means inconsiderable, v^^hich he
enjoyed in virtue of his position as manorial lord.
But it was not always easy to determine whether
some of the rights formerly exercised by the Atholls
had belonged to them as sovereigns or as manorial
lords ; and, after the Bevestment, the manorial lord
was in a much less favourable position than before
for enforcing his demands. It is, therefore, not sur-
prising that the third duke and his wife found
reason to complain of encroachments on the part
of their former subjects ; and they also considered
themselves severely wronged by the insufficient
amount of compensation awarded to them by the
English Government. They did not, however,
make any practical effort to obtain redress of their
grievances. But their son, who succeeded to the
dukedom in 1774, immediately gave evidence of his
uncompromising determination not to sacrifice the
smallest fraction of what he considered to be his
rights. His first step was to endeavour to exact
from the Manx people certain manorial dues which
had ceased to be paid since 1765. The islanders
strenuously resisted, and, moreover, assumed the
aggressive, in 1776, by passing an Act for the
530 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The duke is
attacked by
the Tynwald
Court.
repairing of highways, draining fens, making
boundaries, and preventing trespasses,* all matters
which affected the duke as manorial proprietor. In
1777, another blow was aimed at his influence by
the exclusion of the ecclesiastical officers from the
Council, on the ground that, since the duke no longer
had sovereign power, his nominees had no right to
the same privileges as the other officers who were
the nominees of the Crown. In this year several
Acts directed against him were passed. One of
these confirmed the Act of Settlement, \ though the
duke protested that he had no intention of inter-
fering with it ; another deprived him of the payment
of herrings and carriage of turf, t formerly con-
tributed by the fishermen and tenants respectively
for the use of the garrisons and the civil officers, §
which, though both the garrisons and the officers
ceased to be his family's in 1765, he claimed as due
to him; a third regulated weights and measures, |1
the control of which he considered to be one of his
prerogatives, and a fourth abolished the Great
Enquest,1T the continuance of which he declared
was absolutely necessary for the preservation of his
property. This legislation, though the duke pro-
tested against it, received the royal assent, but Bills
for " the settlement of the Lord's Manor Courts and
his Manorial Eights and Interests," and for raising
^'- Statutes, vol. i. pp. 297-304.
f Ibid., pp. 306-320. I Ibid., vol. i. p. 305.
§ For explanation of these payments, see pp. 318-20.
II Statutes, vol. i. pp. 330-31. H Ibid., p. 337.
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTEATION 531
money for expenditure on public buildings, &c.,
were rejected, the first as being unfair to the duke
and the second as an invasion of the Koyal prero-
gative.* Irritated by these proceedings, the duke, J^{fjj^g\!'®J_t^^.jj
in 1780, brought a Bill into Parliament, the objects
of which were to restrain the alienation of lands
without his consent ; f to compel the deposit of all
title-deeds with his seneschal, who was to be ex-officio
a member of the Council ; to re-transfer to himself
certain services and rights of which he considered
himself to have been unjustly deprived by the Crown
at the Revestment ; to prohibit the erection of mills
without his licence, and to authorize his servants to
enter the houses of all persons to search for dogs
and guns and anything that might be used for the
destruction of game. This Bill was reported against
by the attorney and soHcitor-general of England, and
by Sir W. Busk, the attorney-general of the island,
and was consequently withdrawn. I Undaunted by ^jf^Sthe
this repulse, in the following year the duke peti- i?^*^^*'"^ ^«'-
tioned Parhament again, asking for leave to intro-
duce a Bill to amend the " Revesting Act." This
was opposed by the Government on the grounds
that the income of the Atholl family mainly arose
■-'• Commissioners' Report, Appendix (D), No. 34.
f For discussion of this question, see Book VII.
\ The Keys sent a deputation to London to oppose the Bill,
which would have revoked important provisions in the Act of
Settlement, and would have given the duke, through his oliicial,
the seneschal, greatly increased powers over the land. In 1783,
another petition appeared in the Journal of the House of Com-
mons, but no steps were taken on account of it.
532 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
from the import duties paid by smugglers, and that
it was highly improbable that the Tynwald Court
would have voted additional taxation merely for the
sake of increasing the ducal revenue. It was also
opposed by the Keys, whose speaker, Sir G. Moore,
together with John Cosnahan,* gave evidence
against it at the bar of the House of Lords, con-
tending that the island, not the duke, ought to have
the benefit of the surplus revenue, and that the Bill
contained many provisions contrary to the constitu-
tion of the island and injurious to its inhabitants.
It, however, passed the Commons, but reached the
Lords at too late a period in the session for its full
consideration. -f- The duke seems to have been
alarmed by the opposition to his claim both in Parlia-
ment and in the island," as he desisted from pressing
■■•= Then an M.H.K. ; afterwards High BaiUff of Douglas, and
finally deemster.
f Parliamentary Eegister, vol. xxi. p. 348, quoted in The
Land of Home Bide, p. 223. The duke seems to have chiefly
objected to the loss of the herring custom, or payment of
hei'rings. He gave evidence, and cross-examined both Sir G.
Moore and John Cosnahan. His advocate urged the importance
of making a law that deeds of all sorts should be entered in the
Lord's Courts, and he pointed out that the duke's right to game
was quite defeated by the provision that leave to shoot it
could be gi'anted by the governor because he was the " King's
Governor" (Pamphlet, dated 1783).
\ In 1788, he wrote as follows to his tenants : " I am so far
from having any design of disputing the rights of any of my
tenants that hold any property or estate . . . that if any per-
son whatsoever should think his estate not sufficiently secured
under the Act of Settlement, I am willing and ready to give
any further security that can be advised or thought necessary"
{Lib. Vast.).
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTRATION 533
it till 1790, when General Murray moved for leave
to bring in a Bill for appointing commissioners to
enquire into the extent and value of certain rights,
revenues, and possessions in the Isle of Man.* The
Government was in favour of the Bill, which, how-
ever, was strongly resisted by the Opposition. John
C. Curwen, M.P., who was also a member of the
House of Keys, said that the duke had promised
the House of Keys, in 1787, that he would never
introduce any Bill respecting the island into Parlia-
ment, without giving them previous notice, but that,
in this case, no such notice had been given ; and he
asserted that he could prove from authentic docu-
ments that the allegations made by the duke were
utterly unfounded. The Keys petitioned against
the Bill, and were heard by counsel, one of their
own members, John Cosnahan, again appearing for
them.f It was, nevertheless, read a second time, and
the House of Commons subsequently decided on
going into committee upon it.+ But the feehng
against the Bill was so strong that the Government
thought it wise to withdraw it. Pitt, consequently,
said that " notwithstanding his full conviction of
the propriety, and even necessity, of proceeding with
such a measure, yet, after the unfavourable impres-
* Pari. Eegister, vol. xliv. p. 307 (Laiul of Home Rule,
p. 224).
f He and Norris Moore had been sent as a deputation to
London by the Keys. Cosnahan made an able and brilliant
speech at the Bar of the House.
\ Pari. Register, vol. xliv. pp. 885-395 {Land oj Home Hide
p. 224).
534
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
n 1791 a
Commission is
ippointed to
mquire into
,he matters in
iispute.
sion which had gained ground upon the subject, he
should think it in no degree prudent to attempt to
push the Bill further at present." * Being thus
baffled in Parliament, the Duke, in the following
year, petitioned the King in Council to appoint
a Commission, which was accordingly done. Before
this Commission he made the following allega-
tions : —
1. That the revenues were not fairly collected,
even prior to the Revestment.
2. That he had the power of increasing the duties
with the consent of the Legislature, and that such
consent, to any reasonable degree, would not have
been withheld.
3. That his sovereignty over the ports and over
Peel island, with its castle, had, with a view of
preventing smuggling, been unnecessarily vested
in the Crown.
4. That the herring custom, the salmon-fishing
dues, the proceeds of Treasure Trove, and the right
of free carriage f which belonged to him had been
so dealt with that he was unable to enforce his right
to them.
5. That the value of his " unappropriated lands "
had been injured by the action of the insular Legis-
lature.
He urged that he ought to have sufiicient
authority to prevent his property from being in-
* Pari. Register, vol. xliv. p. 561.
\ I.e., the free conveyance of turf and other articles by the
tenants.
THE ENGLISH ADMIN ISTEATION 535
jured, and he denounced the passage of laws
secretly,* without either his knowledge or that of
the people. The Keys, on the other hand, objected
to the Bills passed by the Tynwald Court being pre-
vented from becoming law by the duke's influence.!
They, therefore, protested against the clause of
reservation I in the Act of 1765 which, they de-
clared, had created "a sort of imperiimiinimperio,''"'^
and had " produced the dissensions and animosities
that at the present moment distract and enflame the
inhabitants of the island, and disturb and embitter
their small society." §
To the duke's allegations the commissioners re- ciLlmiseioners
1- T J. n reply to the
plied as follows : — duke's
allegations.
1. That owmg to the " defective system which
appeared in evidence to have been established for
collecting the duties, . . . the Lord's revenues were
not fairly collected, or paid, prior to the Revest-
ment." ||
2. That there was no doubt the lord had the
power of increasing duties, but it was not probable
that the Tynwald Court would have consented to
his doing so " without an equivalent." H As regards
* See Appendix A.
f In 1788, he received a letter of thanks from some of the
Manx people for doing this.
\ I.e., of manorial rights, &c.
§ Commissioners' Report, Appendix (A), No. 43.
II Report, p. 7.
11 Ibid., p. 10, i.e., if the Tynwald Court had agreed to
increasing the duties, it would not have consented to the duke
taking the whole of the resulting surplus.
536 HTSTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
the third and fourth allegations, they broadly agreed
with the duke's views, but they pointed out with
reference to the various items of Treasure Trove,
such as wrecks, boons and services, game and
unappropriated lands, that he had sufficient pro-
tection from the ordinary courts of law, and, as to
the fifth allegation, they induced the Keys to give
an undertaking which satisfied him. They also
persuaded the Keys to promise that they would
"concur with the Governor and Council in passing
an Act of Tynwald, to render public every intended
new law," * and that a copy of every Bill should be
delivered to the duke or his agents ; also that they
would give the duke " every reasonable and neces-
sary relief he can possibly require, with respect to
the protection and regulation of his . . . manorial
rights." f In consequence of this promise, the
commissioners considered that they had no need to
proceed further in this part of their enquiry ; but
they remarked that the " secrecy with which laws,
materially affecting the inhabitants, were passed,
furnished, no doubt, a just ground of complaint," I
and they decided that those provisions in the laws
of 1777 which were " very generally allowed to have
been either hurtful or ineffectual " § should " undergo
a legislative revision." § These suggestions were
accordingly carried out by the Tynwald Court.
*' Technically," says Walpole, " the decision of the
commissioners was in the Duke's favour ; but at
, p. 21.
§ Ibid., p. 86.
ommissioners was in the Dul
■■'■ Commissioners' Report, App. (A),
I Ibid., p. 22. I Ibid., p. 85.
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTRATION 537
the same time the examination of his claim must
have convinced every one that the pecuniary value
of the rights of v^hich he may have been unneces-
sarily deprived was very small." * The most
valuable among them vi^ere the herring customs,
worth about £112 per annum,! and the right of free
carriage, worth about £130 per annum. I And,
moreover, even admitting that he had been deprived
of certain rights unnecessarily, there can be no
doubt that the duke's parents had been under no
misapprehension about the sale of these rights,
seeing that they were specified in the Act. Under l^^^gif''-'''^®
these circumstances, the Government did not Government,
venture to take any action about the duke's claims,
but it gave him the upper hand over his adversaries
by making him governor, whereby he was practically
invested with all the civil patronage in the island,
in addition to nearly all the ecclesiastical patronage,
which he had before, together with a veto upon all
legislation. This greatly embittered the Keys, who,
in 1798, when sending their subscription towards
the national defence, took the opportunity of pro-
testing against " an influence equally unjust and
impolitic, which unfortunately for their country "
they were " unable to remove." § With the people The position of
mi • n • *^'^ duke after
the duke was tor a tnne popular. This was due, m 1793.
the first place, to his having denounced the Keys
- The Land of Home Rule, pp. 226-7.
f Commissioners' Report, Appendix (A), No. 28.
I Ihich, p. 18.
§ Feltham {Manx Sac, vol. vi. p. 131).
538 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
for passing laws secretly, and also to his actions in
getting the embargo on the importation from Great
Britain of coal, grain, &c., removed, in 1795, and in
inducing the Crown to protect the Manx fishermen
from being impressed for the Eoyal Navy.* In
^dditionlf ^""^ 1801, the increase of the revenue encouraged him to
TnTsjir^'^'^^ address a further petition to the King in Council for
some additional compensation. The Keys promptly
presented a counter petition in the same quarter.
Both of these were referred to a committee of the
Privy Council, who handed them on to the law
officers of the Crown. Their report was adverse to
the duke's claim, being, like previous similar reports,
to the effect that the revenues of the island before
the Revestment were mainly derived from the illicit
traffic. The opinion of the Crown lawyers was
endorsed by the Privy Council, on the 31st of
March, 1804. The duke then asked that the report
might be suspended till he had prepared a supple-
mentary petition, praying that a clause or clauses
might be introduced into the forthcoming Revenue
Bill of the island, granting to him and to his heirs
some further share of the insular revenue. This
petition was again referred to a committee of the
Privy Council, which, without again taking the law
officers' opinion, recommended that further compen-
sation should be given. This reversal of their
previous decision was, Walpole thinks, the result
of the influence of Pitt, who had resumed office on
-MS. letter of Governor Shaw's, March 11, 1795; also
Appendix A.
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTKATION 539
the 15th of May.* The duke accordingly, in March,
1805, presented a petition to the House of Commons
praying that provision might be made in the Bill
referred to, which was then before the House, for
giving him relief in respect of the inadequate com-
pensation paid in 1765. When the contents of the
petition became known in the island there was
much agitation against it. In consequence of this,
the duke addressed a letter to "the Gentlemen of
the Keys, the Landholders, the Merchants and
Inhabitants of the Isle of Man," protesting that
" in asking of Parliament for a further compensation
out of the existing revenues of the Isle of Man,
rather than from any other fund," he was " actuated
by an ardent wish to link the prosperity of the
Island with his own; " f that it would afford him
the means of residing in the island, and that such
residence would enable him to bring forward
measures for the improvement of Manx agriculture,
fisheries, manufactures, and trade. These allega-
tions were received by most of the Manx people
with incredulity, and the Keys promptly sent a
deputation to London which presented a petition to
the House of Commons against the granting of any
further compensation to the duke. On the other
hand, a deputation from the principal merchants
presented a counter petition to the House of
■^ Land of Home Rule, pp. 230-1.
f It was certainly a curious way of obtaining such an end.
The letter was printed as a "broadside," dated April 10, 1805,
which was posted on the walls, &c., in the island (see Appendix
C).
540 HISTORY OP THE ISLE OP MAN
Commons, in which they referred to him as " the
warm, the active, and the only powerful friend of
the Island." * These petitions were referred to a
Committee of the House, which recommended that
the duke's request should be granted.! A Bill was
consequently introduced providing that he should be
paid "one fourth part of the gross annual revenue
arising from the duties of customs now existing
within the Isle of Man," t and, notwithstanding the
strenuous resistance of John Christian Curwen and
others, it was passed in the Commons. It was also
vigorously opposed in the House of Lords by Lord
Ellenborough, who declared that the transaction
was " one of the most corrupt jobs ever witnessed
in Parliament," § and that the manner in which the
claim had been pressed w^as "a proceeding which
could only be sanctioned by Parliament in the
worst and most corrupt times." § This Act gave
the duke a direct interest in increasing the insular
And succeeds customs dutics. The use that he made of this
iu obtaining it. _
position, II together with his policy of appointing
Scots, connected with or depending on his family,
to most of the paid offices in the island, gradually
alienated his adherents among the natives. Between
1805 and 1815, he seems to have only paid three
■-•= Letter of Messrs. Bridson and Stowell (Pamphlet, p. 7).
•t For their report about the revenue at this time, see
Chap. II. 5; 4. j 4;j Geo. III. c. 13.
J Pari. Deb., vol. v. pp. 776-78 {Land of Home Rule,
p. 230).
li The one-fourth of the customs duties was commuted for
jE3,000 a year.
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTEATION 541
short visits to the island, and, between 1815 and
1821, he did not visit it at all. In the latter year
he again rendered himself acceptable to the people *
by opposing the attempts of the Keys to prevent
the free importation of foreign grain, and, in 1822,
when sitting in the Tynwald Com't, he greatly
dehghted them by referring to its lower branch as
" a self-elected body, in the choice of which the h^ quarrels
•^ ' with the Keys,
people of the Island have not the smallest share," f
and by asserting that "they were no more Kepre-
sentatives of the people of Man, than of the people
of Peru." I Such language did not tend to con-
ciliate the Keys, who protested against his conduct
to the Home Secretary, § but without any result.
The duke, however, saw that he had gone too far,
and therefore, at Tynwald, on the 5th of July, he
held out an "olive branch,"! expressing a hope
that all differences would cease, while the Keys
agreed that they "might mutually forget and for-
give." f But the truce did not last long, being put
an end to, in 1824, by the expulsion of the Keys
-^ The Keys, when protesting to the Crown against the eccle-
siastical members being retained in the Council, had declared
that the duke's interests " were, as a subject, often in opposition
to those of the Crown and generally at variance with those of
the people " {Manhs Advertiser).
f Manks Advertiser.
I Pamphlet (1824), p. 37. " These remarks were loudly cheered
by an assembled concourse of the most respectable natives and
other inhabitants" (Isle of Man Gazette).
§ They accused him of unconstitutional conduct and of
exercising "unwarrantable influence" in which "terror" was
included (Keys' Journals).
VOL. II. 36
542 HISTOBY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
And alienates
the Council
and the
landowners.
Estimate of
his character.
from the Court of General Gaol Delivery, a pro-
ceeding which they attributed to the duke's in-
fluence. At the same time the Council was irritated
by a suspicion that he had dismissed a deemster *
from his office after a secret enquiry,! and by his
preventing the deemsters from sitting in the Court
of Chancery ; I and, finally, the landowners were
roused against him by the decision of the Privy
Council in favour of the legality of the green-crop
tithe. § The attempt of the bishop, supported by
the duke, to collect this tithe completed the un-
popularity of the Atholl regime, and resulted in
serious riots. § Having thus both the Legislature
and the people, except a few merchants, against
him, his position had clearly become an impossible
one, and, therefore, the desire of the Government to
sever his connexion with the island and his readi-
ness to accept the offer which enabled him to do so
can cause no surprise. Judged by his actions, he
was undoubtedly an able man, with views, in many
respects, in advance of his time, but he was very
overbearing and autocratic in his manner. Though
he did not visit the island after 1826, and his
manorial connexion with it was completely severed
in 1829, he continued nominally to hold his office of
'■^' In this case the deemster in question richly deserved his
dismissal, and, moreover, it was not ordered by the duke, but
by the Secretary of State.
f Pamphlet (1824).
I The duke's apologist declared that he had a right to do
this. § See p. 661.
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTEATION 543
governor till his death in 1830. We will now briefly
refer to the purchase by the Crown of his remaining
rights in the island. To this end an Act * was
passed in 1825, in accordance with which arbitrators
were appointed by the Treasury and the duke to
ascertain the value of them. After a protracted ^^iduke"'''
enquiry, they arrived at the following valuation : — rf^ts!"°^
Annuity under Act of 1805 JE150,000
Lord's or quit rents and alienation fines ... ... 34,200
Ecclesiastical patronage, possessions of the religious
houses, demesne lands, glebe lands, wastes,
mines, quarries, services or Avorks of tenants,
rectories, tithes commons, forests, and all other
rights reserved by the Act of 1765 f232,944
Je417,144
revenues.
The first item was paid in 1826, the quit rents,
&c., in 1827, the purchase being finally completed in
1828. A Bill to give effect to these sales and con-
veyances was introduced into the House of Commons
in 1829, but was not proceeded with, probably
because the Government considered that it was not
necessary. But an Act I was passed to place the Ai-rangements
land revenues and other possessions thus acquired
under the management and control of the depart-
ment of Woods and Forests. These were treated as
part of the hereditary revenues of the Crown, which
George IV. and his successors, following the
example of George III., placed at the disposal of
* 6 Geo. IV. c. 34.
\ Of this the patronage of the bishopric, with 14 advowsons,
was valued at jE100,000. + 10 Geo. IV. c. 50.
544
HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The bargain
between the
Crown and the
duke
discussed.
Description of
the period
1793-1S36.
the House of Commons during their lives, the House
making other provision * for the Crown, t The price
received by the Atholls was no doubt an exorbitant
one. For the sovereignty and customs they received
in all £349,600 ; I for the patronage, which was
practically of no value, i*100,000 ; and for their
landed possessions, rents, royalties, &c., ^6167, 144. §
But, nevertheless, the Crown, or rather the English
Government, made what ultimately turned out to be
a good bargain,!; seeing that they gained from the
surplus revenues of the island before 1866 more
than the whole sum they paid to the duke, and,
besides this, they have received excellent interest on
the sum paid for the landed estates, royalties on
mines, &c.1[
The restored Atholl rule between 1793 and 1826
was distinctly more beneficial to the island than the
Imperial rule which immediately preceded it. Auto-
cratic, but kindly, and, except perhaps in the appoint-
ment of his countrymen to the most lucrative
positions in the island, conscientious, the fourth
- By Act 1 Geo. IV. c. 1.
f Gell {Manx Soc, vol. xii. pp. 149-152).
I In 1765, j£46,000 for sovereignty and ^£24,000 for customs ;
annuity of the duchess from 1765 to 1804, £1,740 amiuall^' (i.e.,
JE2,000 Irish) = j£69,600 ; £3,000 a year from the customs to the
duke, her son, between 1805 and 1826 = £60,000, and £150,000
in 1826.
§ Lord's rents, £34,200; royalties, &c., £182,944.
II Leaving out of sight the advantage of suppressing the
smuggling and the disadvantage of receiving no payment from
the island for naval and military protection before 1866.
11 See pp. 613-4, and Appendices C and D.
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTRATION 545
Duke of Atholl wielded a power which his prestige
as the descendant of the ancient ruHng family, his
position as manorial lord, and his influence with
successive English Governments, rendered all but
despotic. And yet, while during the first period
trade, agriculture, and fishing languished, the har-
bours silted up, and the public buildings decayed,
they all made some progress at least during the
second. This result was, we believe, mainly due
to the fact that, before 1793, Manx interests were
almost entirely neglected, but, after that date, though
the duke quarrelled with the Keys and was unduly
solicitous for his pecuniary interests, he did (some-
what spasmodically, it is true), exert himself to
promote the welfare of the island.
After his departure, the English officials again ^^l^'^^i^ again.
resumed their sway. But they were more con-
siderate officials than before. Moreover, since
smuggling had almost disappeared, and the Manx
revenue was producing a large and increasing
surplus, the Isle of Man came to be regarded more
favourably, and, thanks to this fact and to the
exertions of the Manx people themselves in 1837,
1844, and 1853,* it was indulged in a somewhat less
stringent customs tariff and an occasional dole
towards re-erecting its much neglected public works.
This improvement in the state of affairs was some-
what accelerated on the arrival of the liberal-minded
Governor Hope in 1846, and, to a still greater extent
in 1863, by the assistance of the able and energetic
■■■■ See pp. 605-614.
546 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
Governor Loch. Both these governors, instead of
merely obeying orders from England, had the
courage to assist the Manx people in their various
controversies with the Imperial Government, with
the ultimate result that, during the last year of this
period, a measure of at least nominal " Home Kule "
was obtained.*
APPENDIX A.
" To the most puissant Prince, John Duke of AthoU, Earl
Strange, Lord of Mann and the Isles.
" We whose names are hereunto subscribed your Grace's
Tenants within this Isle — being given to understand that j'our
Grace, being not unmindfull of their peculiar as well as dis-
tressfull situatioii — having no Representative in the Legislature
of their own Country elected by themselves, nor any Represen-
tative in the Parliament of Great Britain — has been most
gi'aciously pleased — by a timely and powerful! Interposition
with his jMajesty's Ministers to put a stop to the Progress of
some Act or Acts of Tynwald passed by the Legislature of this
Isle and transmitted to his Majesty's principal Secretary of
State — for raising a considerable sum of money by Taxes on
the Property real and personal of your Grace's Tenants for
unnecessary purposes totally unknown to the Inhabitants of
this Country.
"That the mode of Taxation, and the particular subjects
which were to be the object of the Act or Acts passed by the
Legislature for the purposes we have mentioned are unknown
to us — the passing thereof hy the Legislature here, being carryed
on in the most private and secret manner and no person what-
ever being admitted to hear their Deliberations.
" That this Isle from the poverty of its soil, the Emigration
of the natives to the mother country and elsewhere — its very
limited Trade, the great sums annually drawn from it for Salt,
Timber, Meal, Cordage, Iron, Coals, Groceries, Ac, the great
■■■■ See p. 812.
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTKATION 547
Expense incurred in carrying on its Fisheries, every article
used tlierein being liable to an Insular Duty, added to the
peculiar unfortunate circumstance of seven-eighths of the real
property within this Isle and held of your Grace, being under
mortgage, would render it impossible for the Inhabitants in
Gener' to pay the said Taxes and 3'our Grace's Rents and
Fines also.
"We therefore beg leave to offer to your Grace, as our
natural Patron and Representative, our most humble and
gratefull thanks for an Interposition so Seasonable so benevo-
lent and unsoUicited — and we beg leave to assure your Grace,
that we always did, and still continue to place the highest Con-
fidence in your Grace's Paternal Care and attention to the
Inhabitants of this Isle."
(Names not given. Loose Paper in Rolls Office.)
APPENDIX B.
" Manxmen, We are called upon to Sign nothing Bliiully, —
that is right,— but are we to be asleep ? No !
" A question of the greatest importance to this Country is
before the British Parliament.
" Whether the Duke of AthoU shall have farther compensa-
tion for Rights sold by his Family to the Crown ? I, and all
of you, no doubt, thought the British Parliament were fully
competent to judge of His Grace's Claims, — but it seems we
were mistaken; — The Honorable House of Keys think other-
wise : We must not therefore be longer Silent : Let us unite in
a respectful memorial to the Honorable House of Keys, stating
our Sentiments.
" But before Signing, let us cooly ask ourselves the following
Questions :
" Are we to be Eternally at War ? Is the British Parliament
competent to judge of His Grace's Claims ? Ought we not to
rely on their impartiality and justice ? Ought we blindly to
oppose just and Equitable Claims ? Will Parliament admit of
any other ? Is it the Duke's interest to oppress us ? Has he
ever oppressed us '? Cannot we resist if he does ? Who has
hitherto been our Friend, and bro\ight us the Benefits We have
already received ? Who got our Herring Bounties increased,
continued, and put upon an Equitable footing ? Who got Pro-
548 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
tections for the Fishermen ? AVho got us Money for Repairs
of Hai'bours and Pubhe Buildings ? Who prevented our
Fishing Boats paying Two Guineas each annually, whether
they caught Fish or not ? What would have become of us last
Year, had we had this Tax to pay ? Who prevented every
Shopkeeper from paying Two Guineas annually for liberty to
sell Wine and Spirits ? — The Duke I — What is to become of us,
should the Dulie turn his Back on us ? Wlio will step forward
with equal good-will and power, to Cherish and Protect us ?
" My Countrymen I think seriously on these things, while it
is yet called to-day, or the Hour of Repentance may come too
late.
" April 20th, 1805."
(Printed by T. Whittam.)
APPENDIX C.
"To the Gentlemen of the Keys. The Land-holders, the
Merchants, and Inhabitants of the Isle of Man.
" The Hereditary Descendants of your ancient Sovereigns,
by His Majesty's Grace and Favor, the Representative of the
King within the Island of Man, The Territorial Lord and
Natural Protector and Defender of the Rights and Interests of
every Inhabitant thereof ; is desirous, in the most public way
to make known the whole extent of his Aim and View : It is
not his desire or wish, to prevent in any degree, the Advantages
which flow to the Isle of Man at this time, by Bounties on
Herrings, or otherwise : On the contrary, he wishes to increase
and enlarge those Advantages.
" He does not wish, nor has any intention to propose, the
Increase of a Farthing on your existing Duties ; but only to
render the Importation for the Consumption of the Island
more easy and expeditious.
" In asking of Parliament for a further Compensation out of
the existing Revenues of the Isle of Man, rather than from any
other Fund, he is actuated by an ardent wish to link the
Prosperity of the Island with his own ; to have the means of
residing among you in a manner suitable to the Situation he
fills ; and by such residence, to be able to bring forward
Measures for the Improvement of your Agriculture, your
Fisheries, your Manufactures, and your Trade.
THE ENGLISH ADMINISTRATION 549
" One word on the Act of Settlement of 1703 : If that Act is
in your estimation good, say no more about it : But if any
doubts exist, accept from me a full Confirmation of it in what-
ever mode or shape you chuse.
" Let us cordially unite in Plans for the Good and Prosperity
of our nice little Island ; let us row in one Boat ; let us give a
tight pull, and a pull altogether; and suffer me (in right of an
ancient Lord of the Island, who, among other Princes, rowed a
King of England on the River Dee, some Centuries back) to be
Stroak Oar.
" Athole.
" Portman Square, April 10, 1805."
r
CHAPTER II
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY, 1765-1866
§ 1. Condition of the People.
'N our account of the social conditions of the
period ending with the Revestment, we showed
that the Manx labourers, while almost entirely
restrained from leaving the island, were practically,
though not legally, free to make their own bargains
wa^e^^'^'^ for wages, if they were not " yarded." A few years
after the commencement of the period with which
we are now dealing — viz., in 1777 — yarding and all
regulations and restrictions of labour were finally
done away with.* But yet, between 1765 and 1793,
the condition of the labourers seems to have become
worse rather than better. The temporary collapse
of agriculture and trade just after 1765 I led to the
departure of above a thousand of the people — for
want of employment,! and, again, in 1791, "numbers
''•• Though, by seemingly an unintentional oversight, the Act of
1691 relative to labour was not then repealed, and has not since
been repealed, notwithstanding that the fixing of wages by
justices has been illegal in England since 1813.
t See pp. 597-8. \ HiMe&lei/s Memoirs, p. 225.
550
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 551
of every description were forced to migrate to other
countries, and the Island seemed fast descending
into that very miserable state of containing a few
great Landowners * and . . . their miserable de-
pendents." f
Men's wages between 1765 and 1793 varied from
6d. to 8d. a day, without keep, and they got from
£S to £5 a year, with keep, while women got from
30s. to 50s. Carpenters received from Is. 5d. to
Is. 6d. per day, and masons from Is. 6d. to Is. 9d.l
After 1793, the large number of troops and other wages increase
visitors in the island stimulated the demand for
agricultural produce, and, consequently, for agri-
cultural labour. Wages therefore rose, being at the
end of the century from 8d. to Is. per day for
labourers, without keep,§ or £6 6s. a year, with keep.
Boys got £2 2s. a year, and women 6d. a day and
8d. in harvest.il But, as prices had risen somewhat
more in proportion, the labourers were not as well
off as before. By 1812, there was a still further
increase in the nominal rates of wages, though,
owing to the depreciation of the currency, the real
improvement was less than the figures would seem
to show.!l " Job " labourers got, in the towns, from
Is. 8d. to 3s. per day, and, in the country. Is. 4d. to
* Those who had made fortunes in smuggling invested in
land or mortgages.
I Comrs.' Report, No. 83. (Letter from Lieut. -Governor
Shaw.) [ Lib. Scacc.
§ The lowest agricultural wage found by Young in England
in 1781 was 4s. 6d. per week in Lancashire.
II Feltham (Manx Soc, vol. vi. p. 208).
552 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
2s.* Farm men-servants received from £12 to £'20
a year, with keep, and women-servants from £5 to
£8. The regular weekly wages were, near the
towns, 9s. in the winter, and 12s. in the summer ;
away from the towns they were 8s. in the winter,
and 9s. in the summer. The labour paid for at these
rates, however, seems to have been inefficient, since
the farmers found it to their advantage to hire
experienced Scottish labourers " at double wages." f
Masons, carpenters, and quarriers, at this time, got
to'do*'sotnr ^^°^ 2^- ^° ^^- ^^- ^ ^^y-^ ^y ^^^^' wages had
Sn^toTaff'^' already begun to decline, being then from ^612 to
£14 for men, and from £4 to £7 for women, § while
day labourers got about Is. per week less than the
wages quoted above. This was due partly to the
depression in farming, and partly to the large
number of Manx soldiers and sailors who had been
discharged in 1815 and were competing for labour.
By 1824, they had fallen further to from £10 to £12
for men, from £3 to £5 for women, and from 5s. to
* Quayle, p, 21, and Lib. Scacc. Quayle remarks that " the
emission of paper money, . . . and the general displacing of
coin from the circulation, have disturbed the present prices
paid for labour so considerably, that the registering of them
can be of little other use than as furnishing data for com-
parison." f Wood, p, 45.
\ Quayle, p. 21. Dry, rough walling cost Is. yer j'ard, house
walhng Is. 6d. to 2s. The fees to witnesses for each day's
attendance in court were fixed as follows in 1813 : For loss of
time, tradesmen, Is. 9d.; tradeswomen, Is. 2d.; labourers (men
and women). Is. 2d. Travelling allowances: Ti-adesmen and
tradeswomen, for each parish passed through, 7d ; labourers
(men and women), ditto, 4d. {Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 304-5).
j Bullock, p. 370.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 553
8s. a week for day labourers.* But, fortunately,
some of the labourers possessed a cow or two,
besides pigs and poultry, and they had allotments
on which they raised " a great part of the food for
their families." f On the whole, then, it is doubtful
whether, even during the period 1793-1816, not-
withstanding their higher wages, I and the fact that
the nominal increase of prices was in part fallacious,
Manx labourers were better off than before ; and,
between 1816, when wages fell, and 1825, it is fhe^fi&rers
certain that their position, in consequence mainly of bet^elnlsie'
the high price of bread, § was much worse. The
distress, especially in the towns, was very great, and
it became a heavy tax on the resources of the
charitable, II since there was no poor law, or organized
system of poor relief. Great numbers of poor
people wandered over the island begging, IT and
crime, especially sheep-stealing,** enormously in-
creased. tf At last, in 1825, some alleviation of this it is somewhat
alleviated by
state of things was again obtained from large emi- emigration.
gration, and also from the constant increase in the
'^'- Lib. Scacc. f Quayle, p. 49.
I They were largely paid in the local tradesmen's notes,
which were at a considerable discount.
§ See Trade. |! Quayle, p. 31.
•I "The multitudes of beggars all over the island have
become a public nuisance" (Manks Advertiser).
■•"'•' Largely in consequence of juries refusing to convict on
account of the death penalty. There were, however, several
executions for this offence.
If 1824 may be approximately fixed as the date at which the
Manx labourer reached his lowest depth of misery. This,
according to Walpole {Hiatorij of England, vol. v. p. 503),
occurred in 1842 in England.
554 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
number of stranger residents and summer visitors,*
which caused the rapid extension of Douglas, and, to a
less extent, of the other towns. In 1830, day labourers
only got about Is. a day, without keep, and farm
labourers by the year, with keep, from i610 to £12. t
In 1840, day labourers got from Is. to Is. 4d. a day,
without keep, and 8d. with it, farm labourers getting
from ^£12 to £14, and farm servant girls, £4. In
the same year, joiners, masons, tailors, and shoe-
makers got 2s. 6d. per day, without keep, or Is. 6d.
with it. These wages, considering the lower range
of prices, put the labourers in a somewhat better
position than between 1816 and 1825. In 1846,
however, their position again declined owing to the
failure of the potato crop. On account of this, in
January, 1847, an application was made by the Keys
to the Treasury to obtain a grant from the surplus
revenue to give employment to labourers and relieve
Distress in 1847. distress. A reply was received to the effect that,
before such a grant could be made, there must be a
thorough enquiry into the condition of the people
and the amount of food available for their support.
The outcome of this enquiry was a decision that the
destitution in the country was not so great as to
warrant an application for a grant. Thus it is clear
that the Manx were much better off than the Irish
at this period. Nevertheless, in Man, as in Ireland,
■■■■ See p. 588.
I Walpole {History of England, vol. i. note p. 503) gives the
average daily wage of unskilled labour in England at 2s. 6d. a
day in 1816, at 2s. in 1836, and again at 2s. 6d. in 1856.
SOCL\L AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 555
this scarcity of food resulted in increased emigration.
Between 1847 and 1851 such large numbers of em^^^tion
Manxmen went to America and Australia, attracted 1^1"^®*'''°
by the gold discoveries in California in 1848 and in
Australia in 1850, that the population in the country
districts, especially in the north, rapidly decreased.
In consequence of this a considerable rise of wages
followed, day labourers, in 1866, getting from 2s.
to 2s. 6d., and, by the year, £25 to £30,* while
mechanics received about 4s. a day.
Emigration, the increased demand for agricultural various causes
° ' o of the
labour, and the advent of the visitors had thus been l^fbe^®'"^"''
the chief causes which operated to bring about an po^sitiotfsmce
increase in the rate of wages. But there were other
causes at work which had a share in improving the
position, not only of the labouring class, but of Manx-
men generally. Chief amongst these were the repeal
of the Corn Laws and the destruction of the old
commercial system by Sir Robert Peel. The
increase of the duties on spirits, the decrease of the
duties on tea, after 1853, and the passage of the
Taverns Act in 1857, t whereby the facilities for
drinking were somewhat restricted, had also some
effect, because Manxmen, who were also greatly
influenced by the temperance movement, drank less
spirits and more tea. The good results of this were
soon apparent.
There can, then, be but little doubt that the
'■^'- With a cottage, and perhaps some fuel. The old system of
feeding the labourei-s, except sometimes at mid-day, was be-
coming less frequent. | See pp. 581 and 645.
556
HISTOKY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
It was much
better in 1866
than in 1765.
Machinery for
poor relief
inadequate.
The House of
Industry.
condition of the able-bodied Manx labourer was
much' better in 1866 than in 1765, though, at the
same time, the difficulties in supporting the aged and
infirm poor had become even greater than before.
The machinery for this purpose continued during
the whole of this period to be in the hands of the
Church ; but, by 1814, its efforts were found, in
Douglas at least, inadequate to cope with the large
amount of destitution and misery that then existed.
In that year, therefore, a Society was formed to
solicit funds for bettering the position of the poor,
and an institution * was established in Sand f Street,
Douglas, where twenty-five people were wholly sup-
ported, and, in addition to this, a number of others
received partial relief. I This good work failed, about
1820, from want of support, but it was renewed and
carried on on a permanent basis by the establish-
ment, in 1837, of the present House of Industry,
which was founded by a donation of £500 out of the
funds belonging to the minister and wardens of St.
Matthew's Church, as trustees, for the poor of the
town, and was vested in twenty-four trustees, who
were also a committee of management ; twelve of
these trustees being the ministers and wardens of
the Douglas churches, and twelve being elected from
the subscribers to the funds of the institution. § A
■■'- It was in charge of a housekeeper, and a cook was also
kept. t Now " Strand Street."
I In 1815, £660 was spent. Eighty-five poor received a
breakfast and dinner daily ; seventy received from Is. to 2s. a
week, and fifty from Is. 6d. to 2s. a month.
§ Brown's Directory. Comrs'. Report, App. (B), No. 84.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOKY 557
still more decided departure was the establishment
of a dispensary in Douglas, in 1839, and of a
hospital in the same town, in 1850.
As regards prices, we find the following figures : — Prices.
In 1765, a cow could be bought at from £2 10s. to
£4. A calf cost 4s. and a sheep the same price.
Tea varied from 3s. to 7s. 6d. per lb. A bottle of rum
cost Is. In 1791, there is the evidence of Governor
Shaw to the effect that " since 1776 the necessaries
of life have more than doubled in price, some of
them trebled," * and, between 1793 and 1815, they
rose still further. Thus, in 1793, beef and mutton
cost from 2^d. to 4d. per lb. ; in 1812, they were
from 5d. to 7d.; in 1815, 7d.; and, in 1824, they had
fallen from 4Jd. to 5d. Eggs, which in 1793 were 2d.
a dozen, reached an extreme price of 20 for Is. in
1815, falling to 42 for Is. in 1824. Milk rose from
Id. a quart to 3d., and butter from 2d. per lb. to 14d.,
falling, in 1824, to 9d. Prices of oats and barley f
varied very much as in England, though they were
usually lower.! Fowls and ducks rose from 6d. to
2s. a couple. § Brandy and Hollands cost lis. 6d.,
and rum from 6s. to 8s. 6d. a gallon ; tea from 4s.
'■''• Remembering that owing to the condition of the currency
these prices were partlj' nominal.
f In 1810, barley was 74s. and oats 40s. to 48s. per quarter.
In 1816, oats was 30s. In 1822, barley was 44s.
I For special causes affecting price of wheat, see pp. 658-60.
§ These were the Douglas prices ; at Castletown they were
somewhat lower, and at Ramsey and Peel lower still. The
evidence about prices is for the most part derived from the
Lib. Scacc, the Manks Mercury and Advertiser, Woods,
Bullock, and simdry Guide Books.
VOL. II. 37
558 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
to 6s., and refined sugar from 9d. to Is. per lb. ;
while salt was 3s. per hundredweight. This com-
parative lowness of prices was evidently one of the
chief attractions of the island to strangers.* In
1824, the rent of a ten or twelve roomed house in
Douglas was from ^30 to <£40, and board and
affecWngthe ^^^g^'^g i^^ the best stylc was 21s. a week.t The
prices of wheat • e j-t. j'j.' t- j." j
and bread. prices of the Commodities we have mentioned were,
for the most part, affected by natural causes, but
those of wheat and bread were, between 1775 and
1822, interfered with by artificial regulations. At
first these took the form of embargoes on the export
of Manx wheat, which tended to reduce its price in
favour of the consumers, but, for some years after
ofthe°"''^ 1798, the land-owning interest, which was all-
powerful in the Legislature, succeeded in putting a
stop to them, except in 1808, when an embargo on
provisions was imposed for some months. This was
acquiesced in by the people till 1812, when, there
having been a poor harvest, an attempt to export
wheat led to a riot in Douglas. The mob proceeded
to unload a vessel containing wheat, but, before they
could complete their work, the soldiers from the
garrison at Castletown arrived and arrested the ring-
leaders. The governor then promptly put on an
embargo, which, however, was removed by the Duke
of Atholl, who arrived in the island in December,
■■'■ Jefferys, p. 64, and Woods, p. 97.
f Woods (p. 99) says, in 1811, that he was mfoiToed that
" half a century ago, a gentleman might keep his carriage and
live sumptuously for j£100 per annum."
landowners.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOKY 559
and exports of wheat went on as before. Between
1814 and 1816, there was a series of bad harvests, so
that a considerable quantity of foreign corn was
imported, and, in the latter year, the governor again
imposed an embargo on Manx wheat. This so
alarmed the Manx landowners that they petitioned
the English Government to place the island under
the operation of the English Act of 1815, whereby
the importation of foreign corn for home consumption
was prohibited, when the price was below 80s., and
of colonial corn, when below 67s. per quarter.* No
notice was taken of this petition, but, in 1819, in
response to a further and more urgent appeal. Lord
Sidmouth ordered the governor to stop the impor-
tation of wheat. The governor obeyed, but protested,
and, after some correspondence with the Board of
Trade, importation was again permitted. The Keys,
however, were determined to keep up the price of
corn, and so, in February, 1821, they presented a
petition to the governor, in which they denounced
the free importation of foreign grain as " a practice
which manifestly tends to the ruin of the agricultural
interests of the island." 1 This petition was for-
warded by the governor to London, and, in the
following July, the Isle of Man was, by an Act of
Parliament, placed in the same position as the
United Kingdom with respect to the importation of
* It could be warehoused in England and exported, free of
duty, but, until price of wheat reached 80s., it could not be
used for home consumption.
f Manks Advertiser.
560 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
corn.* That is to say, when the EngHsh ports were
closed against the importation of foreign corn, meal,
or flour, for home consumption, the Manx ports
The were also closed. Thereupon the price of flour and
riot in October, bread rosc rapidly,! and a riot took place at Peel on
Monday, the 1st of October, when the people broke
the windows of the flour-dealers and compelled them
to sell flour at the rate of seven pounds for a shilling.
On the 2nd, one of the deemsters went there to
enquire into the circumstances of the riot, and its
ringleader, who had created a disturbance in court,
was locked up by the deemster in person, because he
could not find a constable to act. The populace
then stormed the gaol and rescued the prisoner, but
the yeomanry cavalry, the only local force which
could be depended on, seized him with a few others
and placed them in Castle Kushen. On the 4th of
October, another riot took place in Douglas headed
by a man from Peel in woman's costume, but he and
another of the ringleaders were promptly arrested
by a small force of half-pay officers and incarcerated
in Castle Rushen. The riot, however, continued, so
that, the next day, a number of special constables
were enrolled, " and a formidable force was kept at
the Free School in Atholl Street under arms," I
whereby the people were overawed. On the 4th and
5th, the House of Keys met and decided to "examine
a jury of 6 men, concerning the quantity of grain
- By 1 and 2 Geo. IV. c. 87.
+ From 7d. to Is. for 5^ lbs. of the best flour.
^ The Rising Sun.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 561
and potatoes in each parish, and to lay an embargo
on the exportation of oats, barley, and their meals,
and of foreign wheat and potatoes and flour made
from foreign wheat," * and, on the 4th, the governor
issued a proclamation that the embargo on exporting
corn should be renewed till the 26th of November.
Prices of grain then speedily came down, and the
people, knowing that a considerable quantity of foreign
wheat was stored in the island,! were temporarily
quietened. On the 14th of October, a detachment
of the 29th regiment was landed to assist the special
constables in keeping order. On the 31st, the duke t^l'e^Duke o°^
arrived, after six years' absence, and found that, ^^^°""
though the riots had been suppressed, the people
were still dissatisfied and uneasy. On the 26th of
November, he summoned a Tynwald Court, and, in
addressing it, remarked that the cause of the late
riots was "the rise in the price of grain owing to the
speculations of persons on the other side of the water,
founded on the expectation of a bad harvest." I He
succeeded in persuading the Court, while not renew-
ing the embargo on exports, to petition the Crown
to restore the free trade in foreign grain. This
removal of the embargo caused some further dis-
turbances, especially in the northern district, and
the duke, who had received a warning that the
troops must shortly be withdra\\Ti, thereupon swore
* The Bising Sun.
f This had been bought at 4s. per bushel, and was offered for
sale at 9s.
I The Rising Sun. This, however, had not been altogether
reahzed.
1830 and 1866.
662 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
in an additional number of special constables, both in
Douglas and Kamsey.* At the same time he took
the opportunity of addressing the people and in-
forming them that he had pardoned all those
connected with the late riots, except two, whom he
had reserved " from their general bad characters as
proper subjects for pubHc example." t He also
assured the people that, as long as he had a loaf,
they should not want their daily bread. These
measures and promises, together with the arrival of
some more foreign grain (the assent of the Crown
to its free importation having been obtained), soon
restored tranquillity,
pricefbetween Between 1830 and 1866, prices of such com-
modities as beef, mutton, poultry, and butter rose,l
but this increase was partly counterbalanced by the
fall in the price of bread, groceries, and clothing,
especially after 1844, when the "licence sj^stem "
came to an end.§ The price of oatmeal, milk, and
potatoes 11 did not vary much, so that the purchasing
power of the Manx peasants had undoubtedly
increased.il
''■'■ On Nov. 29th at Douglas, and Dec. 1st at Ramsey,
i Pamphlet (1825), p. 122.
I Beef and mutton from 4d. to 8d. per lb. ; pork from 2d. to
5d. per lb. Fowls from Is. to 3s. per pair. Butter from. 7d.
to Is. per lb. (These prices are approximate.) § See p. 622.
II Till after 1866 they ate but little meat. Their food, in
1811, consisted chiefly of butter-milk, potatoes, barle^'-cakes,
stir-about, and herrings (Woods, pp. 45-6).
•J Considering the change in the value of money. In 1840,
sheep cost from 7s. to 8s., milking cows from £5 to ^7, and
potatoes from 4s. to 5s. per boll of 32 stones.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 5G3
At the end of the eighteenth century, the houses Houaes.
of the people were described as " miserable huts," *
built of turf and thatched, the walls being seldom
above seven feet high.t By 1812, there was some
improvement. Most of the cottages were then said
to be built of unhewn stone, though the "meaner"
ones were still constructed of sods, and usually
contained " two rooms on the ground, sometimes
with, sometimes without, a solitary window. I We
are told that the smoke from a peat fire, which was
intended to issue at a hole at one corner of the roof
left for that purpose, did actually, for the most part,
take possession of the room, and emerge from it by
the doorway. In 1816, the " mud-walled cabin and
thatched roof" were "giving place to erections of
brick or stone with slated tops." § After 1840, the
houses of the poorer class still further improved.
This was mainly due to the fact that, since the land
was gradually falling into fewer hands, many pro-
prietors were men of sufficient means to enable them
to erect better cottages on their estates. Much,
however, still remained to be done in this direction.
Let us now refer to the small but rapidly in- '^he towns.
creasing towns, where the people were probably in
"■'•'■ Robertson, p. 196.
f Feltham, p. 120. An English officer who staj'ed for two
3'ears in the island at this period wrote : At present they are
no "better sheltered from the inclemencies of the weather than
the beasts of the fields " (Townley, vol. i. p. 4.5).
\ Woods, pp. 37-8. See also Quayle, pp. 22-3.
§ Bullock, p. 250. See also Robertson, p. 156, and Quayle,
p. 150.
564 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
a somewhat better position.* In 1776, there was
an attempt to improve the condition of the towns
by the passage of a law ordering that the pave-
ments f of the streets should be made by the
proprietors of the adjoining houses, that the streets
should be kept clean by the inhabitants, and that
pigs were not to be at large, t
Douglas. Douglas, about which there is much more in-
formation than about the other towns, was said to
be "very populous " § in 1791, although a century
earlier it had been " little more than a group of
clay built cottages." § In 1810, the streets were
described as " very irregular, and, in some places
extremely narrow," ; and the houses were "low
and ill-constructed, crowded together without regard
to convenience and uniformity." 51 In the same
year, however, two new streets, Duke Street and
Sand** Street, which were the first streets to be
paved, were begun, and, by 1816, a large number of
new and better houses had been built. ft In 1818,
-■' Though it is significant that Woods said (pp. 107-8),
when he ^^sited the island in 1810, that he could not obtain
anj' blotting-paper in Douglas, and that the only person who
sold books was a bookbinder by trade. There was, however,
a circulatmg library. f See p. 411.
I Statutes, vol. i. p. 301. But this does not seem to have
been done. See next page.
§ Eobertson, p. 15. || Woods, p. 104.
IT Bullock, p. 206. Do^\•n to 1808, the streets had no names,
and the houses were unnumbered till 1843 (Train, vol. ii.
p. 366).
*=■■' Now Strand Street. It and Duke Street were then the
extreme limits of the town on the northern and western sides.
If Manha Advertiser, 1816.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HIRTOKY 565
the stone bridge over the harbour was built, and,
between 1820 and 1829, many houses were erected
in the suburbs.* It was not till 1829 that the
streets were lighted, and then only by a few oil
lamps. Douglas is described at this time as con-
sisting of "a most extraordinary lot of narrow
lanes . . . Duke Street being the main thoroughfare,
where were the principal shops ; though even there
some of the gentry had residences." f The streets,
or lanes, were paved with stones from the shore,
and half lit with oil lamps, while they were drained
by "open gutters," and "the whole place was full
of dirt and bad smells." I Another observer con-
firmed this account of the streets, but remarked that
the houses were "respectable" and the shops
" spacious and strong, and worthy of any English
country town." I An Act passed in 1836, obliging
a company, which was then formed, to supply
public lamps with gas, was not taken advantage of
till 1860. § By the Justices Act of 1836 :; bye-laws
could be made by the high-bailiff, or two justices,
•'■ It may be mentioned that in 1804 the ducal palace of
Castle Mona, built of dressed white freestone from the Isle of
Arran, was completed at a cost, it is said, of more than ^640,000.
i H. S. Brown, Memoirs, p. 4.
\ Teignmouth, vol. ii. p. 184.
§ Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 70-83. There were only a few private
houses in Douglas lit by gas as late as 1843. By January, 1860,
there were twenty-two public gas lamps in Douglas. For supply
of water in 1834, see p. 570.
II Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 97-103. In 1838, a covered market
was built in Wellington Street, but, since the country people
would not use it on account of the charge made for staUs, it was
soon abandoned.
566 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
subject to the approval of the Tynwald Court, for
the regulation of towns, but nothing was done to
carry this out. It seems, indeed, to have been a
time of absolute apathy and inertness in municipal
affairs. The entire control of Douglas was in the
hands of the high-bailiff. The injustice and hard-
ship of this system was constantly complained of ;
and yet, when the townspeople held a meeting in
1844, at which they passed a motion praying the
Legislature to pass a law for lighting, watching,
paving, and cleaning* the town, they rejected a
proposal in favour of the election of a town council.
The Legislature did not do anything to fulfil the
request of the meeting till 1852, when, having
received an urgent petition about "the absence of
a suitable system for lighting the streets," i it
passed an Act by which fifty or more householders
might require the high-bailiff to ascertain whether
the inhabitants desired its provisions to be put in
force. If so, they might elect commissioners,! of
whom the high-bailiff was to be chairman, to carry
it out. The property in the towns was to be valued,
and the rates were not to exceed 2s. in the pound. §
This Act was permissive, and no advantage was taken
of it, there being strenuous opposition in Douglas
to its being made compulsory. It was not till 1860
that a compulsory Act was passed, and that was for
* Mono's Herald. f Manx Sun.
■ \ Douglas nine, and the other towns six each.
§ Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 297-306.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 567
Douglas only.* By it the high-bailiff's powers as to
the streets, &c., were transferred to the commis-
sioners, and the townsmen were exempted from
highroad labour, though, in lieu of it, they had to pay
three shillings for each house. Soon after the
promulgation of this Act, Town Commissioners,
nine in number, were duly elected, and they at
once proceeded to make extensive reforms.! In
1864, they obtained the right of making bye-laws,
which had to be confirmed by the Tynwald Court. I
We now come to Eamsey, which, at the end of Ramsey.
the eighteenth century, was referred to as a " small
neat town," § but irregular, j| and, in 1829, its streets
were stated to be narrow, and its houses " neat and
cleanly from the presence of whitewash." M It
obtained a water Act in 1859,** a gas Act in
1857, ft and was incorporated with seven commis-
sioners having similar powers to those in Douglas,
in 1861.11
"- Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 1-13.
f The gross valuation of Douglas at this time was ^41,512,
and the net valuation jE33,318. Inhabited houses, 1,727 ; unin-
habited, 40.
I Statutes, vol iii. pp. 114-124. We may mention that, in
1860, the residence of the governor was transferred from Castle-
town to Douglas, and, after 1864, the practices of holding the
Common Law Courts alternately in Castletown and Douglas,
and of occasionally summoning the Legislature to sit in Douglas,
grew up. § Feltham, p. 143.
il Bullock, p. 233. If Teignmouth, p. 186.
** Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 468-71. Douglas had a similar Act
in 1834, see p. 570.
fl Ibid., vol. ii. pp. 484-7, and vol. iii. pp. 196-206.
\\ Ibid., vol. iii. pp. 196-206.
568
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Castletown.
Peel.
Police.
The streets of Castletown were referred to, in
1865, as being " regular and airy." * Its water and
gas Acts are dated 1857. +
Peel, which is spoken of, in 1760, as a small town,
full of people, with an indifferent harbour, I obtained
a water Act in 1860, and a gas Act in 1857. § There
is, indeed, singularly little information about the
smaller towns, but it may be said of them generally
that their condition was very similar to that of
Douglas, and that, like it, they slowly improved.
Another cause w^hich retarded the progress of the
towns was the utter inadequacy of their police. We
have seen that, before the Kevestment, order was
maintained in them by the garrison soldiers, under
their captains, who were also the chief civil officers.
But, subsequent to this event, their places were taken
by an absurdly small number of constables, imder
the control, after 1777, of the high-bailiffs. These men
were usually old and feeble, and, being wretchedly
paid,^ spent most of their time in going on errands
for those who paid them for so doing.** Moreover,
'■■• Bullock, p. 219.
I Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 413-16, and 420-21.
I Manx Ballads, p. 23. A court-house and jail were ordered
to be erected at the market cross, in 1830.
§ Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 90-3, and vol ii. pp. 417-18.
Jl I.e., in 1790, a chief constable and gaoler and seven con-
stables in Castletown, five in Douglas, and one each in the
other towns. After 1814, the numbers in Douglas and Castle-
town were reduced to four.
•i '£o annually. The chief got ^£12 lOs. In 1830, it was
raised to JGIO for the constables and d625 for the chief.
** " They devoted their time to the sen'ing of civil processes.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 569
they were only employed in the daytime, so that at
night there was no check upon disorders of all kinds.
In 1830, Douglas was supplied with five constables
instead of four. But this meagre increase did not
satisfy its inhabitants, and so impressed were they
with the urgent need for more constables that they
subscribed voluntarily to secure some addition to the
force until the Police Bill, then before the Legis-
lature, should be passed.* It was, however, thrown
out by the Keys, and, in 1851, no change having
been made, we again find the Douglas people
complaining that the inadequacy of the police
encouraged "immorality and crime," and rendered
" life and property insecure." f At last, in 1853.
there was an attempt to improve the status of the
police by giving the head constables, of whom there
was then appointed one in each town,t £40 a year
each, and the others, £'30, " subject to their atten-
dance at all times when required," § which made
them liable to night duty. It is, however, manifest
that but little could be done by twenty constables
for the whole island, and so, in 1860, the inhabitants
of Douglas complained of the inadequacy of this
force in a memorial to the Home Secretary, in which
they stated that assaults in the streets at night were
very numerous. This appeal produced no effect
till 1863, when twelve men were added to the force,
instead of being always in readiness to assist the magistrates in
preserving the peace of the town " {Manlis Advertiser, 1833).
- Manks Advertiser, 1833. i Manx Sun.
I There was also a gaoler in Castletown.
§ Ibid.
570 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
being followed by twenty-one more in 1864, five of
whom were rm'al constables. Their pay was in-
creased, and a chief inspector, a military officer,*
was appointed.
Health. It will havc been gathered from what has been
said of the towns that sanitary precautions t were
almost entirely neglected. As late as 1833, the
Douglas householders stated that there was " a
great want of proper sewerage and cleanliness." t
The first important sanitary measure was the
Douglas Waterworks Act, in 1834, authorizing a com-
pany to collect water and distribute it in the town
by pipes. § Hitherto Douglas, like the other insular
towns, had been supplied with water either from
wells or by carts which came from the country. It was
not till 1851, when it passed the Nuisances Act,
that the Manx Legislature in any way recognized
an obligation to deal directly with sanitary questions.
Under this Act, if any epidemics broke out, an order
could be issued by the governor and two members
of the Council to cause precautions to be taken
against its spreading, such order to remain in force
till the Tynwald Court met. In respect to nuisances,
=i' Captain M. Goldie.
f Scientific sanitation was practically unknown till the end
of this period.
\ Manks Advertiser.
§ Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 47-50. It was bound to lay on water
to a house on receiving twenty days' notice and being tendered
the rate, which was not to exceed 8 per cent, on the annual
value. In 1859, additional powers were given to the Douglas
Water Works Company to take more water and increase its
capital (vol. ii. pp. 449-51).
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 571
however, the Act was rendered futile by the pro-
vision that they could not be enquired into by the
inspector until a " notice in writing from two or
more householders had been received." * This Act,
of course, applied to the country generally. With
regard to Douglas, the part of the Act of 1860,
which related to sanitary matters, was equally in-
effective, since there were many nuisances which the
commissioners could not deal with under it. They
could not, for instance, compel householders to
enable them to undertake drainage or sewerage
adequately. Many of the houses, therefore, were in
a most insanitary condition, and the commissioners
applied to the Legislature to give them increased
powers to enable them to deal with it. The Bill
prepared for this purpose, though thrown out by the
Keys in February, 1864, was shortly afterwards
re-introduced and passed.! A scheme for main
sewers t promptly followed, and, in 1865, an Act
was passed which ordained that common lodging-
houses should be inspected, and that, unless a
licence was granted, no lodgers could be received. §
In the country the state of things was more primi-
tive still. Cattle and human beings often occupied
the same house, and, even when this was not the
case, the cow-house and stable were frequently on
a higher level than the dwelling-house, and, conse-
* Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 288-92.
f Ibid., vol. iii. pp. 114-24.
\ At a cost of £3,931.
§ Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 188-95.
572 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
quently, drained into it, while the manure heap was
close by. No wonder, then, that the general health
left much to be desired.*
cboierT°and "^^^ population was still literally decimated from
typhoid fever. ^^^^ ^^ ^-^^^^ ^^ small-pox, especially in the
eighteenth century, and there were two terrible
outbreaks of cholera, and one of typhus, t In 1864,
1865, and 1866, there was a serious epidemic of
typhoid fever, which the authorities endeavoured to
check by the formation of Boards of Health through-
out the island. But this and the other measures
"-•' ManJis Advertiser.
f There are no authoritative vital statistics, and we can only
judge of what occurred by comparing the information given by
MS. letters, and the church registers with the changes in
population. The worst epidemics of small-pox were in 1765,
1772, 1780, and 1799. In the parish of German and the town
of Peel 48"0 per 1,000 died of it in the former year, and 25'0
per 1,000 in the latter. It also raged in 1839, 1851, and
between 1864 and 1866. In the parish of Ballaugh the deaths
from small-pox and other causes respectively were : —
In 1764-5. December lo-March 31
„ 1772-3. July 16- August 24
,, 1799. February 8-June 24 ...
The worst epidemic of cholera was in 1832, when 90 out of
2,000 died in Castletown. It returned in 1849 and 1853.
Typhus killed a great number in 1837. The teiTible destruction
caused by small-pox seems to have been largely due to the
baneful practice of inoculation which was put a stop to by Act
of Tynwald in 1852 {Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 314-15), but imfortu-
nately, vaccination was not made compulsory till 1876. (In
England inoculation began to be practised m 1721, but did not
come into general use till 1740. It was rendered a penal
offence by the Act of 1840.' Vaccination was first introduced
into the island about 1805.
Small-pox. <
other Causes.
28
6
33
11
22
9
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOKY 573
adopted were, owing to the general ignorance of the
most elementary sanitary laws, almost wholly in-
effective, and this period closes with a dismal health
record, it being estimated, in the absence of precise
figures, that the general death rate exceeded twenty-
four per thousand,* while, in the towns, it reached
a much higher percentage.
Notwithstanding the heavy death rate,* popu- population.
lation increased very rapidly, though irregularly,
during this period, it having been about 20,000 f
in 1765, and about 52,000 in 1866.
The average annual increases were as follows :
Between 1757 and 1784, 218 ; 1784 and 1792, 386 ;
••• The numbers of births and deaths are given in the registrars'
returns since 1851, this being the first year in which they were
issued in accordance with the Acts of 1849 {Statutes, vol. ii.
pp. 223-53), but they are of little value, as registration was not
made compulsory till 1877. In the three years in which typhoid
fever and small-pox were prevalent the death rates were said
to have been as follow : —
1804. 1865. 1866.
Island 26-4 24-9 23-7
Towns 25-8 22'6 22-8
But it seems very unlikely that the death rate of the towns
would be smaller than that of the island generally. In the
different towns the rates were as follow : —
1864. 1865. 1866.
Peel 20-6 18-1 25-9
Ramsey 30-7 23-5 20-0
Castletown 211 19*6 20-9
Douglas 31-0 29-0 24-3
The general Manx birth rate for 1851-60 was 28-0, and for
1861-70, 29-8, the general death rate for the same periods
being 19-3 and 20-6 i-espectively.
t It was 19,144 in 1757.
VOL. II. 38
towns.
574 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
1792 and 1821, 420 ; 1821 and 1831, 67 ; 1831 and
1841, 623 ; 1841 and 1851, 440 ; 1851 and 1861, 8.
Between 1821 and 1831, when the expansion was
small, and between 1851 and 1861, when the popu-
lation was practically stationary, are the periods
when the greatest amount of emigration took place,
growth in tbe*^ A noticcable feature is the proportionately more
rapid growth of the population in the towns, *
especially Douglas, than in the country, that of the
former having been 4,416 in 1757, and 20,623 in
1861; and that of the latter 14,728 in 1757, and
31,846 in 1861. The country population reached its
maximum in 1851, when it was 34,933. Since then
it has been shrinking rapidly, especially in the
northern district, f
* The town population of Man both in 1792 and 1861 bore
a larger proportion to the country population than that of
England and Wales in 1801 and 1861, and it increased more in
proportion to the country, as the following figures will show.
It must be remembered, however, that, in the case of Eng-
land and Wales, only the 72 largest towns are given, which will
somewhat modify the results : —
1801. 1861.
England and Wales I <"o""t^T 8,892,536 20,066,224
i^ngland and wales I ^^^j^g 2,215,261 7,667,622
6,677,275 12,398,602
1792. I 1861.
Isle of Man 5 Country 20,676 31,846
isle 01 Man | T^^^j^g ,7 237 20,623
27,913 52,469
f For full details as to population see Appendix B.
I Nearest census to 1801, the next being in 1821.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOEY 575
Between 173G and 1814, the increase in the
population of Douglas, and, to a smaller extent,
of the other towns, was partly due to the number
of foreign debtors * w^ho settled in the island. Foreign
" debtors.
But, in 1814, the Manx Legislature passed a law
by which any people of this class who took up
their abode in the island during and after that year
might be prosecuted for the liabilities they had
incurred elsewhere, and so they gradually ceased to
resort to it. This was, at first, a great loss to the
island generally and to Douglas in particular, but
about 1820 the population began to be increased by
the immigration of numerous half-pay officers, who ^j^gg^^g^^
were attracted by the comparative lowness of prices
and freedom from taxation. The influx of these
strangers gave an important impetus to the pros-
perity of the country, t Summer visitors also began ^"^^1.^
to come to such an extent that, in 1820, an insular
newspaper stated that the money received from the
visitors "more than equalled the returns of an
■•' See p. 413, and Robertson, pp. 15 and 21-2. Woods (p. 27),
referring to the debtors, remarks : " The island is so much the
resort of persons of this character, that a man, on his arrival,
is, ipso facto, immediately suspected of coming hither to avoid
his creditors." These persons could only be held to baU for
their personal appearance and for the production of the goods
they had on the island ; they could not be deprived of their
money and clothes. Jefferys' {Guide Bool-, 1809, pp. 63-5)
gives some amusmg evidence as to the mutual aversion of the
Manx and English.
] Enormous numbers of oflBcers were thrown out of employ-
ment after the peace in 1815, and, since their half-pay was
very low, a place where they could live very cheaply was a
necessity.
The lunatics.
Are terribly
neglected.
576 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
ordinary fishery." * This is, however, certainly an
exaggeration, and it was not till after the establish-
ment of regular communication by steamers that
visitors arrived in any great numbers, t It was
calculated that from 20,000 to 30,000 of them came
every year between 1830 and 1850. I In 1852, there
was a sudden increase, and, from that date to 1866,
there were probably from 50,000 to 60,000 visitors
annually. But for the fact that they were obliged
to land in boats at Douglas when the tide was low,
their numbers would doubtless have been greater.
Except for a few scattered notices in the Church
Registers, there is no mention of lunatics in the
island till towards the end of this period. But then,
through the medium of the Press, we learn that
there were poor creatures who were either tied to
stakes in outhouses or stables, being fed on garbage
and clad in rags, or who wandered about absolutely
uncared for. It is true that, after 1849, § the
criminal lunatics were housed in cells at Castle
Rushen, and that other lunatics, not criminal, were
supposed to be sent there, but careful enquiry has
disclosed the fact that, between 1849 and 1864,
their numbers hardly ever exceeded 12, though it is
known that there were at least 90 existing under the
■'• Manks Advertiser. f See p. 588.
I Improved accommodation for the well-to-do visitor was
obtained, in 1834, by the conversion of the ducal palace of
Castle Mona into an hotel. It was calculated that the visitors
at this period expended about ^50,000 annually, and the half-
pay officers, who, with their families, numbered about 500,
jeiOO,000 annually. § Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 257-61.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 577
conditions we have just referred to. Such a shame-
ful state of things brought discredit both on the
Enghsh Government, through its responsible adviser,
the governor, and on the insular Legislature. At
last, in 1851, in response to a letter to the governor
from the Home Secretary, who offered to pay the
whole of the cost of the maintenance of the criminal
lunatics and half the cost of an asylum if the island
would pay the other half, a public meeting was held
to consider the question, when it was decided that
this offer should be accepted and that the island's
share should be raised by voluntary subscriptions.
A sum of £1,500 was thus obtained, but was nearly
all lost by the failure of Holmes' Bank in 1853. In
1856, a legacy of £'4,000 was left for this purpose by
Mr. Breed, but, since there seemed to be no prospect
of raising the remainder of the required amount by
appeals to private benevolence, a memorial was, in
1858, sent to the Home Secretary from the Tynwald
Court, asking him to provide temporary accommo-
dation for the lunatics, while steps were taken to
build a permanent Asylum from the public funds.
He assented, but did nothing to fulfil his promise '^temporary
° ^ asylum in 186 i.
till 1864, when the lunatics were sent to Oatlands
in Santon. * The Lunatic Asylum Act had already
been passed in 1860. By it the Asylum was vested
in the Tynwald Court, which, in 1864, appointed a
* Rushen Abbey was bought for a lunatic asylum by the
insular Government in 1853, but it was not utilized for that
purpose, and an Act was passed to revoke the deed of sale
[Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 97-8).
578 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OP MAN
Permanent
asylum
completed in
1868.
managing committee, of not less than five, from its
members, and a rate was provided for. *
In 1862, a site was purchased near the Strang
village, about 2^ miles from Douglas ; in 1864, a
plan for a building for 110 lunatics was applied for,
and, in 1868, this building t was completed and the
lunatics removed to it. Since then there have been
various additions to accommodate their steadily
increasing number. The increase, it should be said,
appears to be mainly due to the fact that persons
are now admitted as patients who, even at a recent
date, would have been rejected, as not being con-
sidered sufficiently imbecile.
LUNATICS.
Daily average number resident.
Males.
Females.
Totals.
1871
50-9
51-8
102-7
1875
47-3
57-2
104-5
1880
52 5
79-2
131-7
1885
70-5
88-3
158-8
1890
84-8
98-2
1830
1895
88-3
100-8
189-1
1897
85-6
106-8
192-4
1899
901
109-1
199-2
1900
89-8
116-4
206-2
* statutes, vol. iii. pp. 43-73. The cost was divided as sug-
gested by the Home Secretary in 1851.
•j- The total cost of the building, not including later additions,
was ^21,781, of which the English Government paid ^10,908.
The total expenditure on these additions, to June, 1882, was
je-29,888.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOEY 579
There can be no doubt that the Manx, in common Drink,
with their EngHsh, Scottish, and Irish neighbours,
were, between 1700 and 1800, and, to a less extent,
between 1800 and 1857, a very drunken people.
Owing to the prevalence of smuggling, spirits were
extraordinarily cheap till 1798, and, even after that
date, their price * was very low compared to what
it was in England, t Other reasons for the large
amount of drunkenness were that, till 1813, there
was no increase in the cost of the licences for selling
ale, wine, and spirits, which had remained at the
same low figure as in 1740 ; I and that, till 1857, §
there was no effort to regulate the proceedings of
the licence-holders. They might, as far as is known,
sell drink at any time and on any day, |i and the
■■'■ In 1830, rum was 2d., gin 3d., brandy 6d. per glass, the
prices in England being 6d., 8d., and Is. respectively. This
resulted from the great difference in the duties.
f The average consumption of spirits in the Isle of Man, in
1765, was four gallons a head, but this is only on the basis of
the legal importation which was a small part of the whole,
while, in 1862, it was 1-6 gallons. In 1805, 25,000 lbs. of tea,
or about 1 lb. per head, was considered sufficient for insular con-
sumption, whereas about 300,000 lbs., or nearly 6 lb. a head, was
actually used in 1866. The number of visitors in 1862 and 1866,
and their practical absence in 1765 and 1805, should be borne
in muid when estimating the significance of these figures. In
London, in 1750, the average consumption of spirits was said
to be about 14 gallons, whereas between 1865 and 1895 it was
1"48 gallons for both wine and spirits.
I See pp. 405-6. It was made 24s. 6d. for wine, 12s. 3d.
for spirits, 12s. 3d. for ale {Statutes, vol. i. pp. 365-9). In
1819, wine Ucences were raised to 36s. 9d., spirits to 24s. 6d.,
ale remaining as before {Ibid., pp. 404-13).
§ See p. 581.
II Though it is possible that the governor may have inserted
580 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
limitation of their number to 300, by the Act of 1740,
was disregarded.
In 1822, there were 443 * pubHc-houses, or about
one to every 90 of the population, so that the state-
ment of an observer, who wrote about the period
between 1825 and 1840, that " most Manxmen . . .
got drunk with great regularity " f need not cause
any surprise. But, fortunately, there was a growing
sentiment that such a condition of things was
intolerable, and this led, in October, 1830, to the
Less establishment of a temperance society, which was
drunkenness
after 1830. the lorerunuer of so many others that they gradually
included among their members a considerable pro-
portion of the population. The progress in this
respect would doubtless have been more rapid than
it was but for the culpable neglect of the insular
Legislature. The only steps taken in the early part
of the century towards regulation of the liquor
traffic were the enactments, in 1813, that no one
should be granted a licence unless he had obtained
a certificate from an high-bailiff in a town, or a
conditions in their licences by which they were boiind (see
Statutes, vol. i. p. 207).
■'■ Besides 45 grocers' licences, there were 14 public-houses in
Patrick, 16 in German, 9 in Marown, 36 in Peel, 15 in Michael,
13 in Ballaugh, 3 in Jurby, 18 in Andreas, 7 in Bride, 14 in
Lezayre, 46 in Ramsey, 5 in Maughold, 14 in Lonan, 9 in
Conchan, 103 in Douglas, 19 in Braddan, 8 in Santon, 24 in
Malew, 28 in Castletown, 11 in Arbory, and 31 in Eushen.
I Memoirs of H. S. Brown, p. 2. He also says that Hol-
lantide Fair (then held m Athol Street) " was a scene of
drunkeness so great that you could scarcely see a sober
man on the ground" (p. 4).
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IIISTOEY 581
coroner or a minister in a sheading, * and, in 1814,
giving discretion to the governor to revoke a
licence, f A more decided advance was made in
1830, when it was ordered, in the Highwajj Act of
that year, that recognizances must be entered into
before getting a Hcence, and private Hcences for the
sale of wines, spirits, and beer, in quantities of not
less than one pint, were issued. X But it was not ^„^Jj\f^j°gra^,ie
till 1857, when the Taverns Act was passed, that ^'/t^eS?"
any very general improvement resulted. By this
the public-houses were closed on Sundays, § except
as against resident lodgers, and no house could be
licensed unless it had reasonable accommodation for
such lodgers. The amount of the fee for a licence
was raised || and the recognizance was fixed at the
substantial sum of £30. The licences were granted
at the discretion of four courts representing the
towns of Douglas, Eamsey, Castletown, and Peel,
with the adjacent districts, which were composed of
the high-bailiffs, justices of the peace, captains of
the parishes, and the rectors and vicars. The appeal
from this court was to the Staff of Government. 11
The effect of this Act was marvellous.
* Statutes, vol. i. p. 367. | Ibid., p. 406.
\ Ibid., vol. ii. pp. 14-22. The licence on spirits, &c., was
£.1, and on beer ^61. The penalty for selling contrary to the
terms of the licence was, for the first offence, J610, and, for the
second, £,'10. This x\ct repealed those of 1734, 1776, and 1819.
The licences were granted by the governor.
§ Also on Good Friday and any Public Fast Day, and
between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., except on Saturdays, when the
hours for closing were from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
II For both spirits and beer — country, .£4 ; town, ^£5 10s.
H Statutes, vol, ii. pp. 422-9.
582 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Kesult of the
efforts of the
temperance
party.
In 1830, there were 460 public-houses ; * in 1842,
328 ; * and, in 1862, with a larger population, 248.
But the change in the habits of the people was far
greater than is indicated by these figures. The
strenuous efforts of the temperance party, being
now assisted by the law, resulted in a very large
reduction in the amount of drunkenness, though this
was still excessive in proportion to the population.
§ 2. Trade and Industry.
As the island had, in 1765, changed its status
with regard to England from that of being prac-
tically a foreign country, to that of being one of the
possessions of the Crown of Great Britain, its in-
habitants naturally supposed that they, owing to the
new connexion, would be in a more advantageous posi-
tion than before. But this was very far from being
the case, for, though Man did obtain some privileges
by means of it, the Manx people, like the Irish, were
subjected to an oppressive and shortsighted com-
mercial system. Thus, if there were any of their
products which were likely to come into serious
competition with those of Great Britain, their
export was either prohibited or hampered with
heavy duties ; the importation of foreign manu-
=■• Including " ale-houses " where beer only was sold. This
distinction disappeared after 1857 (Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 253-7).
By an Act passed in 1865 greater discretionary powers were
given to the deemsters and justices, so that minor offences
against the licensing laws should not be punished as heavily
as major offences, and occasional licences were allowed to be
granted {Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 253-7).
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 583
facturcd goods, except from Great Britain, was
strictly prohibited ; and the interests of the British
manufacturers were further consulted by the prohibi-
tion of the export of Manx raw material to any
country except Great Britain ;* and no foreign, or,
till 1801, Irish, ships were permitted to carry goods
to or from the island. The effect of these restrictions
was to restrict Manx trade mainly to Great Britain.
Among other grievances were the " Licence
System," to which we will refer further on, and the
confining all exports and imports to the port of
Douglas. Speaking generally, Manx trade with the
United Kingdom was, during the whole of this
period, burdened, as regards by far the greater
number of articles of commerce, with all the
restrictions and regulations usually imposed upon
foreign countries. That such restrictions upon
trade were favoured by intelligent men, even as late
as 1791, is shown by the fact that the commis-
sioners, while recommending " uniformity of principle
in imposing duties on the same article in Great
Britain and the Isle of Man,"t expressed their
concurrence in the maxim that "Foreign articles,
which for the protection of British manufacturers,
are forbidden to be imported into Great Britain, or
are made liable to heavy duties, should be prohibited
to be imported into the Isle of Man."t But the
worst drawback to Manx trade was the introduction
"-^' The restrictions on trade varied in their details from time to
time, but full particulars would be both wearisome and unprofit-
able. I Comrs.' Report, p. 38.
584 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The licence of the liceiice svstem. Under it only limited
system and its . . ■.
results. quantities of such articles as spirits, tea, tobacco,
sugar, coffee, and salt, could be imported, and, for
these articles, licences had to be obtained from the
Board of Customs in London. These arrangements
resulted in a few English merchants giving a number
of fictitious names and so obtaining a monopoly of
the licences. They then had the Manx merchants
and people at their mercy, charging them enormous
prices for the most inferior articles.* After the
report of the commissioners was issued in 1792, the
licences f were granted to Manxmen only, but the
chief consequence of this change was that a few
Manx merchants made large fortunes, while the
unfortunate consumers paid too much as before.
The licence system continued in force till 1844
(nominally, till 1853), though it was not only unfair
to the consumers, but furnished a strong incentive
to smuggHng because the quantities of the articles
allowed to be imported were frequently I too small
for the consumption of the rapidly increasing
population. And yet it is curious to find the
Treasury in 1853, while fully assenting to the
evils of the licence system, which they then
- Comrs.' Report, Appendix (B), Nos. 77, 84, and 86.
f The process of granting these licences was as follows : The
governor allotted them " among the different applicants in such
proportions as " he judged " fair and equitable," and then the
applicants had to give a bond with sufficient security that they
would import the whole of the goods mentioned in theu* licences
(advt. in Manhs Advertiser, May 11, 1801).
X Up to 1816. After that date the quantities were often
below it.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 585
abolished, stating that they believed it to be
" the only means by which extensive smugglinf]j
can be prevented " * when there was a large
difference between the amounts of Manx and
English duties.
There were, however, some points in which the ^^J^tiie^^^
EngHsh connexion was advantageous to Manx trade. Eng'iand.'^'^"'^
Manxmen obtained bounties on the export of linen
goods and cured herrings, articles which did not
compete with those made by British manufacturers.!
They also obtained the permission, asked for in vain
in 1711, that all " Bestials or any other goods of the
growth, product, and manufacture" t of the island,
with, however, the important exceptions of woollen
goods and beer, should be landed in Great Britain
duty free. Further, they were allowed to import,
free of duty, salt, boards, and timber, being the
produce and manufacture of Great Britain, and iron,
cotton, indigo, naval stores, &c., from the British
Plantations in America, on condition that they were
shipped in British vessels ; while brown linen cloth,
hemp or hemp seed, utensils and instruments
employed in manufactures, fisheries, or agriculture,
bricks and tiles, young trees, &c., might be imported
on the same conditions from both Great Britain and
"^^ Pari. Papers (1853), p. 1. In 1826, sugar was selling at
Is. 6d. per stone, coffee at 6d. per lb., tea at Is. per lb., and
rum at Is. per gallon more than in England {Maiiks
Advertiser).
f The linen trade at this time was almost entirely Irish.
I See Comrs.' Report, App. (A) No. 7 and (B) No. 86 and
Statutes, vol. i. p. 187.
586 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Effect of the
regulations of
the local
authorities
upon trade.
Ireland.* It must be remembered, too, that, as
Manx ships had now become British ships, Manx-
men were allowed to convey their exports and im-
ports to and from the United Kingdom in their own
ships. And it should also be mentioned that the
free f importation of ' ' corn or grain coming from
any part or place whatsoever, except from Great
Britain,! which they had previously enjoyed was not
interfered with. So much for the influence of the
English connexion on the Manx trader.
Let us now see how he was treated by his local
authorities. Forestallers and regrators were punished
as strictly as ever, and embargoes on the export of
corn and other provisions were frequently imposed
on the most inadequate pretexts. § The effect of the
embargoes was, as regards the traders, to curtail their
opportunities of making money. They were, in fact,
in such bondage to the landowners that they did not,
as a rule, venture to take advantage of the free trade
in foreign corn,j except for the purpose of the
smuggling trade with Great Britain. Another cir-
cumstance which prejudicially affected Manx trade
during the first few years of the nineteenth century
■-'= But it should be noted that the same articles from " foreign
parts " were subjected to heavy duties.
f Except for harbour dues. On British corn £5 ad valorem
had to be paid. Flax seed, brown linen yarn, wood ashes and
weed ashes, and flesh of all sorts were free, but the quantities
of these imported were very small.
I Geo. III. c. 45.
§ See Lib. Scacc, 1775, 1784, 1787, 1795-6, 1798. For discus-
sion of the effect of this on prices see pp. 558-62.
II Comrs.' Eeport, App. (B) No. 21 and Ch.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOEY 587
was the existence of an enormous number of promis-
sory notes or cards,* issued by Manx tradesmen, for
sums under twent}' shillings. The circulation of
these notes injured public credit, facilitated forgery,
and nearly banished legitimate currency.! In 1813,
the Duke of Atholl expressed his abhorrence of the
system,! and, in 1816, a local newspaper remarked
that "the circulating medium is universally allowed
to be in the most deplorable condition," and that
" the inconveniences therefrom are such as to
threaten the island with general ruin."!^ To cure
this state of things, an Act was passed in 1817 which Notes under
... il are
abolished all notes under the value of £1, made the abolished in
1S17.
real and personal estates of the issuers liable for
their pajmient, and ordered that no bank notes of the
value of £1 or above should be issued without a
licence costing £20. 'I This legislation produced a
very wholesome effect in promoting the improvement
of trade which gradually revived. The revival was
assisted by the initiation of occasional steam com- This and other
munication in 1819, and by the regular IT establish- revi^vai of
•' ° trade.
* There were also a large number of forged Bank of England
notes in the island {Manhs Advertiser, 1811).
I The only Manx notes of undoubted value at this time were
those issued by Taubman, Quayle, and Kelly, at their bank in
CastletowTi, which was established in 1802. It may be noted
that an " Isle of Man Insurance Co." was started at Castletown
in 1811, but it only lasted a shoi't time.
\ Manlcs Advertiser, 1811.
§ Ibid. dG4,400 of old silver was sent from the island in 1815
and new silver got from the mint.
II Statutes, vol. i. pp. 393-4.
^ A coach was first established in 1803, but did not run for
long.
588 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OP MAN
ment of stage coaches in 1821. Very remarkable
was the change which the use of steamers for transit
between Man and the mainland made in bringing
the little island into closer and less intermittent
connexion with its neighbours.* Its full advantage
was not felt till 1829, when the steam communica-
tion between Douglas and Liverpool became a
regular one by the institution of sailings in accordance
with the tides, three times weekly. So great was the
consequent influx of strangers that, at the end of the
year, a Manx company f was formed to purchase " a
steampacket for the exclusive service of the Island. "t
revivaHn°i84o^ ^^ 1840, a chcck to this rcvival of trade was caused
tempm-ary. by the troubles about the currency to which we have
referred in a previous chapter ; § and, in 1843, it
suffered a still more serious reverse by the suspension
of the Isle of Man Joint Stock Banking Company. |i
''■'• In 1798, there were thirty-two vessels, mostly of small
size, plying between Liverpool and the island. Twenty-five
of these belonged to Douglas and seven to Eamsey. Thirty of
them were traders only, the other two, The Duke of Athol and
The Lapwing also carried mails and passengers, and usually did
the passage between Liverpool and Douglas in 24 hours.
The Duke of Athol, which was the largest, was a sloop of
50 feet keel : the fares 7s. 6d. and 5s. each way. There was a
fee on landing of Is. 6d. to the customs searcher. Passengers
found their own food. The first steamers which called at the
island were the Robert Bruce and Highland Chieftain, in 1819,
which plied between Liverpool, Port Patrick, and Greenock.
In 1821, the St. George S. P. Co. began to run steamers between
the same ports, as did the City of Glasgow, Majestic, and
Superb, steamers of another company.
t Still in existence. \ Manks Advertiser.
§ P. 416.
II This bank was founded in 1836 with a capital of 10,000
Manx trade
more
profitable.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 589
Thanks, however, to the aboHtion of harbour dues in
1844, to the partial removal, in the same year, of the
oppressive monopolies granted by the licence system,
to a more liberal tariff, and to the permission given
to the other towns, as well as Douglas, to import
produce direct, trade soon improved, notwithstanding
the general commercial depression between 1847 and
1851. Further causes which tended to render Manx re^^Hj^ing
trade more profitable than it had been formerly were :
(1) the provision in the Imperial Act of 1853 that the
Isle of Man should be deemed a part of the United
Kingdom and that therefore foreign goods, except
tobacco and spirits, might be bonded there ; *
(2) the abolition of the last remains of the licence
system in that year ; and (3) the great reduction
made in the number of dutiable articles in England
in 1843, 1853, and 1860. f In 1851, the Bank of
Mona, a branch of the Bank of Glasgow, was
founded. In 1853, on the failure of Messrs. Holmes's
bank, Messrs. Dumbell commenced a private bank-
ing business which has since t been formed into a
public company ; and, in 1858, the Isle of Man
Banking Company started. In 1859, an insular
telegraphic company established communication
shares of £5 each, the Bank of Wulff and Forbes, which had
been established in 1826, havmg been merged in it. Wulff and
Forbes were the first in the island to do a purely banking
business, since Messrs. Taubman, Quayle, and Kelly (see p. 587)
had other business as well.
■■'~ By Section 346. This was conceded to Douglas in 1854 and
to Ramsey in 1862.
f In 1842, 1,052 articles paid duty; in 1853,466; and, in 1860,
48. + In 1874.
VOL. II. 39
590
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Chief exports
and imports.
Industries.
with England. Since 1821, the insular Government
has not attempted to interfere with the ordinary
course of trade, its work, in this respect, being
chiefly in the direction of regulating weights and
measures.* The increase of joint-stock under-
takings rendered the Acts of 1851, 1856, and 1865
necessary, t The last of these acts recognized the
principle of "Limited Liability," and it ordered
that no company of more than twenty persons
should henceforth be formed, unless registered as a
company under it or another Act of Tynwald.
The chief exports of the island were horses, cattle,
sheep, swine, coarse linens, including sailcloth,
potatoes, butter, hides, lead, and zinc ore, fresh and
cured herrings and other fish, and, till about 1830,
kelp ; while its chief imports were coal, salt, iron,
tobacco, spirits, groceries, and haberdashery.
"VVe now have to deal with the insular industries.
After 1765, as we have seen, all Manx products,
except woollen goods I and beer, the exportation of
which was prohibited, could be landed in England
'■'• Its main object was to insm*e that such aii)icles as coal,
potatoes, bread, corn, flour, and meal should be sold by weight
and not by measure. It therefore fixed the weights of a bushel
of corn, &c., as follows : Wheat or vye, 64 lbs.; barley, 56 lbs. ;
oats, 42 lbs. ; peas or beans, 60 lbs. A boU of wheat or rye
was 256 lbs., at 4 bushels to the boU, while a boll of barley
was 336 lbs., and of oats, 252 lbs, at 6 bushels to the boll.
{Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 32-3, 137-41, and 293-4; vol. iii. pp.
100-2.)
f Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 282-8 and pp. 360-419; vol. iii.
pp. 258-321.
J Manx wool was allowed to be exported to England only.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 591
duty free ; * and, till 1833, bounties were given to
those who span the most linen yarn, and wove and ex-
ported the greatest number of yards of linen cloth. f
The domestic manufactures of the island were no
doubt stimulated by this legislation, and continued to
flourish during the greater part of this period, such
articles as linen and woollen cloths, nets, coarse hats,t
gloves and snuff § being the chief products till they
were gradually superseded by the introduction of
machine-made goods. ||
The manufacture of kelp IT (for the most part,
consumed at home in soap-making) was, till about
1830, when it was put an end to by the discovery of
a process for decomposing sea-salt,*"* a fairly large
industry. Notwithstanding the bounties, the Manx
export trade was comparatively a small one, until
factories were established. The first of these was Establishment
of factories
started at Ballasalla, in 1779, for spinning cotton,
which was exported to England to be woven into
cloth there. It was at this factory that the spinning-
jenny was first used in the island. For twelve years f f
a flourishing business was carried on, but, in 1791, the
customs officials in Liverpool discovered that it was
* Commissioners' Report, App. (A), No. 17 and App. (B),
No. 44. f Acts 5 and 7 Geo. III.
I These were made " of coarse woollen, in substance extremely
thick and heavy " (Teignmouth, vol. ii. p. 209). They cost 2s.
§ Woods, p. 166. Ballasalla was famous for its gloves.
II A small quantity of flannel and woollen cloth is still spun
and woven. IT Quayle, p. 141.
■■■■■.' By this the crude carbonate of soda was obtained at a
lower price and of a better quality than from sea-weed,
tt Woods, p. 57.
592 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
in direct contravention of the Act of 1765, which
prohibited "the importation from Man into Britain
of any foreign goods, hemp and flax excepted,
whether in their raw state, or wholly or partly
manufactured, either with or without any native
materials,"* and they, therefore, put a stop to the
importation of cotton yarn into Liverpool. The
owner t of the mill complained to the commissioners,
who were then sitting in the island, and they recom-
mended that he should be allowed to export his
yarn duty free. But no notice was taken of this
recommendation till 1798, so that the factory had,
in the meantime, to be closed, and was not re-opened,
though, in that j^ear, " cotton yarn or cotton cloth,
being the manufacture of the Isle of Man " I was
allowed to be imported into Great Britain duty free,
and this was confirmed in 1805. § A manufactory
for the printing of cotton cloth was also established
about this time, but was soon abandoned. About
1790, flax mills began operations, and these were
successful because there was a considerable home
demand for linen goods, and, as we have seen, their
export was not only permitted, but, until 1833, en-
couraged by bounties. Ij They were also favoured by
='= Act 5 Geo. III. See Commissioners' Report, App. (B),
No. 44. It may be noted that, in 1778, Ireland had obtained the
privilege of exporting cotton j'ani.
f Abraham de la Prj-me.
I 45 Geo. III. cap. 99. § 38 Geo. III. cap. 63.
II The average annual number of j'ards of linen exported
between 1781 and 1790 was 50,640; between 1791 and 1800,
50,685; and between 1801 and 1810, 58,830 (Quayle, p. 179).
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 593
possessing excellent water power.* The largest of
these mills, which originally made *' sheeting, towel-
ling, sailcloth, and sackcloth," f but, since about
1850, sailcloth only, is at Tromode, near Douglas, t
Cotton nets for the herring fishery § were also made
there by machinery between 1852 and 1866. ii A
woollen mill was started at the "Union Mills" in
1807, where the fleeces of Manx sheep were mainly
used, and, at a later date, similar mills were founded
at Sulby and St. John's,! as well as paper mills and
tanneries in various localities. For a time, too, the
illegitimate trade in corn and flour, referred to in § 3,
flourished, "and was the cause of the building of some
large flour mills. It was about 1848 that machinery
driven by steam power was first used in any of these
factories and mills, and this, being applied to weaving
as well as spinning, led to a large and profitable
expansion of their output. Breweries also flourished,
there having been, in 1810, no fewer than twenty-
two of them.H In 1823, the brewers were prohibited,
in the agricultural interest, from using sugar
■''■ This was applied to spinning only, not to weaving, which,
till the introduction of steam power, was carried on by hand
only.
i Woods, p. 58.
I There was a large flax miU at Laxey which was destroyed
by fire in 1812.
§ Till 1852, herring nets were made of coarse hempen thread
caMed jeeb in, which was spun by the fishermen's families.
II In 1866, these machines were sold to a Peel manufacturer.
IT Distillation was forbidden by the Act of 1767 (7 Geo. III.
cap. 45)., but, up to 1813, when the stills were discovered and
destroyed, a good deal of illicit distillmg went on.
594 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
molasses or other substitutes for malt, and this
remained the law till 1874.* The next important
Shipbuilding. Manx industry is shipbuilding. There must always
have been a considerable amount of it in the island,
and, notwithstanding the imposition, in 1780, of a
duty of 10 per cent, ad valorem on the importation
of foreign timber,! it slowly increased till 1828, when
it received a sudden impetus from the establishment,
in Douglas, of a shipbuilding yard, called Bath Yard,
where several fine barques were launched, some
being of as much as 600 tons burthen.! In 1834, a
shipyard was started at Eamsey, and another, in
1835, at Peel. A local newspaper at this time
expresses an opinion that "the gigantic strides of our
shipbuilders have excited the alarm of our neigh-
bours," § and that the agitation on this question inEng-
land would cause a higher duty to be laid on timber.
In 1837, the British Government had actually intended
to do this, but the Manx delegates protested so
strongly against it, both then and in 1845, that,
though the form of duty was altered in the latter
year, its amount was only slightly raised, ii Ship-
building, therefore, went steadily on and, between
1853 and 1866, when there was no duty on timber
imported into the island, it greatly flourished. H
'■■'• Statutes, vol. i. pp. 420-1, and vol. iv. p. 383. The export
of malt to England was forbidden in 1828.
\ In 1767, a tax of 5 per cent, was imposed,
\ The " King Orry " steamer belonging to the Isle of Man
Steam Packet Company was built in this yard in 1841.
§ Manks Advertiser. || See Appendix A.
H The Manx duty on timber was abolished in 1853 and there-
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOKY 595
Many fine schooners of from 100 to 200 tons were
launched, mainly from Peel, and they earned such a
reputation for swiftness that they were largely em-
ployed in the fruit trade.* Herring fishing boats
were also turned out in increasing numbers, and their
size and speed underwent steady improvement.
Between 1834 and 1848, another industry, that of
printing newspapers, attained abnormal dimensions. Printing.
This was due to an Imperial Act, passed in 1834,
which granted to the Isle of Man and the Channel
Islands the right of transmitting newspapers post
free to all parts of the Empire. One result of this
was that adventurers set up printing presses in the
island and produced extensive issues of newspapers
solely for circulation out of it. So many persons of
doubtful character embarked in this business that, in
1846, an Act of Tynwald was passed which enacted
that no persons should print or publish a newspaper
till they had signed a declaration specifying their
names, descriptions, and place of abode, the places
where their papers were printed and the titles of
their papers, t These regulations, however, had but
little effect in checking the number of the publica-
tions, and to such an extent did they interfere with
the circulation of EngHsh newspapers that, in 1848,
fore Manxmen could import timber from Norway free, though
EngHshmen had to pay a heavy duty on it. In 1860, the
EngUsh duty was considerably reduced, and, in 1866, it was
repealed, so that this advantage ceased.
■■'■ In 1853, six of them were chartered by Portuguese mer-
chants for this trade.
f Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 159-166.
596 mSTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
an Imperial Act was passed * to make all newspapers
sent from the islands aforesaid liable to the full rates
of postages to Great Britain and Ireland ; but they
were permitted, for some years longer, to send them
free to France, Belgium, Spain, and any British
Colony. When this last privilege was withdrawn,
they soon disappeared. These newspapers were
quite distinct from the ordinary local newspaper, the
earliest of which, The Manks Mercury and Briscoe's
Douglas Advertiser, \ was first issued in 1792. t It
came to an end in 1801. The more successful Manks
Advertiser began in 1801 and lasted till 1845. The
newspapers at present circulating in the island are
the Manx Sun, I the Mona's Herald,'^ the Isle of Man
Times,\\ the Isle of Man Examiner, % the Feel City
Guardian,** the Bamsey Courier, i\ the Bamsey
Weekly Neivs,ll and the Manx^nan.^^
Acts dealing The Spread of industrial enterprise generally after
industries. I860 is shown by the passage of Acts for abating the
nuisances arising from the smoke of furnaces and
factories in or near towns and for making arrange-
ments for the working of telegraphs and construction
of railways.* No railway was, however, constructed
during this period, though, as early as 1845, there had
been a scheme for one between Douglas and Peel.
- 11 and 12 Vic. c. 117. See Gell {Manx Soc, vol. xii.
p. 216). i Dates of first issue are given.
I Originally "The Rising Sun," 1821. § 1833.
II 1861. A daily issue of this paper was started in 1897.
II 1880. -- 1882. It 1884.
It 1889. §§ 1895.
II II Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 36-40 and 209-48.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 597
§ 3. Smuggling.
The Mischief Act of 1765,* though it did not,
as will be seen, put an end to the operations of the
smugglers, reduced, at first, not only them, but the
inhabitants of the island generally, to a panic-stricken
condition. This is graphically described by an eye-
witness as follows : " Nothing now, but anarchy
and confusion ... as it was not possible, on so
short a time, to get off all the inhibited stuff, the
merchant was obHged to secure it as well as he ^osuio'^pf ,^
" affairs after the
could in remote and distant places. Those who ifSe/ic^.^
knew of this in many cases betrayed their trust,
either directly or indirectly giving informations ;
others purloined what was thus deposited, others
stole from the stealers, and others from them again.
Bands of armed men go about the country terrifying
the people and entering their houses in search of
teas, &c. Mr. Lutwidge, the general surveyor, has
no less than 50 coast officers and tide waiters
along with him, planted in the several ports, besides
the crews of 2 or 3 cutters at call. All this
must naturally occasion riotous and tumultuous
doings. One side in pursuit of and chastising with
great severity those they suspect to be informers,
and the other side protecting and defending them.
'Tis a very melancholy situation we are in . . . all
our people of property are making up their matters
as fast as they can and preparing to quit a place
governed by martial law and the violence of arms." *
■■• Letter from Philip Moore to Bishop Hildesley, dated
July, 1765 (MS.).
598 SISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
This state of things, however, did not last long.
Smuggling soon recommenced, and, in 1767, the
The Act of 1767. passage of an Act which repealed the duties imposed
by Tynwald, substituting for them much heavier
duties levied by the authority of the Imperial Parlia-
ment, and limiting the quantities of spirits, tea,
and tobacco to be imported from England,* actually
The smuggling cncouraged it, though it injured legitimate trade.
The same effect was produced by the large increase
of taxation in England after 1776. These state-
ments are proved by the evidence given to the
commissioners, in 1791, to the effect that large
quantities of French brandy and geneva were
smuggled both into and out of the island, though
their importation was prohibited, t that not a gallon
of British spirits, and not one pound of tea I had
paid duty for many years, though these commodities
had been largely consumed. § Tobacco was also
extensively smuggled into the island because persons
unconnected with the island got licences "under
fictitious names, for the quantity importable," § and
- 7 Geo. III. c. 45.
I Commissioners' Report, Appendix (B), Nos. 77 and 79.
See also § 2 " Trade." It shoiild be borne in mind that these
commodities were not allowed to be imported from any other
comitry but England.
I Ibid. No duty had been paid on tea since 1764, though
the amount of the duty does not appear high, being Is. up
to 1780, and 6d. after that date, especially considering that
the price of tea was about 6s. per lb. ; but it must be remem-
bered that, till 1784, when it was reduced to 12^^ per cent., the
English duty was 119 per cent. By, 1806, it had again risen
to 96 per cent., and, after that date, it gradually fell.
§ Ibid., (D), No. 26.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 599
then sent "the refuse of the market"* to Man,
where it was sold at an extravagant price. Salt,
which was allowed to be imported in unlimited
quantities to any port in the island from Great
Britain and Ireland, without duty, was illicitly sent
back again.*
To cure this state of affairs, the commissioners Recommenda-
tions of the
recommended an annual admission of a limited and commissioners
of 1791.
licensed quantity of foreign spirits, subject to a
small duty, a reduction of the duty on tea,f the
stationing of revenue cutters off the island,* and
the extension of certain of the salt laws of Great
Britain to it. I They also advised the registry of
all boats employed in the herring fishery, § and the
revision of the revenue laws.il Most of the com-
missioners' suggestions were carried out by the Act
of 1798 ; ^ the whole system of collecting customs
was radically changed, and the staff of officials
largely increased. These reforms, together with
the stationing of armed revenue cutters and cruisers
=■'■ Commissioners' Report, Appendix (D), No. 26 and (B), No. 82.
t Ibid., p. 44. I Ibid., p. 47.
§ Ibid., p. 48. Hitherto, in accordance with the Act of
Parliament of 1780, only boats over fifteen tons burden had
been registered. || Ibid., pp. 49-50.
•T " An Act for the further encouragement of the Trade and
Manufactures of the Isle of Man, for improving the Revenue
thereof, and for the more effectual prevention of Smuggling."
This Act was continued till 1805, when, with some alterations
in the proportions of spirits allowed to be imported, it was
confirmed. By it the importation of British spirits, except
nun of the British colonies, was prohibited. As British
spirits were not consumed in the island at this time, it had
of com-se no effect (38 Geo. III. c. 63j.
600 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
off the island, resulted in the decrease of smuggling
and the rapid increase of the insular revenue. After
1798, smugghng still continued, but it consisted,
almost entirely, in smuggling out of, not into, the
island. Thus, in 1805, J. C. Curwen, speaking in
Parliament, said, " No inconsiderable proportion of
duties arise in the Isle of Man on commodities
paying low duties, afterwards clandestinely re-
shipped and smuggled back again" to England.
The total amount of smuggling was, however,
evidently much smaller, though salt,* till about
1810, brandy,! till 1846, and tobacco, between 1819
and 1826, t were objects of a considerable illicit
traffic. For a short time, also, two other methods
of defrauding the Imperial revenue were practised.
The first arose after 1823, when the privilege, which
the Manx had always enjoyed, of importing foreign
corn free § was abused by importing foreign wheat
from the bonded warehouses in Liverpool into the
island, grinding it into flour there to avoid the duty,
and then exporting it to England as Manx flour, ji
'■"' The tax on salt was 15s. per bushel, or about fifteen times
its value in 1805, but it was soon afterwards greatly reduced.
f The English tax on brandy was 14s. per gallon in 1807,
20s. 7d. in 1812, 18s. lOd. in 1814, 25s. 6d. in 1825, 22s. lOd.
in 1840, 15s. in 1846, 10s. 5d. in 1860.
I This tax was largely increased in the former year and re-
duced in the latter.
§ See p. 586. Till 1822, practically no foreign wheat was
imported into England. In 1830, 1,701,885 quarters, and in
1842, 2,977,302 quarters, were imported.
II No less than 25,141 quarters of wheat are said to have
been treated in this way in one year {Manks Advertiser).
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY GOl
This practice continued till 1828, when an Imperial
Act * was passed to put an end to it. The other
method of cheating the customs was the importa-
tion of English machinery into the island, as if for
insular manufacturers, and then exporting it to the
Continent. This was stopped in 184-1. Isolated j^;?^^f;^^fi^
cases of smuggling occurred till 1853, after which ^es^sed before
date, owing to the increase of duties, it practically
ceased.
§ 4. Revenue and Expenditure.
By the Act of 1767 f any surplus revenue, re- Revenue.
maining after the payment of the expenses of
Government and of the encouraging, improving,
and regulating the trade, manufactures, and fisheries
of the island, was reserved for the disposition of
Parliament. This surplus was, however, ordered
to be paid into the exchequer " distinctly and apart
from all other branches of the public revenue,"! and
there was, therefore, a reasonable assumption that
it was reserved for insular purposes. We shall see,
however, that the Imperial Government did not
view the matter in that light, but, since there was
no surplus before 1796, no question arose till after that
date. Before that year, indeed, the revenue, which
at one time almost disappeared,! was actually less
than the expenditure, though this was very small,
scarcely anything being spent on the insular harbours
- 9 Geo. IV. c. 20. f 7 Geo. III. c. 45.
I In 1766, it was ^704 ; in 1767, ^6574 ; and, in 1768, which
was the lowest, ^£530, see Appendix C.
602 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
and public buildings, which, in consequence, rapidly
snmuamount^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^ state of decay. Smuggling was the
main cause of this, but it was also due to gross
malversation and corruption, as well as inefficient
management, on the part of the insular customs
officials. Such being the case, the commissioners,
who were appointed in 1791, received instructions
to investigate all questions * connected with the
revenue.
Report of the Thev exprcsscd themselves as being thoroughly
Commissioners ^ i. o o j
in 1791. dissatisfied with "the system of managing the
customs," f remarking that it was, " in many of
the fundamental and most essential parts and
requisites, ill digested, incomplete, and unfit," t
that most of the officers I were ignorant of their
duties, lax, and disorderly, and that " nothing short
of a radical change" could "reach the evil, and
communicate order, regularity, and energy." § They
further expressed their opinion that the best method
of producing this change was " to place the revenue
under the management of the Commissioners of
the customs for England or Scotland." § And
there can be no doubt that they were correct in
their conclusions, since the reform of the customs
''■' For allegations of the diike, see pp. 534-5.
f Commissioners' Eeport, p. 33.
I They condemned the office of receiver-general, which had
become one of revenue purely, because it was a mere sinecure
(he acting by deputy), and because it " intercepts and delays
the passage into the Exchequer of whatever sums may be
remitted from the Island on account of Revenue." {Ibid., p. 34.)
This officer was responsible to the English Government only.
§ Commissioners' Report, p. 35.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOEY 603
establishment on the hnes indicated by them, Results of the
reforms
together with the passage of Acts reforming and |^^^°j^™®°'^^'^
altering the customs duties, eventuated in producing
a large and steadily increasing revenue. The first
year in which revenue exceeded expenditure was
1796, and, between that date and 1805, the surplus
revenue, after paying all expenses, amounted to
£23,000. From this period the gross revenue
rapidly increased, but, owing to the expenditure
on the island not expanding in an equal ratio, the
net revenue increased still more rapidly.* Can it
be wondered at, then, that the Manx people, whose
harbours were neglected, and whose pubhc buildings
were falling into decay owing to the penurious
policy of the Government, were profoundly dis-
satisfied, and that they protested that the surpluses
justly belonged to them ? We have already referred,
in Chapter I. of this Book, to their first effort, in
1781, to obtain these surpluses. Their next was ai^cumuiated
in 1802, when the attorney and solicitor-general, to que^gtion.
whom their petition had been referred, stated in
Parliament that the only object in imposing new
duties on the island was the protection of British
trade, and not the acquisition of revenue ; and the
third was in 1805, t when the declaration of John
Christian Curwen in the House of Commons that
the surplus revenue had been set apart for the use of
the Manx people was not contradicted. In the
-•' Appendix C.
\ Theix immediate object in this and the other petitions was
to prevent the duke from getting further compensation.
604 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
latter year a committee of the House of Commons
was appointed to enquire into the question. By its
report, which was in similar terms to that of the
Law Officers of the Crown in 1802, the reasonable-
ness of the protests of the Manx people was amply
confirmed. The committee stated that the amount
of the surplus to the credit of the Isle of Man was
then over £23,000 ; also that, in addition to this, a
material portion of revenue, which must fairly be
considered as arising from the Isle of Man, was
carried to the account of the British revenue, and
so did not appear in the account of the produce of
the duties of the island;* but, while recommending,
as we have seen, that the duke's claim should be
granted, they did not refer to the claim of the
Manx people to the surplus, and the Bill, which
carried their recommendation as regards the duke
into effect, provided that the Manx surplus revenue
should be paid into and form part of the Con-
solidated Fund, instead of into a separate and
distinct fund as before, t In consequence of this
the English Government maintained that the
absorption of the Manx surplus in the Consohdated
Fund gave them the right to the absolute disposal
* Report of Keys committee in 1891.
t An amendment, which was accepted by the Government
and passed, to the effect that, if at any time the surplus, after
the herring bounties were paid, should be insufficient to pay
the amoimt due to the duke, the balance should be made good
out of the Consolidated Fund, instead of remaining a charge on
the insular revenue, never came into operation, since the
balances were always more than sufficient for the purpose.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOKY 605
of it, so that the Manx people were actually placed
in a worse position than in 1767. Year after year
the surplus exceeded the amount payable to the
duke, and the excess went to swell the revenues
of the United Kingdom. No steps towards putting
a stop to this were taken till 1837, when, in con-
sequence of a report that the Government intended
to raise the customs duties, the agitation was
renewed. A deputation* was sent to London to They take
■^ action in 1837
mterview Lord John Russell about the pro-
posed changes, but, owing to the death of King
William IV., they were unable to see him. They
therefore wrote to him and informed him that the
Isle of Man claimed to be treated in accordance with
the principle recognized by the Act of 1778, t by
which the revenues of the North American Colonies
were declared to be at the disposal of the colonists.
They urged that their case was far stronger than
that of the colonists, because the Isle of Man, as
being an ancient and independent kingdom, stood
on a higher footing ; I that by the Manx Constitu-
tion no tax, duty or custom, could be imposed upon
them without the consent of the Tynwald Court ;
that the duties and customs imposed by the Imperial
Parliament on the island were in the nature of
penalties for the protection of the revenue of the
=■• John Moore and Philip Garrett (members of the House of
Keys), Thomas A. Corlett (vicar-general), John James Moore,
and J. C. Bluett.
t 18 Geo. III. c. 12.
I In 1853 the Keys stated that the island had " all the
essence of an mdependent state" (Pari. Papers, p. 47).
VOL. II. 40
Government.
606 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
United Kingdom, and that they should not be in-
creased beyond the amount necessary for doing
this.* They then presented him with a statement
showing that, even after deducting the sums paid
to the Dukes of Atholl for the insular customs,
there still remained a surplus to the credit of the
island.! We are not informed what Lord John
Eussell said in reply to these contentions, but it is
probable that his answer was much the same as the
following, which was received when the question
The answer of again arose in 1844: " The revenues of the Isle of
the Enghsh "
Man belong to the public, on whose behalf they
were purchased of the Duke of Atholl, and, after
* These arguments were repeated in 1853 and 1866.
f We have not been able to obtain a copy of the original
statement, the following being merely an estimate : —
Surplus revenue, 1796-1835 JE383,349
To the AthoUs, in 1765, for customs... ^24,000
Annuity to Duchess, 1765-1804 69,600
Duke, 1805-1825 60,000
Paid to Duke in 1826 (for annuity under
theActof 1805) 150,000
Deficit to 1796 31,000
Red Pier and fortifications 34,000
368,600
Surplus.. .^14,749
The j9100,000 for the patronage of the bishopric and fourteen
advowsons was not included, since the Government could not
expect to get paid for this, nor was the ^£167, 144 for the rents,
demesne lands, mines, &c., because it derived an income from
them. This income has been nearly ^8,000 per annum between
1830 and 1899, which gives about 4^] per cent, on the capital.
Full particulars as to the items of this income are given in
Appendix D.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 607
the current expenditure of the Island is defrayed,
under sanction of the Lords Commissioners of Her
Majesty's Treasury, the surplus is available for the
general purposes of the country." * Notwithstand-
ing this, there is no doubt that the action of the
Government with regard to the harbour dues t was
equivalent to a declaration that it did not intend to
press its claim for any additional surplus from the
island, and that such additional surplus, if any,
should be spent there. After 1844, no further
question was ^raised till 1853, when the Keys, on
a letter from the secretary of the Treasury to the
governor, with a proposal to increase the customs
duties, being laid before them, stated that " all obser-
vations they make upon the subject of the revenue
derived from the Isle of Man are so made under a
conviction that the Legislature of this island have
a clear and undoubted right to the use and applica-
tion of the surplus of such revenue beyond the
amount paid for the Government of the Isle of
Man." I They passed certain resolutions, among
which was one that " the whole of the surplus
revenue arising from the customs duties" should
be "annually paid over to a separate account, and
apphed by the Tynwald Court for public improve-
ments in the Isle of Man," § and they appointed
delegates ji to go to London to fully represent their
* Manx Sun. f See p. 628.
I Pari. Papers (1853), p. 13. § Ibid., p. 14.
II Messrs. Callister and Dumbell. Governor Hope and the
Council co-operated with the Keys in the effort to secure a
favourable settlement.
608 HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
views to the Government. These delegates made
the following proposals, as a condition of the assent
of the Keys to the increased tariff : That the island
should be required to contribute a sum of ^620,000
annually to the Imperial revenue, out of which the
Treasury should pay all the expenses of the insular
Government, including the £2,300 in lieu of harbour
dues, and that all the surplus above that amount
should be dealt with as directed by the governor
and Tynwald. The Treasury replied that it was
" expressly enacted that all the surplus revenue
should be paid into the public exchequer," but that,
since " their object in the arrangement connected
with an increase in the duties " was " not to increase
the revenue derived from the Isle of Man," they would
" be prepared to add to the sum of =62,300 . . . such
further sum as, upon computation, it shall appear
as likely to be received under the changes of tariff
now proposed." *
This sum, which was estimated at one-ninth of
the revenue,! was to be handed to the Harbour
Commissioners, but the decision as to what public
works it was to be applied to was to be entrusted to
the governor and Legislature, instead of to the
Harbour Commissioners,! who were not then
responsible to the Tynwald Court, on the under-
'■^'- Pari. Papers (1866), p. 2. These papers give a summary
of the much more lengthy " Papers " of 1853.
f This was fixed at ,£3,141 annually.
I See Pari. Papers (1853), p. 63. But, when this decision had
been come to, the commissioners had the spending of the
money as before.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 609
standing that it was to be expended on harbours
preferentially and subject to the approval of the
Treasury.* At the same time " it was conceded in
principle . . . that the Government would not impose
new taxes, or increase existing ones, without the
consent of the people of the island," and it was
stated that there was " no intention to interfere
with the pecuHar privileges of the Isle of Man."t
Although the question of accumulated surplus, as
well as of the whole surplus of each year, was
reserved, there is no doubt that the position of the
Manx people was greatly improved by the new
arrangement. In the following year, however, they
were forcibly reminded that their control over their
revenue was still strictly limited by a curt communi-
cation from the Treasury to the effect that they
were " unable to recognize the proportion of the
public revenue derived from the Isle of Man in any
other light than that in which they regard the
revenue from any locality of the United Kingdom."!
This communication was in reply to a protest, both
from the Tynwald Court and the inhabitants of the
island, against the passage of an Act § which
ordained that the gross customs revenue of the
island should be paid into the Exchequer before,
instead of after, the deduction of expenses attending
the government of the Isle of Man and the main-
■■■' By 16 and 17 Vic. c. 107. 1 Pari. Papers (1866), p. 2.
I Pari. Papers (1864), p. 13. The protests referred to, as well
as one in 1856, asking, but in vain, that all the customs dues
coUected in the island might be devoted to local purposes will
be found in these papers. § 18 and 19 Vic. c. 94.
610
HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Result of the
concessions of
1853.
Negotiations
reBumed iu
1865.
tenance of its harbours and other pubHc works were
paid." This was contrary to all previous legislation.
But the change was more apparent than real, and
the solid gain resulting from the concessions of
1853 was shown by the sudden rise in the expendi-
ture from an average of £9,884 annually, in the
decade 1836-45, to £14,168, in 1846-55, and to
£16,580, in the 11 years 1856-66, and by a check in
the expansion of the average annual surplus, it
being £13,612, in the first period, £12,651, in the
second, and £13,167, in the third.
Nevertheless, the Manx people were not yet
satisfied with their treatment, and the negotiations
were therefore resumed in March, 1865, when
Governor Loch, after consultation with the Council,
wrote to the Treasury submitting certain proposals
for changes in the tariff, " rendered desirable from
circumstances which have arisen necessitating a
larger expenditure on public works in the Island
than the ninth of the revenue can supply."* These
proposals were, for the most part, accepted by the
Treasury, but they stated that the Government had
lost by the arrangement made in 1853, t and
declared that the basis of any new arrangement
must be that " the effect upon the revenue should
be at the risk of the Island, . . . and that, instead of
* Manx Blue Bool-.
f They can only have had the amounts of the gross receipts
up to 1860 before them. Up to that year their payment to the
island of d£3,141 annually averaged somewhat more than the
one-ninth, but for the whole period 1853-1866 it appears to
have averaged somewhat less.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOEY 611
a proportionate amount of the gross receipt being
paid to the former, the sum going to the Exchequer
should be fixed by law"* If the island was wilHng
to undertake this risk, the Government would agree
to the Tynwald Court having the control of
the surplus revenue, subject to certain conditions
and charges. The most important question which
arose was the amount to go to the Exchequer
annually. This, after a much larger sum had been
asked, was ultimately fixed at i*10,000 a year or
4^ per cent, on the sum (^6220, 000) f alleged to have
been paid to the Duke of Atholl for the customs,
which the Government considered " a very moderate
return to ask from the Island," seeing that its
" military and naval defence is entirely at the
expense of the United Kingdom, "t and its inhabi-
tants enjoy the privileges of British citizenship conditions ou
without its burdens."! These preliminaries having gained control
° of surplus
been settled, it was decided that the Tynwald Court revenue,
should have the control of the surplus revenue,
subject to the supervision of the Treasury and the
veto of the governor, after the payment of the
following charges : (1) The cost of government,
including customs pensions ; (2) the charges for
the civil government, including the harbour fund
of i'2,300 ; (3) the expenses incurred by the
Imperial Government for the island, and paid from
votes of Parliament (but not including military
- Pari. Papers (1866), p. 19.
f We have already seen (p. 606) that this is not the correct
amount.
I Pari. Papers (1866), p. 19.
612 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
charges except for the coastguard) ; * (4) one-ninth
of the gross customs duties to be set aside for
harbour and other public works, subject to the
control of Tynwald ; (5) two-ninths of the gross
customs duties to be mortgaged by the Harbour
Commissioners f for harbour improvements ;l (6) a
fixed contribution of ilO,000 to the Imperial
Exchequer ; § and (7), after payment of the fore-
going, the surplus for general public purposes in
the island. Thus did the insular Legislature
obtain a substantial share in the control over the
revenue, and the expansion of Manx enterprise
was no longer prevented by the impossibility
of adequately carrying out much-needed public
improvements. But the Manx people, as we point
out elsewhere,)' gained much less than they expected,
and, in after years, when it dawned upon them
that the question of the accumulated surplus had
not been raised during the negotiations, a fact
-" At that time there were certain expenses connected with
the island paid in London, but this is not the case now, since
it now discharges all its liabilities direct.
t These conditions were laid down in the " Isle of Man
Customs, Harbom-s, and Public Purposes Act, 1866 " (29 Vic. c.
23). The borro^^•ing powers were entrusted to the commissioners,
but the determination of the works upon which the money was
to be expended was left to Tynwald, as it had been since 1853.
I By Treasury Minute of the 5th of July, 1866, which
explained the various conditions laid down by the Act, it was
ordered that the interest obtained on that security was to have
priority to the paj-ment of ^10,000.
§ Subject also to a charge for Port Erin harbour which has
since then been disposed of.
II Book YI. ch. i. ^j 2, where we deal with the effect of
these changes on the Constitution.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 613
which, curiously enough, seems to have been lost
sight of by them at the time, a feeling of irritation
arose which time has not yet removed. Few dispute
the fairness of paying the annual sum of i^lO,000 to
the Government for naval and military protection,
and, if it had demanded this smn on these grounds
before, as well as after, 1866, and, in this way, much
more than absorbed the surplus revenue, it is
probable that very little objection would have been
made. But the irritation referred to arose rather
from the fact of the claim for the i^lO,000 being
treated by the Government as interest on the capital
sum paid to the Duke of Atholl, which (if regarded
as a liability on the island at all) might, it was
thought, be well deemed to be extinguished by the
annual surpluses received up to 1866, which
amounted to a much larger sum. We are not,
unfortunately, in a position to state what the exact
total amount of this accumulated surplus is, because
(except between 1766 and 180.5 * and some of the
years from 1846 to 1866) we have not been able to
obtain access to the original accounts — indeed we are
informed that most of these accounts have disap-
peared. We have had, therefore, to content
ourselves with the summaries of revenue and expen-
diture, purporting to have been copied from the
original statements, which have been published in
Manx newspapers from time to time. There is,
* For period 1766 to 1791 see Commissioners' Report.
Appendix (B) No 9. We have also the statement made in the
House of Commons in 1805 that the surplus for the period
1796-1805 was above Je23,000.
614 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
however, no reasonable doubt that the surplus due
by the Imperial Government to the Isle of Man in
1866, after payment of all the claims of the AthoU
family, was a very large one. It would seem,
however, that the governor and Tynwald Court
committee engaged in the negotiations were so
impressed with the belief that the Government's
proposals were very advantageous, that they did not
venture to raise the accumulated surplus question
for fear of their being withdrawn. In 1891, however,
a committee of the Keys endeavoured to get some
information from the Treasury with regard to it,
but they only succeeded in eliciting the unsatisfactory
reply that "My Lords " were not " able to ascertain
whether any net revenue between 1805 and 1825
can be specifically attributed to the Act of 1767, but
as the annuity to the Lord was commuted for
£150,000 it evidently exceeded in value the whole
net revenue." *
Post Office. We should not omit to notice that during this
period the revenue for the first time received some
addition by the establishment of an insular Post
Office in 1767.1 It would appear that letters had
previously been conveyed to and from the island by
private enterprize, but, in and after that year, the
Government chartered a packet I for the conveyance
"= That this statement is incorrect will be shown bj' reference
to Appendix C, where full particulars of revenue and expen-
ditui'e between 1766 and 1866 are given.
I The only account there is of this, till 1851, is for the decade
1782-91, when the receipts were ^347 and the expenditure J9179.
These receipts were increased by the Act of 1805, by which
additional rates were imposed on letters to and from the island.
I By Act 7 Geo. III. cap. 50. A single letter paid 2d., a
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 615
of the mails between Douglas and Whitehaven,
which sailed once weekly. In 1822, the mail
service was transferred from Whitehaven to Liver-
pool, but, though there had been steamers running
to the island since 1819, the letters continued to be
taken by sailing vessels till 1825, when they were
entrusted to a Liverpool line of steamers, calling at
Douglas on their way to and from the Clyde. The
mail was still, in accordance with the contract, once
a week only, though in the summer letters were
actually taken more frequently. In 1833, a contract
was made by the Postmaster-General with the Isle
of Man Steam Packet Company for the conveyance
of the mail twice weekly between Douglas and
Liverpool and vice versa* In 1839, the rate of
postage to and from the island was made uniform
with that throughout the United Kingdom, and,
in 1840, this rate was fixed at a minimum of a
penny, and a money order department was estab-
lished. Till 1842, people had to call at the office in
each town for their letters, but, after that date, letters
were taken round the towns only by postmen.! In
1851, the postage on letters from the island amounted
to £3,595 annually, and the expenditure was £1,495,
double 4d., and treble 8d. from Whitehaven to Douglas, or vice
versa. The inland postages were to be at the same rate in
the Isle of Man as in England. By the 1st of Victoria, c. 81,
the rates within the island were, not exceeding fifteen miles
4d. per oz. ; exceeding fifteen and not exceeding twenty, 5d. ;
exceeding twenty and not exceeding thirty, 6d.
'■'■ The Company was paid .£850 per annimi for this.
f In 1845, there were only two letter-carriers in Douglas.
The post ofiice was then in Thomas Street.
616 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
including the mail contract ; and yet, in 1853, the
Lords Commissioner of the Admiralty, who, in
1837, * had taken over the administration of the
insular post, would only renew the contract on the
same terms as in 1833, and they decHned to accede
to a memorial from the island praying for at least
three mails a week,
ExpENDiTDBE. jn dlscusslng the revenue we have already inci-
dentally referred to expenditure, a summary of
which has been given in Appendix C. Of the
items of which the total amounts stated were
composed very little information is obtainable.
We know that between 1805 and 1826, £3,000
annually was paid to the Duke of Atholl, that
^624,000 was spent on the Eed Pier, £10,000
on fortifications, £2,000 (in 1841) on the Tithe
Valuation, £1,050 (in 1845) on pubHc works, and
£4,350 on public buildings, including Douglas Court
House (between 1847 and 1850) ; also that, after 1844,
£2,300 was set aside for harbours, and that, after
1853, one-ninth of the gross customs revenue, fixed
at £3,141 annually, was applied in the same way.
The chief regular items were (1) Civil List, which
was £1,474 in 1790, it having averaged about £1,300
between 1771 and that year ; in 1799, it was £2,114 ;
in 1803, £2,204 ; in 1830, £4,705 ; in 1843, £4,757 ;
and, between 1847 and 1853, on an average, £6,400. t
(2) Cost of collection, which was £1,803 in 1790,
- This was restored to the Post Office in 1860.
f No further statistics either of Civil List or of cost of
collection are procurable till after 1866.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOKY 617
£2,700 in 1792, ^61,910 in 1830, ;£2,988 in 1843, and,
on an average, between 1847 and 1853, ii3,300.*
(3) The salaries to the Revenue officers, which
averaged about ^£800 between 1767 and 1791, being
£919 in the latter year. They were £961 in 1800,
and £1,246 in 1802, about £4,100 in 1826, and about
£5,500 in 1866.
By the Mischief Act of 1765, f the British taxation.
Parliament obtained the control of the insular
customs establishment. It then became necessary
to make further provision for the expenses of its
government, and so Parliament, in 1767, assumed,
for the first time,t the power to impose taxes on the
Manx people, by enacting new customs' duties, and
by, at the same time, repealing the duties levied by
the Tynwald Court. § By the Act of 1767, the Effect oUhe
•^ ^ J ' Act of 1767.
Commissioners of Customs were empowered to
grant licences for the importation of a limited
'■' See Appendix E for Salaries.
f It may be mentioned that in this year the Commissioners
of the Customs in the island presented a memorial to the
Treasury, praying for annexation to Cumberland. This memo-
rial was shown to George Moore, Speaker of the House of
Keys, then in London, who represented that "the British
duties on coals and salt, with taxes and excises on the
interior commodities were burthens quite disproportionate to
the abihties of the people." His representations were successful
in preventing the proposed change, and so he congratulated
himself on having " contributed to avert the total ruin of the
Isle " (MS. letter to Bishop Hildesley from George Moore,
afterwards Sir George).
\ Except for a small fee exacted from Manx seamen in 1745
for the support of Greenwich Hospital.
§ 7 Geo. III. c. 45. " In the previous year," says Sir
James Gcll, " the Parliament had asserted their right to tax
618 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Changes made
by subsequent
Acts.
Chief
grievances.
quantity of British spirits (including rum* from
the British plantations), tea, coffee, &c., at low
duties, while the importation of foreign spirits was
prohibited.!
In 1780, some slight changes I were made in the
duties ; and, in 1798, t further changes were made,
the importation of foreign spirits being allowed and
that of British spirits prohibited. In 1805, the duties
granted under previous Acts were consolidated, and
they were ordered to be raised under the authority
and direction of the Commissioners of Customs in
England. Customs Acts were also passed in 1810,
1811, 1821, 1825, and 1833. That of 1821 increased
the duties on spirits and tobacco, and that of 1833
increased the duty on wine and took off the duty on
coal. Till 1837, the Manx people bore these various
changes almost without protest, though there was a
growing sense of the injustice of depriving them, not
only of any control over the revenue § arising from
the duties, but of any share in fixing what these
duties were to be. The chief specific grievances
. . no greater,
Parliament to
the American colonists against their consent .
and probably a lesser, right existed in the
tax the people of the Isle of Man " (Manx Soc. vol. xii.
p. 142).
'■"'• This spirit produced much more revenue than any other
item, the duty on it amounting to £8,458 in 1790. Tobacco in
the same year gave ^2,556, it having risen from £807 in the
previous year. The duties on other British spirits averaged
about ^£400 yearly between 1770-2 and 1780-4.
•f This prohibition was a most fertile source of smuggling.
4 Appendix A.
§ We have already seen what the deputation, which then
went to London, urged about the revenue.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 619
were caused by a proposal to impose a duty on the
import of British, as well as foreign timber, * by the
ad valoreyn duties, and by the continuance of the
licence system. Nothing was, however, done at
this time, probably owing to the change of Ministry,
either to increase taxation or to redress grievances.
It was, therefore, reserved for Dr., afterwards Sir
John, Bowring, M.P., who took a warm interest in
Manx affairs, to point out, when the question again
arose in 1844, the injustice inflicted by the ad
valorem duties and the licence system. When it
is remembered that the ad valorem duties, which
were 15 per cent, on some articles + and 5 and 1^
per cent, on others, t were charged over and above
the duties that had been already paid on them, if
they came, as they generally did, from or through
the United Kingdom, it will be seen how unfair they
were to the Manx people ; the 15 per cent, duties,
in particular, bearing heavily on the fishing and agri-
cultural interests. It was largely due to Dr. Bowring's ^g^^^°'^'^^ ^"^
able arguments in the House of Commons, in 1844,
that the 5 per cent, and 2^ per cent, duties were
done away with and the 15 per cent, duties suspended, §
while the greater part of the licence system was got
rid of. Large reforms were at this time being made
by Sir Robert Peel in reducing the duties on articles
of necessary consumption, by which the Isle of Man
'■•• This proposal was not renewed.
f E.g., clover seeds, guano, tanner's bark, tar and pitch.
\ Every article of foreign food, and on all goods, with very
few exceptions, of British manufacture.
§ They were aftcrwarda dropped and not renewed.
620 HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
benefited. Thus, in addition to the reductions
already referred to, the duty on iron was abolished,*
also that on coffee, but, unfortunately, that on tea
was increased from 6d. to Is. per lb. and those on
spirits were reduced. In 1853, the question of re-
adjustment of Manx duties was again brought
And in 1853. forward by the Treasury. The main provisions
of the Bill t embodying its views were that the
Isle of Man was to be included in a general Con-
solidation Bill I for regulating the customs duties
of the United Kingdom, that the licence system and
the 15 per cent, duties were to be abolished, and that
the duties on spirits were to be increased, though
still remaining considerably less than in England.
Other changes were the reduction of the duty on
sugar, and the repeal of the duty on timber.
Objections were made by the insular Legislature
to the effect that the island should have been placed
in a distinct Act and that the rates of the duties
were greater than was necessary to prevent
smuggling. The Treasury replied that its object
in placing Man in a general Act was merely one
of convenience, that it had no intention of interfering
with the peculiar privileges of the Manx, and that,
■■'• The duty on English corn was put on a sliding scale of
from Is. to 24s. 8d. per quarter according to price, instead of
10 per cent. In 1846, the scale was altered to from 4s. to 10s.,
and, in 1849, a fixed duty of Is. was established.
f 16 and 17 Vic. c. 106.
I Contrary to the provision in previous Acts that the Manx
Revenue should be paid into the Exchequer "distinctly and
apart from all other branches of the publick revenue " (5 Geo.
III. c. 45).
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOEY C21
as to the rates of duties, it had been guided by the
customs authorities and the governor. It pointed
out that the only articles on which the duties had
been increased were foreign spirits, manufactured
tobacco, cigars, and rum, while there were, on the
other hand, several reductions together with numer-
ous advantages gained by the Manx traders,* and
it declared that its only motive for proposing any
"' They summarized these as follows : —
1. The abolition of the licence system.
2. The admission of British spirits which were previously
prohibited.
3. A reduction on refined sugar from 9s. to 6s. and " a
removal of the existing restrictions on the use of British
refined duty-paid sugar under drawback."
4. A reduction of the duty on tea from Is. to 6d.
5. The entire repeal of the duties on timber.
6. Full participation in the advantages of trade possessed by
the United Kingdom. Under this last head they explained,
that, under existing law, Manx traders were unable to export
any foreign goods to United Kingdom, except corn, and that
they " will now be able to do so, unless they are subject to a
higher duty in the United Kingdom than in the Isle ; that other
foreign goods as well as corn and flour can now be warehoused in
the Isle." Certain foreign goods can now be imported from any
place and not from Great Britain only ; that instead of the most
important of the foreign goods being only allowed to be im-
ported m British ships, and to the Port of Douglas onlj-, all
restrictions would cease, and, instead of the trade of the island
with United Kingdom being on the footing of a coasting trade only
in respect to certain articles, it will be admitted to this privilege
on aU articles. They remarked also that the existing Act of
1845 contained numerous prohibitions and a list of rules peculiar
to Isle of Man. These were now swept away, and the same
code and regulations as in United Kingdom were extended to
Isle of Man. In fact, the insular ports were placed in the same
position as the ports of the United Kingdom (see Pari. Papers
(1853), pp. 15-22. Treasury Minute of 8th July).
VOL. II, 41
622
HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
Practically
ensured the
freedom of
Manx trade.
Description of
the system of
taxation and
its results.
changes was to release the trade of the island from
the restrictions imposed by the licence system.
The Manx delegates * were, however, not satisfied
with these proposals, and they succeeded in obtaining
some slight reductions of the duties.
The new Act t was a great step in advance,
because it practically ensured the freedom of Manx
trade, the only restrictions under it being that the
quantity of spirits allowed to be exported from the
island was limited, and that power was retained by
the Treasury to limit the importation of foreign
goods. The chief changes, as regards customs
duties, made by it were the increase of duties on
spirits, the legahzation of the importation of
whisky, j which had been prohibited since 1798,
and the abolition of the duty on timber. As regards
the changes in duties in 1866, a reference to the
tariff will show the considerable advance of those on
spirits and tobacco. §
Such was the system of taxation imposed on the
Isle of Man by the British Government. Up till
1844, it may be succinctly described as an ingenious
means of injuring the Manx consumer, by establish-
ing monopolies and of worrying the Manx trader by
=■= Dumbell and Callister (see under Revenue).
f Or rather Acts, i.e., " The Customs Tariff Act " and " The
Customs Consolidation Act," 16 and 17 Vic. c. 106, and c.
107.
I This resulted in a greatly decreased consumption of brandy
and gin, especially the latter, and it was found that, notwith-
standing the increased duties, the retail price of spirits was not
higher, since the abolition of licences allowed full competition
between the dealers. § Appendix A.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOEY 623
enforcing a number of absurd and complicated regu-
lations. But its worst feature was that, by the
comparatively small duties it placed upon spirits
imported into the island, as compared with those
imported into England, it not only encouraged
smugghng to the adjacent coasts, but promoted
drunkenness. Most of the evils and discontents
which beset the island between 1765 and 1844 are
traceable to these two causes. If a larger revenue
had been raised from intoxicating liquors, and if
that revenue had been expended on the island,
reserving a reasonable sum, as after 186G, in pay-
ment for Imperial protection, the condition of
Manxland would have been very different from what
it actually was. *
After 1844, however, the Government began to
see the error of its ways. The duties on spirits
were gradually increased, and the duties on articles
of beneficial and universal consumption, such as tea,
especially after 1853, were reduced, with the result
to which we have already referred.
As regards local taxation, apart from a fee of Local taxation,
ninepence payable for a pass which, till 1853, every
one had to get before leaving the island, f there
continued, till 1860, to be no direct money imposts,
except the small sums from public-house licences
* It must be remembered that a similar mistake, as regards
spirit duties, though not to such a large extent, was made in
England.
f Feltham {Manx Soc, vol. vi. p. 115). Though we do not
hear of this fee before 1798, it was probably imposed before.
624 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
and dog licences * which were appHed to the main-
tenance of the highways, f and so, as of course
many did not require these hcences, a large part of
the population was entirely exempt from direct
taxation. | But, in that year, the Lunatic Asylum
Act § provided for the valuation of real estate and
for levying a rate upon it, on the basis of this valua-
tion, and, in lieu of highway labour, a rate of three
shillings was imposed on every house in Douglas ; ||
the other towns contributing in the same way as
the country.
hakbodrs. One of the most serious blows to the independence
of the insular Legislature and to the prosperity of
the island resulting from the Revestment was the
loss of all local control over the harbours, which
were then placed in charge of the English Treasury,
as represented by its officer, the receiver-general,
and a body H composed, either directly or in-
=■'■ Excepting also church cess (see p. 851) and certam fees
(see p. 635). f See p. 635.
I The lord's rent and mining royalties cannot be called taxes.
The sums of 2s. per quarterland and 6d. per intack, payable to
the Dulte of Atholl in lieu of carriage services ceased to be paid
soon after the Eevestment (Comrs.' Report, pp. 16-19). The
only service of this kind, which was demanded till well on into
the present century, was certain days of labour, called " boon "
days, from the tenants of the Abbey-lands.
§ Statutes, vol. iii. p. 46. This rate was to rank next in
priority after lord's rent and tithe.
II Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 97-8.
H They consisted of the receiver-general and his deputy, the
water-bailiff or collector, the comptroller and searcher of the
port of Douglas and the deputy water-bailiffs of the ports of
Derbyhaven, Peel and Ramsey.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOBY 625
directly, of the nominees of the Crown, and there-
fore, not responsible to the Tynwald Court. In
1771, some slight effort was made to supply the
want of local knowledge by introducing four
" creditable merchants," * one representing each of
the principal ports, as members of the new Harbour
Board, but, since they only formed a minority of it,
they were not able to exercise much influence. The admfni'srration
consequence of this administration of the harbours and its result,
by ofiicials who had no interest in the welfare of
the island was, as we learn from the evidence given
before the commissioners in 1791, that they had
gradually fallen into decay, t The commissioners
urged that the making of harbours "capable of Th^e report of
offering space and convenience to carry on the commissioners
operations of trade . . . and of yielding shelter and
refuge to vessels navigating the perilous and narrow
seas which surround the Isle of Man . . . must be
deemed objects worthy of the utmost public regard." I
They also urged the necessity of lighthouses, of
which there were none, there being only harbour
lights. One result of this report was an effort on
the part of the British Government to fulfil a
* They were not paid.
\ The Duke of Atholl stated that Douglas harbour was in a
ruinous condition, that the pier built at Peel before 1765 had
been entirely carried away, and that Ramsey harbour and pier
were in a state of " extreme decay," the mouth of the harbour
being choked by a sandbank (Comrs.' Report, App. (D), No. 31).
\ Comrs.' Report, p. 91. In accordance with this report a
plan was prepared showing one breakwater from Conister and
another from Douglas Head which enclosed an area of 80 acres
at low water.
626 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OP MAN
portion of its obligations by causing iB24,000 to be
voted by Parliament in 1793,* which was entirely
expended in erecting a pier, now known as the Red
Condition of Pier, t in Douglas. The harbour of this town had,
Douglas ' " '
harbour. indeed, been in a lamentable state. In 1786, eighty-
four yards of the end of the old pier were destroyed
by an easterly gale, and the pier was still further
damaged by the severe gale of the 21st of September,
1787, when part of the herring fleet was lost. This
resulted in the harbour being so choked with stones
that only vessels not exceeding 250 tons could enter
where formerly there was ingress for vessels of 500
tons.t The erection of the new pier was a great im-
provement, but, unfortunately, between 1808 and
1829 much valuable harbour space came into the
possession of private individuals owing to the greed
or carelessness of those in authority, and was thus
lost to the public.
In 1808, this fate befell the beach between the
Red Pier and the Pollock rocks, where the herring
boats used to lie; § and, about 1820, the " lake,"
"•■• Pre\'iously to this date the only record of expenditure was
in 1790 when, of the sum of £415, received from harbour dues,
herring customs and bay fisheries, d£368 was laid out on
harbours (see Comrs.' Report, p. 26). The total revenue from
harbours from 1771-1780 was j£3,480, of which herring customs
and the bay fishery amounted to £1,451 {Ibid., App. (B) No. 9).
f A report from the committee on the " Isle of Man Port
Petition " (Pari. Papers, 1804) proves this. Train's statement
(vol. ii. p. 364) about the way in which this money was provided
is therefore mcorrect.
I Comrs.' Report, App. (D) No. 17.
§ A useful shelter was thus lost. It was afterwards occupied
by Aitken's building yard, and then by baths, part of it being
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 627
which at that time afforded a valuable shelter for
small craft, was enclosed and filled up. * All that Jhe other
■■- harbours.
was done for the harbours of the other ports was the
building, about 1796, of a wall between Peel Island
and the mainland, which gave the harbour some
protection, and, in 1810, the repairing and lengthen-
ing of the pier, which had been carried away in
1809. f A pier and a lighthouse were built at Port
St. Mary in 1815 ; and, in 1816, hghthouses were
constructed by the Commissioners of Northern
Lights at the Point of Ayre and the Calf of Man. I
Between 1830 and 1860, many ambitious schemes
for the improvement of the insular harbours, especi-
ally that of Douglas, § were propounded, but very
little was done to carry them out, because the
means available for such a purpose were quite in-
sufficient.
Some good work was, however, done by the
building of the Tower of Refuge on Conister, in
Douglas Bay, in 1832, |i by the completion of the
Douglas Head lighthouse in the same year, and of
known as " Bath Place." A petition against this was sent to
Lord Sidniouth as late as 1821, but it had no result.
"-•' In this case, however, the Duke of AthoU, who had sold it
in 1769, was alone to blame.
f The pier which was washed away in 1809 had only been in
existence a short time, it having been constructed since 1793.
Its predecessor had been destroyed in 1764.
I Under Act 55 Geo. III. cap. 67.
§ The first actually made public was one by Sir John Rennie
in 1835 (he produced three different plans) ; the second by
Captain Denham in the same year, and the third by James
Walker in 1838.
II Entirely through the exertions of Sir William Hillary, one
628 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Harbour
Connuissioners
obtain
borrowing
powers,
And a fixed
income.
the south jetty of Douglas harbour in 1838. In the
latter year, the Harbour Commissioners petitioned
the Treasury to grant them a larger sum for the
administration of the harbours and to permit them
to borrow money for the construction of works. In
consequence of this, an Act was passed in 1840 *
which gave them the desired powers. They thus
obtained £8,000, which helped them to build a
breakwater at Derbyhaven, and part of the North
pier at Ramsey, to improve the pier at Peel, and to
form a basin at Castletown. In 1844, harbour dues
were abolished,! and jG2,300 was ordered to be paid
to the Harbour Commissioners out of the customs
revenue in lieu thereof.! In 1847, the commissioners
complained to the Treasury that this sum was
altogether too small for the maintenance of the
harbours, and they referred particularly to the
exposed condition of Douglas harbour. Captain
AVashington, E.N., was sent over in consequence
of this complaint, and, in 1850, he reported that the
constitution of the Harbour Board was altogether
unsatisfactory, that the commissioners had no
practical knowledge of their work, and that they
audited their own accounts, which were very badly
kept. He also made a number of valuable sug-
gestions with regard to the improvements required.
Notwithstanding these strictures, no change was
of the founders of the Royal Lifeboat Institution, who hved in
the island. The first lifeboat in the island was presented by the
Duke of AthoU in 1803. It was kept in Douglas.
- 3 and 4 Vic. c. 63. f By Act 7 and 8 Vic. c. 43.
I The dues in 1844 amounted to j62,348.
sioners.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IIISTOEY 629
made in the Harbour Board, but, in 1853, one-ninth rhangesin
of the gross customs revenue, estimated at £3,141
annually, was granted* for effecting improvements
in the harbours and other public works, harbours
having the priority. The power to determine what
these works were to be was placed in the hands of
the Tynwald Court, subject to the approval of the
governor, not in that of the Harbour Commissioners,
who, however, though not responsible to the court,
still retained the power of carrpng out all new
harbour works as they thought proper, as well as of
superintending the maintenance and repair of
existing works.* In 1855, James Walker, one of the ?epo''t'?,?f„
o ' ' James Walker
Admiralty engineers, recommended that a break- commFs^"^^^
water should be constructed from the two-gun
battery on Douglas Head in a north-easterly
direction, for about 200 yards, at a cost of a£'23,000,
and that the Ked Pier should be extended for
100 yards in a south-easterly direction. The first of
these recommendations was endorsed by the Tynwald
Court in 1857, and it also decided on completing the
north pier at Eamsey for .£7,000, and a breakwater
at Peel for £6,000. In 1858, the Royal Commissioners
of Harbours visited the island, and reported that it
had strong claims to consideration from its central
position, its rugged shores, its extensive herring
fishery, and the total absence of deep water harbours.
They said that, as " Douglas is the place of the
greatest trade importance, and as between this port
and Liverpool lies the line of communication for
■■'■' By 16 and 17 Vic. c. 107, sec. 355.
630 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
passengers and mails," they had " no hesitation in
recommending the construction of a refuge harbour
in the small bay outside the existing port." * They
estimated the cost of this at £100,000. They also
recommended a pier from the "Horse-rock" at
Castletown, at a cost of iG15,000, and a pier from the
south shore at Port Erin, at a cost of ,£25,000.
No important Bctwccn 1853 and 1862 very little advance was
work begun "^
till 1862. made in improving the insular harbours, the idea
being to let the surplus, of about £3,000 yearly,
accumulate till a sufficient amount should be
obtained to enable really important works to be
carried out.t It was decided that there was to be
a pier at Ramsey, and breakwaters at Peel and
Douglas, plans for which were decided in 1860.
The work at Ramsey t was merely a continuation of
an existing pier, and was not to be extended below
low-water mark. The breakwater at Peel § was
designed to give shelter to the fishing boats in the
harbour, and that at Douglas to afford a safe
anchorage in deep water at all states of the tide ;
but, in this last case, the area enclosed was quite
inadequate for the shipping which resorted to the
port. The Douglas breakwater was commenced in
June, 1862, on the plan of Abernethy,ii which was
* Imperial Blue Book.
f An Act (23 & 24 Vic. c. 56) was passed by Parliament in
1860 to enable the Tynwald Court to borrow money for such
purposes.
I To cost .£6,000. § To cost ^910,000.
II This scheme was practically forced on the Tynwald Court,
which desired the solid work designed by James Walker, the
estimated cost of which had been increased to .£50,000 by the
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOEY 631
that of a creosoted wooden superstructure upon a
sloping foundation of loose rubble.* Its cost was
to be £48,000.
To enable these works to be undertaken a loan of "^'hen money
was borrowed
£45,000 was obtained from the Public Works Loan J,°J'j.poso.
Commissioners on the security of one-ninth of the
gross customs revenue, which was to "be applied to
such improvements only as the Court of Tynwald
shall have determined to be undertaken."! When
Governor Loch arrived in the island in 1863,1 he
found that £8,000 of this loan, as well as the whole
accumulated " one-ninth " since 1853 had been spent.
His first efforts were directed towards the com-
mencement of the work at Port Erin,§ in favour of The Port Erin
1-1 !•;• 1T1 1^ 1 breakwater.
which petitions had been sent to the Crown by the
Manx fishermen, ]] Liverpool shipowners, and
Admiralty, " but the Imperial Government stepped in and left
the insular legislature scarcely any option between an indefinite
postponement of the work and the acceptance of the plan
proposed by Mr. Abernethy . . . and approved by the
Admiralty" {Manx Sun).
'■'' The Ramsey and Peel works were of the same character.
After the disaster to the Douglas breakwater, the latter was
cased with concrete blocks.
f Permission was granted by the Act 23 and 24 Vic. c. 56,
for this loan, the annual payment for which absorbed about
^£2,362.
I He laid the foundation of the Peel breakwater in June of
that year.
§ It had been recommended in 1791, and again m 1835 and
1859.
II The fishermen who, in 1847, had sent a delegate to London
to ask the Government to provide harbour accommodation at
Port Erin, agreed to pay a toll of £2 annually per boat, and
they said in their petition " give us a place of safety at Port
Erin, and we can take twice or three times as many herrings in
the season."
632 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
others.* As a preliminary step he obtained the
introduction of a Bill into the House of Commons,
which became law under the title of "Isle of Man
Harbours Act." f By this the taking of harbour dues
at Port Erin was authorized, and power was given
to the insular Harbour Commissioners, with the
approval of the Board of Trade, to borrow on the
security of these dues, supplemented to the extent
of dBl,600 a year by the surplus customs revenue of
the island, t A sum of £58,200 was thus obtained, §
and the work was begun in October, 1864. In
Destruction of January and February, 1865, the breakwater in
the Douglas
breakwater. Douglas Bay, popularly called " Abernethy's bird-
cage," about 500 feet of which had been com-
pleted, was destroyed by storms, it having been
injured by the same cause in the previous year.
The position as regards harbours then became a
very unfortunate one, for more than two-thirds of
the resources at the disposal of the Tynwald Court
had been pledged, and most of the money thus
obtained had been spent, with but little result to
Highways. show for it. The highways, fortunately, remained
under local control, their management, in fact, being
the only question i| which the Tynwald Court, in its
=•= Mr. Milner, of "safe" notoriety, was one of the prime
leaders in this movement. f 26 and 27 Vic. c. 16.
I By 27 and 28 Vic. c. 62, it was provided that, if the dues
were insufficient to pay the interest on the loan, " the amount
deficient to an extent not exceeding jE1,600 in any one year,
shall be charged and paid out of any surplus customs revenue
of the island." § At 3} per cent.
II Except the Lunatic Asylum at the very end of this period.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 633
administrative capacity had to deal with. In 1765, a
committee of the court * was appointed to consider the
whole question of their maintenance and improve-
ment. One of their first steps was to appoint as "super-
visor-general," a Scotsman, James Hamilton,! who
had, some two years before, been brought to the island
by the Duke of Atholl, in order to make roads, t and
they ordered that the highways should " be widened
where requisite to eighteen feet in breadth in every
part and place." I But it was soon found that the
means at the disposal of the court were quite
insufficient to carry out these alterations, and so, in
1776, an Act of Tynwald was passed by w^hich the The Act of
whole of the sum § imposed on public-houses, and
not merely a part as heretofore, was to be expended
on the highways, and the taxes laid on dogs for the
same purpose in 1763 were increased. § It was also
ordained that the proprietors of quarter-lands were
to send four men each, the proprietors of lesser
holdings in proportion, and the occupiers of houses
one man each, to repair the highways when re-
* This was only a temporary committee, the highways, till
1776, being managed as oi'dained by the Act of 1713 (see p. 447).
f He appears to have been very successful in impro\Tng the
Manx roads which were previously mere bridle tracks, and not
designed for wheeled vehicles. The gratitude felt for this was
embodied in the following distich engraved on a gold medal
which was presented to him : — " Slane booise as imraa dys
Hamilton dy braa, son raadjyn mooar jeant trooid yn Elian veg
sheeant." (" Heartiest thanks and remembrance to Hamilton
for ever, for high roads made through the Uttle holy Isle.")
I Lib. Scacc.
§ Statutes, vol. i. pp. 297-303.
634
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
state of the
roads early in
the 19th
century.
quired.* The new highways were to be eight yards
broad from ditch to ditch, and a committee of five
persons was appointed by the Tynwald Comrt to
administer the Act.! The amount of money thus
obtained was, even with the labour exacted,
insufficient to keep the roads in proper repair, their
state being described, at the beginning of the
nineteeth century, as "in general but indifferent," I
though it was admitted that this was mainly due to
neglect on the part of the parochial surveyors ; and,
according to another contemporary authority, it was
a great improvement on that of forty years earlier,
when " they were dangerous for horsemen in winter,
and for carriages even in summer." §
It should be observed that at this time, owing to
the change in the value of money, it had become a
very general practice to escape the obligation of
supplying labour by the payment of the penalties
imposed by the Act of 1776 for neglect. ||
It was, therefore, necessary both to increase the
^' A cart with two horses and a driver was considered as
equivalent to four men, and a " wheel-car " with one horse and
a driver as equivalent to two men.
f Statutes, vol. i. pp. 297-303. Between 1776 and 1835 this
committee was taken from the Keys only ; after 1835 the
Council was also represented upon it. I Quayle, p. 131.
§ Wood, p. 39. Jefferys, however {Guide, p. 79) writes, in
1809, " the public roads which are kept in as high a state of
order as the finest turnpike road in England." On the other
hand, the ManJcs Advertiser in 1812 declared the roads near
Douglas to be "impassable." This evidence, in conjunction
with that given above, certainly outweighs that of Jefi'erys who
was merely a visitor, and had probably merely a ghmpse at the
roads. || Quayle, pp. 134-7.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOEY 635
funds at the disposal of the Highway Committee,
and to impose heavier fines on those who did not
perform their highway labour. But only the first ^nds"^'^
need was attended to by the Act of 1813, which '^fg^^^'^^'^'i ^"^"^
largely increased the duties levied both on public-
houses and on dogs.* In 1817 a further Act was
passed, whereby a duty of ^20 on bankers' licences f
was made payable to the highway fund ; as were, in
1826, sums of ii25 from each advocate admitted to
the Bar ; I and, in 1827, duties of £5 § on brewers'
licences. In 1819, the fines for non-performance of
highway labour were made heavier, the amounts
payable for public-house licences and dogs were
again increased,!] while a licence was imposed on
pedlars. About jG1,000 per annum was thus
obtained, and seeing that the condition of the main
roads between the four towns was much improved,
though that of the other roads left much to be
desired, H it seems to have been judiciously expended.
In 1830, an effort was made for the better main-
tenance of the highways by imposing some additional
taxation ; and since the mode of punishment for non-
performance of highway labour provided by the Act
of 1776 had not been found effective, it was ordained
that any one not doing his prescribed amount of
labour was to be fined,** and that such fines were not
=•' Statutes, vol. i. pp. 366-9.
•f- Ibid., p. 394. I Ibid., vol. ii. p. 3. § Ibid., pp. 10-11.
II Ibid., vol. i. pp. 404-13.
IT Manks Advertiser.
■•■*- Is. 6d. for each labourer, 4s. for a single cart horse and
driver, and 7s. for double ditto. {Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 14 and 22.)
636 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
to exempt from the obligation to perform the labour.
The Highway Committee were given powers to
borrow and to take contracts for highway work,
subject to the control of the Tynwald Court. In
1843, the income of the highways from taxes was
£2,074, and from labour il,980.* In 1860, the
inhabitants of Douglas were exempted from per-
forming highway labour, but in lieu thereof they
were taxed in money as already stated, t
§ 5. Military Organization.
Military Wc will now briefly tracc the history of the Manx
Organization. _ _ .
military forces after the passing of the Kevestment
Act. In 1779, war having been declared against
Spain, the militia was called out to perform the
duties of " watch and ward." I Between 1765 and
that date, the custom of " calling the inhabitants
Neglect of the together to mustcr " had been " entirely neeflected,"
foot militia. ° J & '
SO that there were " but few officers capable of
teaching the exercise properly," § and most of the
men had become " altogether unaccustomed to and
ignorant of any military order and discipline." |i This
state of affairs probably explains why the celebrated
Paul Jones was enabled to swoop down on the
■■• The labour was reckoned at Is. 4d. per man per day.
f See p. 567.
\ Lib. Scacc. It was ordered, at the same time, that " upon
the first appearance of the enemy all horses, oxen, and cattle
. . . and provisions be driven and removed to some place of
securitj'."
§ Lib. Scacc. Order of Duke of Atholl, dated 12th of March.
II Rev. W. Crebbin, vicar of Jm-by, writing in 1779.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 637
island and to carry off some prisoners,* as well as
much booty, without being interfered with. It is on
record that the militia were again called out in
1793, f and, in 1798, Feltham mentions that the
militia were " commanded, under the governor, by
three majors and seventeen captains of parishes." I
And yet, only three years later, it would seem that
this ancient organization had been superseded, since
a proclamation issued by Lieutenant-Governor Shaw
ordered the captains of parishes to make lists " first
of those able to bear arms and willing to join the
enrolled Volunteers in the more active defence of
their country, . . . and next of those to be employed
with the able women in driving cattle and other
effects to the mountains." § It is curious that, which
•T'i-1 practically
though there is no record of the militia having been 9^^^^i^ ^° ^^^^
called out since 1793, its captains have been con-
"->= These prisoners, among whom was the bishop's chaplain,
were set free on paying ransoms.
f In this year twenty of the militia guarded Castle Rushen,
each parish sending twenty men m turn, they being relieved
every twenty-four hours.
I Manx Soc, vol. vi. p. 21. It is interesting to note that in
1799 the old custom of sending round the cross was not yet
obsolete. For, in that year, some persons had sent round the
cross in the parish of Rushen to call out the militia for a joke,
and, in the course of the judgment passed upon them for so
doing, it was remarked that " according to an antient and
laudable custom ... a certain instrument called the cross hath
been and is made use of in the different parishes ... by order
of the proper officer or officers for the purpose of calling the
whole or a certain part of the parishioners together in case of
invasion by an enemy and upon other emergencies," and that
"great respect hath been paid to the summons given by means
of the said instrument " {Lib. Scacc). § Lib. Scacc.
VOL. II. 42
in 1793.
638 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
tinued as civil officers to the present day, their
duties * being connected with the preservation of
the peace, though recent legislation has conferred
on them the additional function of acting as return-
ing officers at school-board elections. The uniform
vi^orn by the militia, or rather by its surviving
captains, as late as fifty years ago, was dark blue
The horse- with red faciugs. The horse-militia survived a little
mihtia survive o
till 1822. longer. In 1793, Briscoe's Manx Mercury, in
describing the proceedings at Tynwald, remarks
that, "in addition to the Manx Fencibles, his
Excellency the Duke of Atholl was attended by the
cavalry of the Isle, which consists of a certain
number of horsemen from each parish, amounting
in all to upwards of a hundred. They were all
properly accoutered, and appeared a remarkably fine
body of men." In the Orderly Book of the Fencibles,
referring to the arrangements for the same occasion,
the following notice occurs : — " The Hill will be
guarded by the horsemen, who, on all such occasions,
are the constitutional guards of the Governor and
Legislature of the Island and to be considered as
the eldest brothers of the infantry." In 1820, this
corps consisted of one troop, under a captain-
commandant, two lieutenants, and a cornet. In
1822, a " strong muster of " it was at Tynwald, but,
after that date, nothing more is heard of it.
During the period of the long war with France,
at the end of the last and the beginning of the
■'■ Though, according to their commissions, they arc still
obliged to " train up and exercise " the militia, if required.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 639
present century, several volunteer corps were
embodied. They were—" The troop of Constitu- ^"twccrma
tional Dragoons," "The Yeomanry Cavalry," "The aKssr*^
Manx Gentlemen and Yeomanry," and " The South
Manx Volunteers," and " Dawson's Volunteers,"
who were foot soldiers. The troop of Constitutional
Dragoons was raised in 1793, mainly by the exertions
of George Quayle, of Castletown ; but it did not last
long, because, in 1796, the Duke of Atholl found
fault with its appearance and with some arrange-
ments made by the officers, who consequently
resigned, and the troop was disbanded. In 1799, the
indefatigable George Quayle organized " The Manx
Gentlemen and Yeomanry," which was disembodied
on the conclusion of peace in 1802. Their uniform
was dark blue. "The Manx Yeomanry Cavalry"
was destined to have a longer career. It was formed
in 1796, disembodied in 1802, but embodied again in
1803, and was not finally disbanded till 1825. We
hear of them, under the command of Captain
Thomas (Deemster) Gawne, escorting the Duke of
Atholl to the Tynwald in 1813 ; and, in 1822, under
the command of Lieutenant Corlett, they performed
the same office. They were then described as " a
very respectable, well-dressed body of men." * In
the previous October they had been called out to
suppress the flour riots. In 1799, " The South
Manx Volunteers," consisting of two companies,
and " Dawson's Volunteers," consisting of one
company, were raised. They were disembodied in
■i: Private letter.
640 ' HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Paid forces.
The Manx
Fencibles.
the year 1802, and re-embodied in 1803, when
"Dawson's Volunteers" became "The North Manks
Volunteers." None of these bodies, either horse or
foot, every saw any active service. On the 10th
of April, 1816, all the foot volunteers were dis-
banded.* In 1859, when a French invasion was
feared, Manxmen took up the volunteer movement
with great enthusiasm. No fewer than six com-
panies of rifles and two of artillery were enlisted,
but, when the fear of invasion was seen to be with-
out foundation, the zeal for volunteering waned,
and, at the present time, only one company of rifles
survives. It should not, however, be forgotten that
the liability of all able-bodied Manxmen to serve for
the defence of their country has never been abrogated,
and that there is nothing to prevent the militia
being called out at any time. As regards the paid
forces after the Revestment, the lord's garrisons of
course disappeared, and their place was taken by
drafts from English regiments, their headquarters
being at Castletown. These, on the outbreak of war
with France and Spain, in 1779, were supplemented
by three companies of native troops, called the
"Eoyal Manx Fencibles," who formed part of the
regular British army, but were liable to serve in
the island only.f The captains of these companies
before receiving their commissions, had to procure
42 recruits, while the lieutenants had to procure 25,
* Lib, Scacc.
f Warrant from War Office, in the Insular Records.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 641
and the ensigns 20.* On the 2nd of November,
1780, the total number of all ranks was 333, being
composed of 14 officers, 10 sergeants, 15 corporals,
6 drummers, and 288 privates.! The battalion thus J^^'fY^'^^^^^^^'^
formed was disembodied in October, 1783, after the n^andfargeiy
Peace of Versailles, but it was re-embodied on 1795 and 179s.
the 20th of February, 1793, shortly after Great
Britain had joined the allies against the French
Eepublic. In 1795, the number of Fencibles was
largely increased by the formation of a regiment, to
consist, in the words of the order, " of 10 companys,
of 3 Serjeants, 3 corporals, 2 drummers, and 60
private men in each, with 2 fifers to the Grenadier
Company, beside a Serjeant-Major, and Quarter-
Master Serjeant, together with the usual Com-
missioned Officers." I These men could be ordered
" to serve in Great Britain, or Ireland, or the Islands
of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man." I
* They received 21s. for each recruit. It would seem that
this sj'steni of recruiting was not thought satisfactory, since, in
1782, a BUI for the compulsory recruiting " a ffensible battaHon "
was drafted, but it never became law, and the old system
continued.
f Sergeants got Is., corporals and drummers 8d., and privates
6d. per day.
I War Office to Duke of Atholl (In Records). These com-
panies were thus much smaller than those of the First R. M. F.
At the same time, the following recruiting instructions were
sent to " Charles Small, Major 2nd R. j\I. Fencibles," among
which the following are the more important: "You wUl be
particularly careful not to take any man who is not fit for
immediate service, nor above the age of foi-ty years, nor under
the size of five feet three inches, except stout growing lads,
whom you may enlist at the size of five feet two inches. . . •
For every good and sufficient man who shall be approved of at
642 HISTOKY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
Only five companies were raised at first under this
order, but, on the breaking out of the Irish Eebelhon
in 1798, five more companies were added, and the
whole regiment was shortly afterwards sent to Ireland.
Nothing is known of what it did there. In 1800,
it was at Omagh, and, in 1802, at Whitehaven, where,
on the conclusion of the Peace of Amiens in that
Disembodied year, it was disembodied, the same fate having
in 1802, J ■> o
isorand finally befallen the " First Koyal Manx Fencibles " in the
disbanded in igj^nd. On the renewal of the war in 1803, the
raising of a corps " to consist of three companies,
of four sergeants, four corporals, two drummers, and
seventy private men in each, beside a sergeant-major,
and quarter-master-sergeant, and two fifers, together
with the usual commissioned officers, for service in
the Isle of Man only," * was ordered. The numbers
in each company, as well as the number of com-
panies, seem afterwards to have been increased, for
the orderly book of the corps in 1806 gives a total
strength of about 800 men, divided into eight
companies.! The uniform of the Fencibles was red
with blue facings. They were disbanded in 1810,1
without, as far as is known, having seen active
service. It may seem curious that they were not
headquarters, you shall receive ten guineas bounty, and sub-
sistence from the day of his attestation ; no bounty will be
allowed for any recruit until he has been inspected and approved
of at headquarters, or by the Commanding Officer, under the
attestation of the Surgeon of the Eegiment."
-"•'■ War Office to Lord Henry Murray (In Records).
I Loose Papers in Rolls Office.
I Many of the Fencibles promptly enlisted in the array.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 643
kept under arms till the end of the war, but it must
be remembered that by that time all real danger of
invasion had passed away. They, being very broad-
shouldered men, are said to have covered more
ground than the same number of men belonging to
any other regiment in the British army.*
It is remarkable that while, during the time of the The want of
' " lortincations.
wars with France, the island was well protected by
the numerous soldiers stationed there, its fortifi-
cations were utterly neglected till after the conclusion
of peace in 1815. On this a contemporary writer
remarks, in 1816, as follows: " It is a curious fact
that, during the long period of war, when it was
universally allowed that a single privateer might
have ravaged the island, or laid the towns in ashes
before assistance or protection could be afforded from
England, yet no care was taken to organize those
means of defence, which were easily within the
reach of the inhabitants. It is true that at every
■-'■ Encyclopatdia Britannica quoted in Quiggin's Guide
(1847). During the whole of this period there were also a large
number of Manxmen serving in the English army and navy,
but chiefly in the navy. As proof of this it may be mentioned
that, in 1811. twenty- seven Manx sailors and four Manx soldiers
were imprisoned in France. Some of the Manx sailors, such as
Quilliam, who was Nelson's Flag Lieutenant at Trafalgar, and
Hugh Cosnahan, who was specially mentioned for his gallantry'
in the action between the Shannon and Chesapeahe, greatly
distinguished themselves. It should be mentioned also that
the distinguished Manxmen, Sir IMark Cubbon, afterwards
Governor of Mysore, and Colonel Wilks, who was Governor of
St. Helena, at the time of Napoleon's arrival there, also held
commissions in the arm}-, though they made their mark cliiefly
in the diplomatic service.
644 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
commanding point all round the coast there were
cannon ; but these lay dismounted and useless,
though, at the same time. Government was paying
a salary to an ordnance keeper. . . . But, immedi-
ately on the conclusion of peace, an engineer, being
sent over, has ever since been actively employed in
building batteries, arranging stores of ammunition,
and mounting the cannon, as if it had been appre-
hended that, when all the rest of Europe was
restored to tranquillity, the arms of the united
potentates would be turned against the Isle of Man
alone ! " * At the same time the military establish-
ment was reduced to about half a company from an
English line regiment, stationed in the barracks at
Castletown ; and, in 1896, even this was taken away.
The only paid force on the island at the present day
is a fine corps of the Naval Keserve, whose head-
quarters are at Peel.
* BuUock, p. 355.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTOKY 645
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648
HISTORY OP THE ISLE OP MAN
APPENDIX C.
TOTALS OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE, 1765-1866.
Years.
Revenue.
Expenditure.*
Deficit.
Surplus.
£
£
£
£
1766-1795
92,222;
123,222
31,000
—
1796-1805
79,877
56,877
— •
23,000
1806-1815
156,1201
60,000
—
96,120
1816-1825
194,350
64,840
129,510
1826-1835
225,800
91,081
—
134,719
1836-1845
234,960
98,840
—
136,120
1846-1855 §
268,190
141,680
—
126,510
1856-1866
327,22011
182,380
144,840
Total
1,578,739
818,920
31,000
790,819
The expenditure of .£818,920 does not include £24,000 on the
Pted Pier at Douglas between 1793 and 1804, ^£10,000 on forti-
fications in 1816, and £303,600 paid to the AthoUs at various
times for the customs duties and annuities (see pp. 543-4 and 606,
chap. ii. § 4) ; after adding these, there is a surplus belonging
to the Isle of Man of £422,219, and, even if we also add to it
the sums of £46,000 paid for the regalities in 1765, of £100,000
for the patronage of the bishopric and livings, and £167,144 for
the mines, rents, &c., there is still a surplus of £109,075. The
Crown has, therefore, this amoixnt in hand, and also derives an
* Including the expenses of collection, and, up to 1833, the bounties
paid for herrings. It also includes the expenditure for public build-
ings (which averaged £300 a year from 1835 to 1865), also a special
vote (between 1847 and 1850) amounting to £4,350 (see Pari. Papers
(1866), pp. 18-19).
+ 1766-75, £17,413 ; 1776-85, £31,131 ; 1786-95, £43,678.
J Partly an estimate, there being no record of tlie revenue for the
years 1812-15, and none of the surplus for the years 1806-12.
§ It was stated in 1853, on the authority of Parliamentary return.
No. 501, that the " net surplus revenue" from the island between 1833
and 1853 averaged £20,319, but, though we have not been able to get
access to the return in question, we feel sure that this is an error (Pari.
Papers (1853), p. 24).
1 1 The average customs receipts for the period 1854-60 was £27,230,
and for the three years, 18G2-4, £31 ,845. We have not been able to get
the corresponding figures for 1861, 1865, and 1866, and have therefore
taken them at the same average amount as the years 1862-64.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 649
income of about ^8,000 a year from mine rents, &c., the cost of
which it has already been repaid (see Appendix D).
APPENDIX D.
RENTS AND DUTIES FROM CROWN PROPERTY.
Year.
Crown Rents, &c.*
Mine Rents.*
Total.
£
£
£
1854
1,964
8,350
10,314
1855
1,782
9,076
10,858
1856
1,832
11,032
12,864
1857
1,600
10,154
11,754
1858
2,022
9,466
11,488
1859
1,868
9,170
11,038
1860
1,987
8,458
10,445
1861
1,920
10,206
12,126
1862
2,252
8,968
11,220
1863
2,181
8,464
10,645
1864
2,108
9,736
11,844
1865
2,170
13,792
15,962
1866
2,588
13,396
15,984
1867
2,937
8,130
11,067
1868
3,187
7,296
10,483
1869
3,109
7,714
10,828
1870
2,952
7,826
10,778
1871
3,076
8,366
11,442
1872
3,338
7,448
10,786
1873
3,317
5,978
9,295
1874
4,034
7,218
11,2.52
1875
3,843
9,350
13,193
1876
3,765
7,766
11,-531
1877
3,704
11,123
14,827
1878
3,519
9,372
12,891
1879
3,154
7,647
10,801
1880
3,371
6,651
10,022
1881
3,211
9,230
12,441
1882
2,606
9,212
11,818
1883
2,801
8.899
11,700
1884
3,242
9,071
12,313
1885
2,880
5,562
8,442
1886
2,801
6,843
9,644
1887 -
3,085
7,312
10,397
Forward
94,206
298,282
392,488
* The figures before 1854 are taken from the Manx newspapers and
purport to be copies of the orif^inals ; after tliat date they are taken from
the official publications of the " Woods and Forests " department.
650 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
RENTS AND DUTIES FROM CROWN PROPERTY (continued).
Year.
Crown Eents, &c.
Mine Rents.
Total.
£
£
£
From p. 649
94,206
292,282
392,488
1888
2,827
6,990
9,817
1889
2,647
8,157
10,804
1890
2,653
8,740
11,393
1891
2,702
7,138
9,840
1892
2,584
7,699
10,283
1893
2,503
6,136
8,639
1894
2,589
3,765
6,354
1895
2,682
2,617
5,299
1896
2,643
2,785
5,428
1897
2,807
2,847
5,654
1898
2,590
2,980
5,570
1899
2,695
2,927
5,622
126,128
361,063
487,191
1830-1853 (24 years at ^4,700)
... 112,800
Total, 70 years
... 599,991
f Deduct for salaries ( 46 years
and expenses \ 19 years
at c£800 = £36,800
at £400 = 7,600
44 AC\C\
...
^^,^uu
Seventy years
... 555,591
= £7,937 per annum, say 4| per cent., and, since 1854,
= £9,622 per annum, say about 5^ per cent, on £167,144.
It must be remembered, however, that, since the mines will
be gradually exhausted the income from them will, unless there
are new mines discovered, decrease.
* These are net receipts after paying all expenses.
t The receipts from 1854 to 1899 are gross as regards crown rents, &c.
For mine rents they are net up to and inclusive of 1880, after which
they are gross. The estimates for salaries and expenses are only
approximate.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 651
APPENDIX E.
SALARIES.
1790
£
1826
1866
1873
1900
£
£
£
£
Governor
400
400
—
—
—
Lieut. -Governor
200
700
1,200
1,500-
1,800
Attorney-General j
—
500
800
1,000
1,000
Deemsters J ...
200
800
800
1,000
1,000
Water BaUiffs^
80
300
300
300
—
Clerk of the Rolls
50
900
900
1,000
1,000
High Bailiff, Douglas
25
25
165
250
450
„ Ramsey
25
25
135
200
230
,, Castletown ...
25
25
135
200
200
Peel
25
25
135
200
200
Surgeon
50
—
120
Chaplains
25
—
—
200
Chief Constable and Gaoler
12
25
—
—
Constables ...
5
10
—
—
Receiver-General
300
430!!
200
230
230
Deputy Receiver-General ...
100
—
—
—
Collector
100
—
—
—
—
Comptroller
80
—
—
—
—
Vicar- General
—
—
400
400
216
Clerk to the Council, Gover-
nor's Secretary and Trea-
surer
~
500
* These changes in 1873 were made in consideration of the fees,
amounting to about £400 annually, which had been paid to the officers
who were given increased salaries, being paid to the general revenue
account.
+ Till the appointment of James Quirk in 1334, this official usually
resided in England, lea* ing his duties to be performed by an ill-paid
deputy.
\ There was only one deemster from 1777 to 1793.
§ This office was done away with in 1885.
II The Receiver-General ceased to be a customs officer in 1832,
CHAPTER III
CHURCH AND NONCONFORMITY
"TN the preceding Book (Chap. III.) we brought
-'- down the history of the Manx Church to the
death of Bishop Wilson in 1755.
Bishop His successor, Bishop Hildesley, was consecrated
in Whitehall Chapel by Dr. Hutton, Archbishop of
York, on the 24th of April, 1755, and, on the 6th of
August following, he was installed in St. German's
Cathedral. We shall see how zealously he entered
into every department of work in his diocese, and it
is significant of this that he took the trouble to
acquire something of the Manx language, so that he
might make himself more generally understood by
the people. He died on the 7th of December, 1772,
and was buried in Kirk Michael Churchyard, near
Bishop Wilson. Twenty-five years later Bishop
Crigan remarked that his memory was still fresh in
the hearts of the people, and that " as no pastor was
more loved in his diocese, by both the clergy and
laity, during his life, so no one could be more sin-
cerely regretted at his death.*
* Hildesley' s Memoirs, p. 111. To this book our readers are
referred for full particulars.
652
CHURCH AND NONCONFORMITY 653
The great work of his episcopate was the publica- Tho Bibie.
tion of the Bible in Manx. As a preHminary to this
he encouraged the pubhcation of devotional works, devotional
of the New Testament, and of the Prayer Book. ^^ ications.
Thus, at Convocation, in 1758, we find him ** de-
claring a great desire of having the Church catechism
printed in the Manks tongue by itself," and earnestly
recommending the clergy that they are " to use their
best endeavours to improve the use and practice of
the Manks tongue." He also expressed his desire of
having " the ordinary service of the Church, together
with the several occasional offices, translated into
Manks," and " a select number of the singing psalms
translated into Manks verse, fitted to the tunes used
in churches, for the instruction and comfort of such
persons as do not understand the English language."
He soon found willing translators, but, when the
books were ready for publication, he was confronted
with the difficulty of providing the necessary funds.
To meet this he approached the Society for Pro- publication,
moting Christian Knowledge, who, in July, 1762, 1^°^ obtained.
handed him £100 " for the purpose of printing the
Scriptures and other good books in the Manks
tongue." He also obtained money for the same
purpose from various charitable persons in England.
In August of the same year he received a letter from
the Archbishop of York urging him to procure " a
plain translation of the liturgy," * and condemning
the practice of translating " the Scriptures and the
Liturgy off-hand out of English into the language of
* Hildeslei/ s Memoirs, pp. 425-6.
VOL. II. 43
654 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Publication of
Gospels and
Acts,
Of the Prayer
Book,
And of the
Bible.
the Island." * The archbishop also suggested that
" such parts of the Scriptures as are the most
necessary should be carefully translated by some
able clergjTiian." * In the following year the
S.P.C.K. issued a " Proposal for printing the Holy
Bible, Common Prayer, and other religious Books,
in the Manks language," and, in consequence of
this, the bishop was shortly able to announce the
publication of the Gospels and Acts to his clergy,!
and to inform them that the subscriptions in
England towards the other publications were pro-
gressing satisfactorily. He then urged them " to
take into consideration some method of proceeding
with the Liturgy already begun," and to " prosecute
that most necessary work of translating the re-
mainder of the New Testament into the vulgar
tongue." In 1765, there appeared an edition of the
Prayer Book, and, in the same year, the bishop,
encouraged by the number of the subscriptions he
had received from England, determined to expedite
the translation of the Bible which had been already
begun. The printing of the first volume to the end
of Job was completed in 1771 ; + the second, to the
end of the Old Testament, with a portion of the
Apocrj^ha, in 1773 ; and the third volume, the New
Testament, in 1775. The translators of the Bible,
■'•' 1111(168161/ s Memoirs, pp. 425-6.
f A few copies were issued to the clergy only, with a request
" that they would insert freely then- remarks on the blank pages."
I The statement of Bishop Hildesley's biographer, that the
bishop received the last volume before his death, is incorrect
{Hildesley's Memoirs, p. 51).
CHUKCH AND NONCONFOKMITY 655
Prayer Book, &c., were, in effect, the whole of the
clergy of the island, though the most arduous share
of the work had fallen to the Eev. Phillip Moore,
who revised nearly the whole of the Bible,* and to
John Kelly, afterwards Dr. Kelly, who assisted him
and also corrected the whole Bible for the press.!
Though, as we have seen, the publication of the Bfb^and°ither
Bible and Prayer-book and other religious books aftlf Bilhip"''^
continued after Bishop Hildesley's death, their pro- death! ^^^
duction was retarded, instead of forwarded, by his
immediate successors. Indeed, but for the support
of the S.P.C.K., and the earnest zeal of a few of the
Manx clergy, it seems probable that no further Manx
books would have been published.!
Among the earlier of Bishop Hildesley's successors. The Bishops.
Ward (1827-38) is the only one worthy of more than
mere notice. He was a very earnest and energetic
man, and is now chiefly remembered by his success
in raising funds for Manx church-building in Eng-
land. We may mention that Bishop Richmond
(1773-80) was a haughty and overbearing man,
much disliked by his clergy, § while Bishops Mason
'■^' The Rev. Matthias Curghey assisted in the revision of the
Pentateuch.
I The Manx translation of the Bible is considered a very good
one. Thus Valiancy in his Grammar, p. 119, writes, "The
beautiful expression of the Manx, superior to the Irish transla-
tion, is visible to every Celtic scholar."
\ For full particulars about benefactions towards the publi-
cation of the Scriptures in Manx, see Hildesley's Memoirs,
pp. 257-60, or Isle of Man Charities, pp. 51-56.
5 In their letters he is usually described as " The Lama," and
" The Pontifcx Maximus."
656
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Attempts to
attach Man to
English
dioceses.
The
" discipline.
The discipline
falling into
contempt.
(1780-83), and Crigan (1783-1811), were men of no
influence. Murray (1814-27) was an able and
well-meaning bishop who did much good work for
the Church, but his influence was much lessened by
the unfprtunate position he took up with regard to
the tithe. The bishops of later date than Ward
come too close to our own time to render it
desirable to give any account of them.*
During this period there were two attempts to attach
" Sodor and Man " to an English diocese. The first
was in 1836, when, by Act of Parliament, it was
actually united to Carlisle ; and the second, in 1875,
was a proposal to unite it to Liverpool. Both these
schemes were, however, defeated by the opposition
of the Manx people, whether clergy or laity, and, in
the former case, the Act of Parliament was repealed.!
We shall now proceed to deal with the "discip-
line," the tithes, the status of the clergy, the
progress of church building, &c., and, finally, with
education.
Bishop Wilson's system of " discipline," as it
was applied after 1736, was continued by Bishop
Hildesley. But, notwithstanding his efforts, the
penalties for its infringement gradually became
lighter. Indeed, such entries in the judgments of
the courts as " dismissed as frivolous and ad-
monished " are often found. The whole system
was, in fact, falling into contempt. As a means of
tightening its loosened bonds the bishop ordered that
"'• For a list of them see the Supplement.
f For further details sec Sodor and Man, pp. 261-2.
CHUECH AND NONCONFORMITY G57
** no person who is cither under Church censure, Regulations
or who has not received the Holy Sacrament of the "Jiamages.
Lord's Supper, be admitted to enter into the holy
state of matrimony"* ; and the ceremony of marriage
was more strictly guarded. It seems that clandestine
marriages had been very common, so that the
bishop, in 1757, got an Act passed by the Legis-
lature t to prevent them, and, at the same time,
he strongly reproved the clergy for their negligence
in allowing them.
Presentments for non-observance of Sundays and vance ofTsh
Saints' days were common, and there was a vigorous anaoood'^
Friday.
effort made to check the neglect of attendance at
church on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, which
seems to have especially shocked the bishop, who
told his clergy that he was "aggrieved as well as
surprized" to see men "following their ordinary
occupations on these days in yoking their cattle and
tilling their land . . . during the whole time of
Divine service." To this the clergy replied : (1)
That it was the general custom of the people to
work on those days; (2) that they had the " late
Bishop's and Vicar-General Walker's example for
it " (!) ; and (3) that prayers were read as early as
8 a.m. on those days, so that people went to work
afterwards. After Bishop Hildesley's death, the
discipline began to fail very rapidly.
''■'■ This was, in effect, the third ecclesiastical constitution of
1704, which was at this time ordered to be read in the churches
(see Sodor and Man, pp. 209-10).
f Statutes, vol. i. pp. 381-5. It was on the same lines as
Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act of 1753.
658 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
The discipline
fails.
Presentments.
It had become difficult even to get any disciplinary
cases before the spiritual courts, especially such as
related to non-attendance at church and to im-
morality. Of this a singular proof was afforded in
1785, when a number of churchwardens complained
to the court that they considered it a grievance to be
" obliged to present on Common Fame, as also such
persons as do not attend divine worship on holy
days." In consquence of this, the court appointed a
committee to " represent this to the Legislature, as
soon as other matters of a similar nature are ready
to be laid before them, for their consideration and
amendment." The same point arose in 1796, when
Bishop Origan took " the sense of the clergy whether
it might not be advisable to adopt another mode of
punishing such offenders, by proposing to the Legis-
lature to enact a law impowering the Bishop and
Vicar-generals to commute their censures for a
pecuniary fine." The clergy acquiesced, stating
that they found " from sad experience that the
censures of the Church have proved ineffectual to
suppress the sins of adultery and fornication." No
reference, however, seems to have been made to the
Legislature, and, ten years later, the disciphne was
practically obsolete.*
Such presentments as we find between 1773 and
1800 were chiefly for the above-mentioned offences
and for swearing, while some of them were for very
insignificant misdeeds. Indeed, if contemporary
* We may note that the chapter-quests, whose special duty
it was to make presentments, disappear at this period.
CHUKCH AND NONCONFOEMITY 659
writers are to be believed, the indues were frequently contemporary
a ./ opinion of
more in need of discipline than those who were ^hcm.
brought before them. One of these writers, a
military officer who lived in the island between 1789
and 1794, comments on the manner of the present-
ments as follows : " My pen revolts . . . with
transcribing such nonsensical stuff, such as must
draw a smile from every person of common sense ;
an indignant one it must be ; that within a Pro-
testant country, in this enlightened age, such
absurdities should be tolerated."* Occasional
penances were performed as late as 1825, and, in
the same year, Bishop Murray is said to have
excommunicated an offender against the moral law ;
but, after that date, we hear no more of the
discipHne of the Manx Church, f
Of all the questions which agitated Manxmen and The tithe,
their Church at this period that of the tithe was the
most far-reaching in its effects.
Let us first consider the fish-tithe. This long- Fish tithe
question
pending question was settled finally by the Privy jegaiiy settled,
ran J u J l^m payment
Council, in 1769, in favour of the clergy, by affirming b"fi^]i|^rm|n.
the judgment of the Manx spiritual court in 17G7,
which decided that fishermen were liable to pay full
tithes for fish even though " sold at sea many leagues
from the island." But, though the legal question
-•= Townlej', vol. ii. p. 47.
f " As late, however, as 1847, chiirchwardens occasionally
notified moral offences committed in their parishes to their
rector or vicar, who admonished the delinquents, but did not
bring them before any court " (MS. note by Archdeacon
Moore).
660 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
was thus settled, the fishermen seem still to have
made difficulties about the payment of the tithe,
since there was a resolution passed at Convocation,
in 1772, " that the rights of the Church be vigorously
defended with respect to the tithe of herrings and
other fish ; " and, in the following year, the clergy
complained, in an address to the bishop, that they
(the fishermen) still continued "obstinate," and had
involved them "in fresh suits," Fish tithe was,
however, usually paid up to the end of the eighteenth
century, when all mention of it in the Kecords
ceases, and it is not referred to in the Tithe Act
of 1839.
other tithes. As regards the other tithes, trouble arose owing to
the new method of collecting them which was,
instead of letting them to the clergy of the respective
parishes, as was the practice till Bishop Eichmond
came, to let them to the highest bidder at public
auction. This individual then held sub-auctions to
re-let the tithes, which, under this system, sold for
much above their value. Thus, for instance, in
1750, the tithes of the parish of Braddan were let
for £31 5s., and, in 1811, for £200 ; and the tithes of
the parish of Jurby produced £20, in 1772, £138, in
1810, and £231, in 1811. This increase, however,
before 1816, raised less opposition among the
farmers than might have been expected, because the
period (1793-1815) had been one of considerable pros-
perity for them. But, after 181G, when the state of
affairs was altogether different,* there was much
••■ See p. 553.
Its exaction
causes a riot.
CHURCH AND NONCONFORMITY GGl
distress and discontent among the poorer farmers.
This was aggravated in 1817, by Bishop Murray's
attempt to collect the tithe of potatoes, turnips, and
other green crops, which had not been demanded for The green crop
'=' ^ _ tithe.
many years. The question of his right to do so was
brought before the insular exchequer court in 1821
and was decided by it in favour of the bishop. The
farmers then appealed to the Privy Council, who, on
the 24th of June, 1825, upheld the decision of the
Manx court that, as potatoes and turnips * were
comparatively modern crops in the island, the old
custom did not extend to them and that they were
therefore titheable. A decree was consequently
issued ordering the payment of tithe on them. The
result of this decision was a combination among the
farmers not to pay ; and, in October, when the collec-
tion began, dangerous riots broke out in Peel and
other places, and, finally, a body of 5,000 re-
monstrants armed with bludgeons and pitchforks,
and waving a "bloody ensign, "t marched on
Bishop's Court and extorted a promise from the
bishop, who was actually in danger of his life,| that
be would not collect the tithe § for that year. In the
* Turnips were not cultivated before 1793.
■}■ Manks Advertiser.
I Some of the rioters who had committed arson were tried
and punished, two being transported for hfe, and £180 was
levied on Douglas in the form of Church cess, whicli was
collected by the wardens of St. Matthew's " in behalf of the
damages, costs, and charges in the potato riots " in tliat town.
§ The potato crop had been valued in 1821 at £15,000, and,
estimating tlie turnip crop at Je;3,000, tlie clergy would have got
about £1,800 as their share.
662
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
It is
abandoned.
Attempt to
commute
tithes fails.
following October (1826), the bishop issued a notice
that, " in consequence of the failure of the crops of
barley and oats," he would not " demand the tithe of
potatoes or turnips," but he stated that the exemp-
tion was " for the present year only."* In 1827,
however, he left the island and no further attempt
was made to collect tithe on the green crops. He
had also endeavoured, in concert with the duke, to
commute the tithes for an amount which the land-
owners considered exorbitant. The duke first
brought the question before the Tynwald Court
in March, 1823, when he pledged himself, with the
consent of the bishops, to accept £6,000 annually in
lieu of the tithes, leaving the Keys to find " ways and
means of levy and payment."* A committee of the
Keys was appointed in the following May to go into
the whole question, and they issued their report in
November. In this they estimated the value of the
tithes at £4,116, but explained that " on the one
hand, considerable deductions must be made for loss
by bad debts and for the expenses of collection ;
while, on the other hand, additions must be made
for the value of prescriptions, small tithes, and other
dues" ; also that " some consideration must be given
to the suits now pending on the subject of green crop
and other incidental increase." They then concluded
by saying that the very greatest sum which they
could " conscienciously advise to be given, as a fixed
and clear income payable without trouble or expense
to the receivers, is £5,000;" and they recommended
* Manks Advertiser.
CHURCH AND NONCONFORMITY 663
that this should not be " subject to periodical revi-
sion, but be convertible into a principal sum at 25
years' purchase . . . the proprietors of the land to
have the option of purchasing the commutation to
v^hich their respective properties are liable at 25
years' purchase at any time within 10 years."*' It
was also proposed that such commutations as had
not been purchased should be revised by the average
of five years' prices of grain in the London Gazette.
These proposals were accepted by the Tynwald
Court, which ordered them, together with an ex-
planatory circular, to be sent to the captains of the
various parishes who were to be requested to obtain
the opinion of the landowners thereon. They were
also accepted by the duke and bishop (who thereby
practically abandoned their claim for green crop),
with the exception of the redemption clause, to
which they objected. The landowners, too, were
generally in favour of the proposals, though there
was a considerable difference of opinion about the
advisability of redemption. A Bill was consequently
prepared embodying the proposals, except that for
redemption, and was introduced into the Keys in
January, 1824. f Because of this omission, however,
the Keys threw the Bill out. They did so, their
* ManTxS Advertiser.
f The amount was fixed at £5,000, being estimated from the
prices of wheat for the three years 1820-2-2. It was agreed that
this sum was to be paid for ten years after the promulgation of
the Act and that the valuation was then to be on the basis of
the prices of wheat for the five preceding years, as given in the
London Gazette.
664 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
enemies declared, to enforce the inclusion of the
redemption clause, which would enable them to get
mortgages on the estates of the poorer farmers and
so ruin them.*
But, in the absence of any report of their debates,
it seems probable that their real reason for throwing
out the Bill was that they did not wish to commute
the tithes before the question of the green crop tithe
was decided. When, however, this did take place, it
was decided to hold over the discussion on the whole
subject till calmer views were likely to prevail ; and,
indeed, it was evidently unwise, at a time when much
distress and discontent prevailed, f to risk the further
alienation of the people from the Church by stirring
up strife about the tithe. This was clearly perceived
by the clergy, who remarked, when addressing Bishop
"Ward on the tithe valuation, in 1828, "We doubt
not that a considerable augmentation may take place
in the Revenues of the Church of Man in future
years should a kind Providence send prosperity to
our little Island, but no material augmentation can
reasonably be expected at present in the deeply
depressed state of the country. We are confident
that if your Lordship witnessed the indigent circum-
stances of the people, and beheld, as your clergy do,
many of the peasantry unable to obtain employment,
or procure food for themselves or their families, and
a large proportion of the Land-holders emigrating I
■^ Pamphlet (1825), p. 83. f See p. 553.
\ There was a very large emigration to America between 1825
and 1840.
CHUECH AND NONCONFOEMITY 665
to distant countries to procure the necessaries of life,
your Lordship would concur in the opinion that this
unquestionably is no time for the rigorous enactment
of dues whether civil or ecclesiastical. We feel con-
strained to observe, that to have recourse to coercive
measures for the recovery of disputed tithes would be
attended with disastrous consequences, and not only
produce general disaffection throughout the country,
and materially disturb the peace of the community,
but inflict a wound on the Church of Mann which
the lapse of a century would scarcely heal."
Such being the state of affairs, it was not found
possible to settle the question till 1839,* when the
Tithe Commutation Act was passed. By this Act, commutation
it was decided that the tithe rent-charges should ^'^'io^isag.
" be deemed to be of the value of such quantities of
wheat, barley, and oats as the same would have
purchased in case one-third part thereof had been
invested in the purchase of wheat at seven shillings
and one farthing per imperial bushel ; one-third part
thereof in the purchase of barley at three shillings
and elevenpence half-penny per imperial bushel ; and
the remaining one-third part thereof in the purchase
of oats at two shillings and ninepence per imperial
bushel, and to be regulated, increased, or diminished
from year to year, according to the average prices of
wheat, barley, and oats, as advertised in the London
Gazette ;" \ also that the average price was to be
that of the preceding seven years. An agent was
••■ The ]5ill was first introduced in 18o7.
f In 1883, an Act was passed substituting the corn averages
666 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OE MAN
appointed on behalf of the bishop and clergy, and
the " Commissioners of Woods and Forests," * to
collect these charges, the bishop, archdeacon, com-
missioners, and clergy having each one vote (or four
votes in all), and the bishop, if required, a casting
vote, in his election. This appointment of an agent
for collecting the tithe was a w^ise provision, as it
relieved the clergy from the odium and inconvenience
of collecting it themselves, to which they have been,
and still are, subjected in England and Wales. And
we may note also that, according to the Manx Act,
in the event of the non-payment of these charges,
proceedings could be taken against the landlord in a
court of summary jurisdiction instead of against the
tenant by distraint, as was the case in England and
Wales till recently. The total amount of the valua-
tion was £5,575, which was divided as follows : — To
the Crown i£525, the Bishop ^£1,515, the Eector of
Andreas £707, the Kectors of Bride and Ballaugh
£303 each, the fourteen Vicars £141 8s., the Trustees
of Dr. Thomas AVilson's charity for clergymen's
widows £141 8s., t the Minister of St. Jude's,
Andreas £101.1
Thus was accomplished an important and bene-
ficial reform in the Manx Church, by which any
friction between the clergy and the tithe-payers was
rendered improbable.
under the Imperial Act of 1882 for those referred to in the Act
of 1839 {Statutes, vol. v. pp. 207-8).
-•= For the Crown's share.
f See Sodor and Man, p. 217, n. 1.
I Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 114-123.
CHUECH AND NONCONFOEMITY 667
Bishop Hildesley's first care on arriving in Man
was to require the clergy to produce their " Letters
of Orders, Institution, and Induction, and all
other Licences or Faculties whatsoever." He then
ordained that they should wear "a dress to dis- condition of
•^ the clergy.
tinguish them from the laity," and that they
should not appear outside their own house or
lands " in brown or light-coloured cloaths, but only
in black or dark-gray and wearing a wig." * It was increase of
fortunate for the clergy that these sumptuary laws incomes.
were accompanied with some increase in their in-
comes, the two rectories being then worth ^'100, and
the vicarages from ^630 to £50. f " Upon such
humble incomes," says a contemporary writer, " the
frugality of the insular clergy, much to their honour,
has enabled them to live very decently, to maintain
themselves, and sometimes to bring up comfortably
pretty numerous famihes.j Their conduct seems to Their conduct.
have been, generally speaking, irreproachable § dur-
ing Hildesley's life, but, after his death, they rapidly
deteriorated. I i That this was so is unfortunately
only too clear from the Records, which contain
* Even the students of sixteen and seventeen years old were
obliged to wear wigs.
f This increase largely arose from the bishop appointing the
clergy as his proctors, in their several parishes, to collect his
tithes and dues, they getting a percentage for themselves.
I US. letter.
§ Only two presentments are recorded against thcni, one
being of a rector and curate for non-residence, and the other of
a curate for drunkenness.
II The negligent way in which the Church registers were kept
between 1772 and 1814 is very marked.
668 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
several convictions against them for drunkenness
and show that no less than seven of them were
degraded from their office at one time. A contem-
porary writer, however, gives more favourable evi-
dence remarking that the clergy were " a respectable
body " and that they had " a good classical educa-
tion." * By the time, however, that Bishop Murray
came (1814) " things had fallen into a very scandalous
state." I He " found great irregularities practised
in some of the churches, and a general carelessness
pervading by far too large a proportion of the
clergy." t He consequently "purified the Ministry
of several Priests, whose lives had been a scandal to
their holy Order." I The result of this seems to
have been that, in 1816, there were " few, if any,
striking instances of dereliction from their duties"
among the clergy ; § and, generally speaking, the
habits of the whole body are said to have been " con-
mon'^tary souaut to the bcst rulcs of orthodoxy." § After the
position. passage of the Tithe Commutation Act the monetary
position of the clergy, who had been previously
described as "so miserably provided for, as to be
wholly unable to support with respectability their
station in society as Christian Ministers " was greatly
improved." |! As regards their character and conduct,
and "the faithful discharge of their sacred functions,"
they were, in 1887, stated to be "highly respect-
able." II
■'■ Feltham {Manx Soc, vol. vi. p. 89).
f Short, Introduction, p. Ixiv. I Ward, p. 60.
§ Bullock, p. 332. II Ward, p. 172.
CIIUECH AND NONCONFORMITY GG9
Since 1814, then, we have traced a steady im- Progress in the
, • , 1 , -, • • 1 , , 1 Church after
provement m the clergy, and a similar, though more i8i4.
intermittent, progress took place in the Church
itself which had sunk to its lowest depth at that
time. But the Church then, owing to the reforms
instituted by Bishop Murray, began to rise again,
and, with a man like Hugh Stowell, " the pious and
eloquent rector of Ballaugh," to assist him, it soon
became evident that " the spirit of Bishop Wilson
was not extinct."* It was, indeed, due to Hugh
Stowell that, eleven years before this, Sunday schools
began to be held in the Isle of Man.f
" Having heard," he writes, " of the happv conse- Sunday
, JT J. J schools.
quences attending Sunday schools in the neighbour-
ing kingdoms," t he began one in his own parish of
Lonan. From thence the schools soon spread to the
other parishes, and were also eagerly adopted by the
Wesleyans. Good was also done in Man by branches
of the British and Foreign Bible Society, established
there in 1814, and of the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, established there in 1818.
But the good effect of these influences was checked
by the discontent aroused by the way in which the
tithe was exacted. This was referred to by the
clergy in 1828, when they told Bishop Ward that
the Church " has been for some time past in a very
tottering condition," and that, unless conciliatory
* Ward, p. 60.
f Bishops Wilson and Hildeslej- insisted on children attend-
ing church to be catechized, but there would not seem to have
been any regular Sunday schools before 1803.
I MS. Diary.
VOL. II. 44
670 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Process measures were speedily adopted with regard to the
tithe agitation, tithe, they had "every reason to apprehend deserted
pews, ahenated flocks, and a general contempt" for
its " ordinances." Thirteen years later, we have the
evidence of Bishop Short to the effect that "the
churches in the seventeen parishes of which the
diocese consisted were generally empty," * and that
" the tone of morality was low, and the people were
falHng into indifferentism." * Nor, judging from the
remarks of Bishop Lord Auckland, in 1854, who
spoke of the widespread spirit of indifference to
church doctrines and discipline, and of the small
number of communicants, was there any great
improvement by that time, f though, between 1854
and 1866, there vv^ere signs of a revival.
bSiding. We have now to briefly trace the progress of Church
building since 1755. During Bishop Hildesley's time
three parish churches were rebuilt and enlarged, and
the chapel of St. Mark's was built almost entirely at
the bishop's expense, he also contributing more than
half the sum then collected for the endowment of a
chaplain for it. But the condition of the contents
as well as of the fabrics of the churches left much to
be desired. This, too, the bishop did his best to
improve.
St. George's was completed in 1781, Andreas
Church was re-built in 1800, Jurby church in 1813,
and a new church, St. Paul's, in Kamsey, was built
in 1822. With the arrival of Bishop Ward the work
=1= Short, Introduction, p. Ixiv.
f Address to Convocation.
CHURCH AND NONCONFORMITY G71
of church building was greatly accelerated. He
states that it " was impossible for the preceding
Bishops to find means for the building of churches
equal to the extraordinary increase of the population,*
before the attention of the English public had been,
as it now is, generally drawn to the subject ; " that
"local means were wholly inadequate to furnish the
necessary church accommodation ; " and that he had
recourse, therefore, to English charity. In this way,
the bishop, assisted by the Eev. Hugh Stowell, who
was sent to England to solicit subscriptions, suc-
ceeded in raising between i68,000 and £9,000. "A
further sum of £3,000 was raised under the laws of
the island from the different parishes ; and, by the
judicious application of their combined resources,
several additional churches have been built, some
enlarged, and others, in a state of dilapidation, sub-
stantially repaired." t Yet, even after these churches
were completed, it was seen that there was urgent
need for chapels in the more remote parts of the
larger parishes, with chaplains to administer the
services, and parsonage houses for them to live in.
Several of these were provided by the Isle of Man
Diocesan Association, and were, for the most part,
built between 1839 and 1856. During this period
two churches were also built, viz., St. Thomas's,
Douglas, in 1849, and Marown parish church in 1853.
Bishop Hildesley took a keen interest in forward- Education.
ing education. It was during his time that Peel
obtained a mathematical school. In 1811, an im-
* Ward, p. 61. f Ibid., p. 182.
672 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
portant addition was made * to the insular schools
by the establishment of a large school in Douglas,
under the Lancasterian system, f In 1813, the fees
of the parish schoolmasters, which had remained on
the miserably inadequate scale fixed in 1704, were
raised to " two shillings and elevenpence a quarter
for each and every scholar taught to read English,
and three shillings and sixpence a quarter for each
and every scholar taught to read and write." I In
1830, the scheme originated by James, seventh Earl
of Derby, § and, carried on by Bishop B arrow, §
King William's resulted in the foundation of King WiUiam's College,
College. " o '
which was erected by means of accumulated funds
derived from the academic school and academic
master's trusts, together with £2,000 collected by
Bishop Ward, and a mortgage of £2,000 upon the
estates. The college was opened for students in
1833. The greater part of it was destroyed by fire
in 1844, but was speedily rebuilt, chiefly through the
exertions and liberality of Bishop Short. It pro-
vides an education similar to that of the great Eng-
lish public schools, not onlj^ for the sons of the Manx
clergy and those wishing to enter the Manx Church,
but for many others.!; In 1858, a school which took
* Sodor and Man, pp. 242-3.
I I.e., religious, but non-sectarian instruction.
+ Statutes, vol. i. p. 363. § See pp. 258, 470-1.
II The number of boys at present (1900) is 185. It is, strictly
speaking, a Church school, though its management by trustees,
consisting of the governor, the clerk of the rolls, the southern
deemster and the attornej-'general, and the presentation of
reports referring to the management of its estates to the Tyn-
wald Court, gives it somewhat the character of a State school.
CHUBCII AND NONCONFOKMITY 673
the place of the old grammar school in Doucrlas was Agencies for
^ " " the
provided through the liberality of Mrs. C. Hall. oT'^a^ochiaf'
Nor were the parochial schools neglected. Among schools.
other agencies contributing to their improvement was
that of the National Society,* which made numerous
grants towards building and fitting up schoolhouses,
teachers' residences, &c., in the island, and received
several schools into union with it. We may note
also that, during the period between 1832 and 1868,
no less than twenty-nine schools received Imperial
Parliamentary grants for building, enlargement, im-
provement, or fixtures.! Elementary education at
this time also received a great impetus from the exer-
tions of the able and energetic Bishop Short, whom
we find addressing Convocation on this subject in
1845 : " My great object has been to improve exist-
ing schools, trying to render those schools where I
found tolerably efficient masters more efficient, in
the hope that when people see respectable teaching
by the side of inefficient schooling, they may become
dissatisfied with the latter and try to improve it. . . .
I do not yet know of any school which I could
exhibit as a pattern ; there are several which are
very respectable, but they are all wanting either in
'■"' This Society receives schools into union with itself on con-
dition that the children are instructed in the principles of the
Church of England, subject to the superintendence of the paro-
chial clergyman, and that they attend the Estabhshed Church.
The managers of such schools have to report annually to the
Society with reference to the state and progress of their schools.
f For full particulars, see Educational Endoivments, Isle of
Man, 1887. (Blue-book.)
674 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OP MAN
instruction or method." * Yet, notwithstanding the
good bishop's efforts, the state of education in Man,
judging by the report sent by the Eev. H. Moseley
to the " Committee of Council of Education " in
1847, t was still far below the English standard.
Act of 1851. The next step with reference to these schools was
the passage, in 1851, of an " Act I for making better
provision for Parochial and other schoolmasters, and
for making further regulations for the better govern-
ment of Parochial and other Schools." § By this
Act, rates could be levied by the parochial vestries
for the support of these schools, Ij of which there
might be more than one within a parish, and
committees appointed for their management. The
chairman of this committee was to be the incumbent
of each parish, or district in the towns, who was to
have charge of the religious instruction in the
schools. The committees were also granted borrow-
ing powers, which enabled them to enlarge many of
the schools and build houses for the masters.
NONCONFORMITY.
John Muriin. The first direct effort to implant Methodism was in
1758, when John Muriin, the "weeping prophet," H
■-•= Broadside. f Pamphlet.
I " Previous to the passing of this Act, the common law or
customary obhgation on a parish was considered to be the
maintenance of one school-building in the parish " {Manx Soc,
vol. xii. p. 235. Note by Sir James Gell).
§ I.e., Not only the maintenance of the building, but all
school purposes.
II Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 274-7. IT Rosser, p. 47.
CHUECn AND NONCONFORMITY 675
stayed about a week in Ramsey. He preached to
the people, who " gave great attention," * but, since
he decided that there was " httle probabihty of
doing any considerable good while the whole island
was a nest of smugglers," * no preacher came to it
for some time afterwards.
The next arrival was John Crook, who was sent Joim crook,
by a number of zealous Methodists in Liverpool
early in 1775. He met with some opposition, but
also with a good deal of sympathy, even among the
clergy. He left the island in the autumn of the
same year, when it was placed under the care of the
preachers at Whitehaven, and considered as forming
part of that circuit. In the following year, however,
he returned and carried on his work with some
success, though there was decided opposition to it,
especially in Douglas, where he was attacked by a
riotous mob set on by the minister of St. Matthew's.
For protection, he applied to the governor, who
took his part, and told the minister " that he would
suffer no one to be persecuted for his religion." +
After this, "though the storm was now fallen, the
waves . . . continued turbulent," + and there were
yet troublous times in store for the Manx Methodists.
In July, 1776, Bishop Richmond issued the following
intolerant and violent pastoral letter to his clergy :
" Whereas we have been informed that several un- Bishop
Kicnmond s
ordained, unauthorized, and unqualified persons from i^" wefiU^ans.
=>= Rosser, p. 47.
f Moore's Life of Wesley, quoted by Kosser, p. 84.
I Ibid., p. 85.
676 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
other countries have for some time past presumed
to preach and teach pubhckly, hold and maintain
Conventicles, and have caused several weak persons
to combine themselves together in a new Society,
and have private meetings, assemblies, and Congre-
gations contrary to the divine government, Eites,
and Ceremonies of the Established Church, and the
civil and ecclesiastical laws of this Isle — We do
therefore, for the prevention of schism and the re-
establishment of the uniformity in religious worship
which so long hath subsisted among us, hereby
desire and require each and every of you to be
vigilant and use your utmost endeavours to dissuade
your respective flocks from following or being led
and misguided by such incompetent teachers." He
then spoke of " the crude, pragmatic, and incon-
sistent, if not profane and blasphemous, extempore
effusions of these Pretenders to the true Keligion ; "
he asked that the names of those attending meet-
ings, who held "any place, office, or employment"
under the Church, should be sent to him ; and he
ordered the clergy, if any of the preachers should
"at any time hereafter offer to be a partaker of
the holy Communion," to " expel him or them so
offering."
Sth^rford. Fortunately but few of the clergy cared to carry
out such instructions in their entirety, though, ac-
cording to Thomas Eutherford, one of the preachers,
not one of them " dared to give us the sacrament."
And, he continues : " I have no doubt but that
they would have driven us out of the island but for
CHURCH AND NONCONFORMITY 677
the Governor, who acted a most friendly part." *
Notwithstanding this opposition, they had already
five hundred members, and " many of the poor
people, both in the towns and throughout the
country, received the truth, and much good was
done." *■ In the following year, Wesley himself wesiey-s first
paid the island a visit, and " was received in a
very friendly manner by a few persons of respecta-
bihty and influence." t The people generally also
received him well, and he was favourably impressed
by them, writing, " A more loving, simple-hearted
people than this I never saw — and no wonder ; for
they have but six papists and no dissenters on the
island." I
At the Wesleyan Conference of 1778, the Isle of Man as a
separate
Man was entered as a separate circuit, and the circuit.
preachers appointed to it were John Crook and
Robert Dall. During the three years the former
worked in the island, the membership of the society
largely increased, being fifteen hundred and ninety-
seven in 1781. In May of that year, Wesley again Wesley's
came to the island, and was very favourably re-
ceived. The bishop, George Mason, was an easy-
going man, and did not interfere with the new
preachers, whose work prospered. Wesley's impres-
sion of the people continued to be favourable, and
he remarked in his diary — "Hardly in England
(except perhaps at Bolton) have I found so plain,
'•' Kosser, p. 89.
f Wesleifs Journal, quoted by Rosser, . 93.
\ Rosser, p. 94.
678
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
His opinion of
Man as a
circuit.
SO earnest, so simple a people;"* and again he
speaks of " an artless, loving congregation." t He
was also much pleased with their singing, saying
— " I have not heard better singing either at Bristol
or London ; many, both men and women, have
admirable voices, and they sing with good judg-
ment." :
Of the preachers, who were now twenty-two in
number, Wesley says — " I never saw in England so
many stout, well-looking preachers together. If
their spirit be answerable to their look, I know not
what can stand before them." § And, after having
visited the whole of the island, he declares that
he "was thoroughly convinced that we have no
such circuit as this either in England, Scotland, or
Ireland."§
The Wesleyans continued to increase and prosper.
In 1805, the island was constituted a separate
Relations district : and, in 1825, it was stated that the
between the
wesie^anb^*^^ Mcthodists of that time, " unlike their predecessors,
have little opposition to expect from those who are
without." Indeed, after Bishop Richmond's time,
the Church and the Methodists worked, on the
whole, amicably together, and we have ample proof
that this state of things continued much longer
than in England. Thus, one of the Wesleyans
writes in 1822, " It was judged good policy to allow
the Methodists in this Island to remain under the
Rosser, Ihid., p. 98.
Wcslei/s Jo
§ Ihid., p. 99.
f Ibid., p. 99.
I Wesley's Journal, quoted by Rosser, p. 93.
CHURCH AND NONCONFORMITY G79
protecting wing of the Establishment until their
minds were better prepared for a separation, and
now they seem disposed to imitate their brethren in
the mother country." *
We learn, however, that, in 1829, they had not yet
" seceded from the established Church," f but that
they "adhere ... to its services."! Also that
"in the country parishes, the Methodists attend
generally more regularly than others on the public
worship of the Church." | But in the towns, the
line of demarcation had been for some time more
strongly marked, and, from 1836, when the chapels
began to be opened during the time of Church
service, though many of the Wesleyans considered
this " a great evil," | their separation from the
Church may be dated. § The process of separation
was, however, even then a slow one, and, owing
probably to the pronounced evangelical feeling which
has gradually increased in the Manx Church, it has
never extended to nearly the same extent as in
England. It has been accentuated by the following
Acts of Tynwald : The Dissenters' Marriage Act,^ ^^^^^^1^^^^^
in 1849, by which the governor may cause places of ^°'^'^^^'^-
worship, other than those of the Established Church,
* Haining, Guide to the Isle of Man, p. 72.
f Teignmouth, vol. ii. pp. 254-5.
\ Ibid., pp. 254-5 and p. 259. The same writer refers to the
caution the Methodists show in holding their services at such
times as not to interfere with those of the Establishment, and
he comments on their large attendance at the sacramental
services in the parish churches.
§ Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 231-42.
680 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
to be registered for the celebration of marriages ;
the Civil Begistration Act, passed in the same year,
by which births, marriages, and deaths could be
registered in these places ; and fm'ther, if any
objected to this, they might be married in the office
of the deputy-registrar.*
There is no very definite information as to the
numbers of Nonconformists in the island during
this period. In 1862, they had 91 chapels, with
35,000 sittings, 20 ministers, and 200 local preachers.
The Independents, or Congregationalists, were
numerous enough to erect a chapel in 1808, the
Presbyterians were in the same position in 1813,
and the Primitive Methodists in 1819.
Till about 1845, Nonconformists were satisfied to
have their children taught in the Church schools,
but, after that date, they had a few schools of their
own.
There seem to have been no Eoman Catholics in
Man till towards the end of the eighteenth century,
when (in 1781) there were 25.1 By 1813, their
numbers had advanced sufficiently to enable them
to erect a chapel, which was completed in 1814.
This chapel, dedicated to St. Bridget, was on the
Castletown road, about a mile from Douglas. In
1826, there were 550 members, with two chapels,
one being at Castletown. In 1857, the foundation-
stone of " St. Mary's of the Isle," in Douglas, was
■'■' Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 246-53.
f Wesley, in his Journal (see p. 677) gives the number as 6,
in 1777.
CHURCH AND NONCONFORMITY G81
laid, and it was opened for service two years later.
This church, which is one of the finest in the island,
is in the French style of the early thirteenth century.
By 1865, the numbers of the Roman Catholics had
risen to 2,000, and, besides the church just men-
tioned, there were three chapels.* Sisters of Mercy
were introduced in 1866.
■■" At Castletown, Eamsey, and Peel.
BOOK V
THE RECENT HISTOBY
THE RECENT HISTORY
TT is no exaggeration to say that the Manx people introductory.
-*- have made greater progress in all that appertains
to civihzation since 1866 than during the whole of
the hundred years preceding that date. But, though
we fix 1866 as a convenient period for marking the
termination of what might be called the mediaeval
history of Man, and the beginning of its modern
history, we must remember that the progress of its
people began to be accelerated by the gradual
breaking up of the old commercial and financial
system, which was initiated in 1844 and 1853. Yet,
though the advance made during the concluding
years of our last period was in itself far from incon-
siderable, it bears no comparison with the rapid
progress, both in moral and material respects, which
has taken place subsequently. How great this
progress has been may be estimated from the follow-
ing summary of the contrast between the state of
things in 1866 and that existing at the present day.
In 1866, the House of Keys was self-elected, and the
antiquated system of judicature and of criminal law
remained unreformed. Now there is a representative
VOL. II. 45 386
686 HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Comparison of HousG, whose members do not require a property
the situations ' ~:l l s. j
Bifeirslfier^ qualification, a liberal franchise extended to both
that date. .^^^ ^^^ women, and a system of law and judicature
modernized so as to meet the requirements of the
present day. In 1866, the State in Man had not
begun to seriously concern itself with such matters
as education and the relief of the poor, which were
most inefficiently cared for. Now, it administers a
thorough system of free education, and a wise and
non-oppressive poor law. In 1866, sanitation was
conspicuous by its absence, and the death rate
was consequently very heavy. Now, the sanitation
of the towns is good, and judicious sanitary measures
are enforced in the country. In 1866, municipal
government was little more than a name. Now, it
is a reality and, owing to the energetic labours of
those who have successfully wielded its authority,
the towns, especially Douglas, have been extended
and improved in a way which has rendered them
comparable with the most advanced towns in
England. In 1866, there were no regulations for
compulsory vaccination, and no reliable records of
births, deaths, or marriages. Now, these are all
in existence. In 1866, there were neither railways
nor tramways. Now, the island is well supplied
with both. And, finally, in 1866, the harbours
of the island were practically unprotected from
inshore winds, there was no low-water landing
accommodation, and for eight months in the year
the mails went only four times weekly to and from
its shores. Now, there are magnificent harbour
THE KECENT HISTOKY 687
works giving great, though still inadequate, pro-
tection, and nearly all the landing accommodation
required, and the mails come and go on every week
day throughout the year. But, it will be asked, is
this the only side of the shield ? And we are bound
to admit in reply that it is not. In 1866, a consider-
able number of retired military and naval officers,
whose expenditure tended to promote a general, if
moderate, well-being among the trading classes, still
resided in the island. Now, in consequence of the
small difference between prices in Man and in
England not affording them sufficient inducement
to remain, they have all departed. Their places
have been taken by hordes of visitors who, coming
for a limited period only, require, for the supply of
their wants the temporary service of a number
of household servants, car drivers, boatmen, porters,
&c. These people, therefore, during the greater part
of the year are thrown out of employment. Thus,
though the amount of money brought by the smnmer
visitors is far greater than that expended by the
permanent residents whom they have succeeded,
and, though it has enriched the steamship companies,
the banks, the hotel, boarding and lodging-house
keepers, the various corporations which provide re-
creation and amusement, the tradesmen, and, to a
lesser extent, the owners and occupiers of land, the
temporarily employed class referred to, which, before
1866, was almost non-existent, has created a new
problem in the way of pauperism as distinct from
poverty. But, after all, the adverse changes are
688 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
insignificant as compared with the favourable
changes, so that, speaking generally, the Manx
people, except those employed in the depressed
industries of fishing and mining, may justly be
described as forming a prosperous community.
Condition op The condition of the Manx labourers has greatly
THE People. _ o ^
improved since the commencement of the present
period. Their receipts are greater and their expenses
less * than they were thirty years ago. Their staple
food is white bread, tea, fish, and, frequently meat ;
they are comfortably clothed,! and, as a rule, fairly
well housed, though there is a regrettable tendency
in Douglas to crowd them into tenements. In fact
no class in the community has advanced so rapidly
as they have.
Poor relief. And yet, for the reasons already mentioned, it is
during this period that the problem of the relief
of the poor in the towns has become a serious one.
In the country, the poor people are, in most of the
parishes, well looked after by the vicars and wardens,
or by their relatives and friends. But in the towns,
especially in Douglas, which is the chief place of
resort of the summer visitors, there are many who,
during the winter, are dependent on charitable
assistance. This assistance was, till recently, given
by various voluntary associations, instead of one
organization, in each town, the result being that
■■'' See pp. 696-8 for prices and wages. We should note that,
since 1893, his expenses have been decreased by the grant of
free education.
f If a Manx child is seen without shoes or stockings, it is
almost certainly from choice and not from necessity.
THE EECENT HISTORY 689
many of the poor, and those often the least deserving,
received much more than their share and others
much less.* In 1868, the Committee of the House
of Industry in Douglas declared that the amount
received through the voluntary system was altogether FaiUn-c of the
" -^ -^ ^ voluntary
madequate to supply the necessities of the poor, and system.
they suggested that a canvass should be made to
discover whether the popular feeling was in favour
of a poor rate or not. The canvass was accordingly
made, with the result that the large majority voted
against any changes. Although, in 1869, a system
of voluntary poor rehef was organized in Eamsey,
nothing in this direction was done in Douglas till
1880, when, as a result of the report of the " Poor
Belief Medical Aid " Commission, a Poor Belief
Board, called the "Central Belief," was elected.!
The effect of this new departure was only to stave
off for a time the necessity for a poor law. Apart
from the inadequacy of the funds at its disposal,!
the grave defect of the voluntary system w^as the
want of organization for the medical relief of the
poor. At last, in 1887, Governor Walpole, who
truly declared that the system of poor relief in Douglas
* In fact, as reported by the Poor Relief Commission in
1878, each charitable body acted independently, and was made
the prey of professional paupers who get more than their fuU
sliare, whereas the modest and retiring poor suffered {Manx
Blue Book).
t It worked on something like the Ebbcrfeld volmitary
system.
I It was calculated that, in 1885, the most pressing cases of
distress cost ^900, while the subscriptions only amounted to
£Q00.
690 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Walpole's
proposals.
A permissive
poor law
introduced in
1888.
had " drifted on, not because its resources have been
adequate to its requirements, but because its expen-
diture has been reduced to the lowest possible sum
consistent with decency," * made the following pro-
posals for dealing with the question : (1) Poor relief
to be granted. (2) Last three years' settlement to
decide where it should be granted. (3) The Tynwald
Court to have power, on the recommendation of the
governor, to declare by resolution that any town or
parish is not making adequate provision for the relief
of its poor. (4) A committee t to be elected by the
ratepayers of such district, such committee to make
an estimate of the sum they consider necessary for
the relief of the poor, and to hand over that estimate
to the Asylums Board to collect the necessary rate
for them. (5) A Poor Asylum to be provided the
cost of which is to be paid for out of the general
revenue. I A Bill embodying these proposals was
introduced, and became law in 1888. § The towns
of Douglas and Eamsey at once took advantage of
the new system, and they were followed by the town
of Castletown in 1895, and by several of the country
parishes since that date. The management of the
Poor Asylum, or " Home for the Poor "as it is now
called, is vested in the Asylums Board. |1 Poor
=■= Isle of Man T ivies.
f Now " the Board of Guardians of the Poor."
t It cost about dei2,000.
§ Statutes, vol. vi. pp. 55-62. Further Acts followed in
1889, 1893, and 1900. {Ihid., pp. 104-6 and 524-44).
II The Lunatic Asylum Committee having thus two insti-
tutions under its management received this name.
THE EECENT HISTOEY
691
people, whether belonging to the declared districts
or not, can be admitted to the Home for the Poor on
payment by the district to which they belong of
a charge equivalent to the average cost of main-
tenance.* This permissive system of poor law has,
on the whole, worked very well.t Further legislation,
which mainly benefited the poorer classes, has been
directed to dealing with the industrial and provident
■-■= About 4s. 8d. a week.
•j- No. OF Persons in Receipt of Relief, (a)
Year.
Indoor.
Outdoor.
Total.
Wholly.
Partially.
1890
1893
150
29
759
938
1895
139
48
787
974
1899
...
...
...
...
Cost of Poor Relief. (6)
Year.
Douglas.
Eamsey.
Castletown.
Lezayre.
£
£
£
£
1890
2,866
1,036 (c)
• . .
1893
2,517
622
• . .
. . •
1895
3,081
670
356
271
1899
8,409
782
293
193 (d)
(a) Inclusive of those in Home for the Poor, which increased from
au average of 60-4 iu 1893 to 107-75 in 1899.
(6) Exclusive of a grant iu aid of £250 a j'ear from the Revenue to
the Home for the Poor.
(c) Including £469 for payment of debt.
(rf) 1899, German, £122 ; Lonan, £312.
692
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Provident and societies.* In the past much has been done by
industrial •*•
societies. benefit societies, but many of the old parish chibs
had either ceased to exist, or were on a very unsatis-
factory footing, the proportion of old to young
members being too great. There was also need of
public and official inquiries into their financial
condition for which provision was made.
Education. It was not till 1872, when the insular Legislature
passed the Public Elementary Education Act,+ that
the State undertook any direct responsibility for
education. This Act was, in the main, on the lines
of the English Act of 1870, though there were some
important differences. The most remarkable feature
of the Manx Act, from a constitutional standpoint,
is the fact that it incorporates the code, for the time
being, of the English Education Department. This is
effected by the simple method of requiring that the
conditions to be fulfilled by an insular school, in
order to obtain a Government grant shall be those
contained in the minutes of the Education Depart-
ment.! In this way education in the island is
saved from becoming local in its character, and
from falling below the standard prevaiHng in
England. The Manx schools are, in effect, included
■'• An Act to provide for the incorporation, management, and
winding up of Industrial and Provident Societies (1888), re-
pealed in 1892, by the Industrial and Building Societies Act
(Statutes, vol. vi. pp. 85-94 and 405-34).
f Statutes, vol. iv. pp. 57-93. We are indebted for the
substance of this section to Mr. G. A. Eing, who has done so
much for Manx education during the last eighteen years.
I For the time being.
THE EECENT HISTOEY 693
in the great system froverned by the Education
Department at Whitehall. The same subjects are
taught in them, the same inspectors visit them, and
they are compelled to attain the same standard of
efficiency as the English and Welsh schools. It was
a masterly stroke of policy, and one of the many
evidences of the statesmanlike character of the
then governor (Loch), the author of the Act. The
Manx schools are subject to the control of a central
board, called, since 1899, the " Council of Educa-
tion," which is elected by and is responsible to the
Tynwald Court. There are three striking differences
between the English and Manx Acts, each of which
is worthy of notice. In England and Wales School
Boards did not universally spring into existence
upon the passing of the Act. Their creation
depended upon the supply of school accommodation
in the district. If this, after enquiry, was found to
be inadequate, the district in default was required by
the Department to supply the deficiency, and, if it
failed to do so, a School Board was formed. In the
Isle of Man, on the other hand, every town and
parish was at once constituted a School District,
under a School Board.* Amongst the duties
imposed upon the School Boards was that of en-
forcing the attendance of children at school. This
suggests the second of the differences referred to,
i.e., that by the passing of the Manx Act the
attendance of children became ipso facto compulsory,
■*= Then and until 1899 called " School Committee."
694 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
the Act emphatically proclaiming the obligation of
all parents to make their children attend school, and
providing smnmary punishment in case of default.
It was not until 1876 that the Imperial Parliament
passed a measure to ensure the enforcement of
this duty.* The third point of difference, to which
we shall refer, is one of far-reaching importance.
The omission from the English Act of all obligation
upon School Boards to teach religion, although,
provided no distinctive formularies were used, such
teaching was permissible, gained for the English
Board Schools, though in most instances unjustly,
the name of secular or " godless " schools. The pre-
judice thus created cannot be said to be as yet
altogether extinct. In the Isle of Man this diffi-
culty was avoided by a provision obliging every
elementary school, those in connexion with the
Church of Kome excepted, to provide for non-
sectarian instruction in religious subjects, and for
the reading of the Bible, accompanied by suit-
able explanation. It may fairly be said that this
provision has done much to reconcile the people of
the island to a system of undenominational educa-
tion.! Striking evidence of this is to be found in
■■'■ Under the Imperial Act of 1870 there was no national
obligation as to attendance at school, it being left to the option
of School Boards to make by-laws on the subject if they chose.
f It sliould be observed, however, that when a school was
transferred, the privilege was, in most cases, reserved (by the
condition of the transfer) to the clergyman of the parish in which
the school was situated of giving religious instruction at certain
times, which might be denominational in character.
THE KECENT TTISTOEY 695
the fact that no less than 17 of the 28 schools
existing at the date of the Act of 1872 have been
transferred to the School Boards.*
We have thus seen that the Isle of Man was a
pioneer in the educational field in several important
respects. But this was not the case in free, or,
more properly speaking, gratuitous education, Eng-
land taking the lead in 1891, and being followed by
the island in 1892. t The desire for more advanced
education than that provided by the ordinary ele-
mentary schools, which has impelled so many of
the large School Boards in England to establish
"higher grade " schools, has shown itself also in the
Isle of Man, and Douglas now possesses a school of
this description, containing more than 300 boys and
girls. Part of this institution is an organized school
of science, conducted under the regulations of the
"Science and Art" department.! The progress in
education since 1872 has been most marked. The
attendance has increased enormously in almost
* There are now 53 schools, 42 Board, and 11 Denomma-
tional. Of the latter 6 belong to the Church of England, 3 to
the Wesleyans, and 2 to the Roman Catholics.
f Statutes, vol. vi. pp. 379-88. The passage of this Act
was largely due to the influence of Sir Spencer Walpolc, the
then governor. In 1893, the Education Acts were consolidated
and amended. Among other changes, the age of compulsory
attendance was, except under certain conditions, raised to 14
{Ibid., pp. 454-508).
I A " Scliool of Art " was established in Douglas by volun-
tary effort in 1879.
696 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
every district,* and the accommodation provided,
as well as the equipment of the schools has exhibited
the most decided improvement. Douglas, besides
its "higher grade" school, has three large elemen-
tary schools of the most approved modern pattern,
and there are also some excellent school buildings
in the country. Nor should we forget the fine
schools which have been recently erected in Peel
by the munificence of the Clothworkers Company in
connexion with Philip Christian's ancient founda-
tion.! Of the high standard of the education given
in the Manx Schools, the very favourable reports of
Her Majesty's inspectors, together with the facts
that both the percentage of attendance at them,
and the average amount of the Government grant
paid for this attendance per child are greater than
in the English and Welsh schools, afford ample
proof. I
Prices. Since 1866, the prices of such commodities as
* Year.
1878
1885
1890
1895
1900
f See Book II. p. 472
English and
Manx Schools. Welsh Schools.
I Percentage of attendance... 85"41 81'50
Government grant per child £0 19s. 8-4d. ^0 19s. 4d.
Amount of Grant
Average
from Revenue.
Attendance.
£
4,417
4,097
6,670
5,803
7,499
6,397
11,550
7,806
13,387
8,081
■2.
1898.
THE RECENT HISTORY G97
beef, mutton,* and pork, have advanced, while those
of butter and poultry have not altered much, and
bread, groceries, and clothes are cheaper.
Wages have increased to a much greater extent wage^.
than prices, competent married farm servants (men)
getting from £36 to £40 a year, with a free house,
a ton or two of coals and other advantages. Un-
married men and lads get from £15 to £21 a year
with their keep, and farm servant girls from £8 to
£12. Without keep, the usual wage of an unmarried
farm man or lad varies from £30 to £40 a year.
The wages of domestic servants have also consider-
ably increased. Carpenters earn from 30s. to 32s.
per week, mechanics from 28s. to 34s., masons 30s.,
plasterers 34s., painters 28s., plumbers 32s., black-
smiths 30s., ordinary job labourers about 3s. a day
in the country, and as much as 3s. 4d. in the
towns.
To compare the position of the Manx labourer fhe'^^otition of
J • ,1 • • T 1 i j_i i> i. j_i the labourer at
durmg the various periods between the fourteenth different
. , . periods.
century and the present day would be both in-
teresting and instructive ; but, unfortunately, the
accessible statistics relating to this subject are
hardly precise enough to found definite conclusions
upon. However, estimating the cost of the food of
an adult labourer, at the present time, at 16d. a day,
his wages being 3s., we think it probable that he is
better off than his predecessors were, except possibly
* Beef and mutton about 9d. Pork, 5d. to 6d. Butter from
Is. to Is. 3d. Poultry, 2s. to 2s. 6d. Bread 6d. for the 4 lb.
loaf.
698
HISTORY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
Toiuns.
Douglas.
during the period between 1350 and 1500. We
append a note on the approximate rate of wages and
cost of food since 1350.*
The towns, especially Douglas, have made enor-
mous advances since 1866. New streets have been
opened out, insanitary areas have been done away
with, systems of sewerage have been constructed, and
municipal self-government has become a reality
instead of little more than a sham.
Let us first briefly trace the chief steps in the
advance of Douglas. In 1867, its houses were, for
the first time, numbered uniformly. In the following
year its main sewerage works were completed. In
1875, the fine new street, called Victoria Street, was
Per Diem.
Period.
(1)
Approximate
Wages.
(2)
Approximate
cost of food.*
Proportion of
(2) to (1).
1350-1540
1540-1642
1642-1700
1700-1765
1765-1793
1793-1816
1816-1830
1830-1847
1847-1866
1867-1900
(?) lid.
(?) 2d.
4d.
5i.
7d.
Is.
8d.
Is.
Is. 6d.
3s.
*d.
Id.
2d.
3d.
3id.
7d.
5d.
6d.
9d.
16d.
2 to 5
1 „ 2
1 „ 2
7 „ 16
1 „ 2
7 „ 12
5 „ 8
1 „ 2
1 „ 2
4 „ 9
Wages in 1898 are as 29 to 1 compared with 1540.
Cost of food in 1898 is as 32 to 1 compared with 1540.
* It is impossible to estimate the cost of the items of expenditure,
other than food, for all these periods.
THE RECENT HISTORY 699
completed ; * and, in 1878, the Loch Promenade, built
on the foreshore, which gave the town a magnificent
new frontage to the sea, was opened, t In 1882, the
commissioners received additional powers, especially
with regard to buildings and sanitary matters, but
they were limited to a shilling rate I till 1884, when
it was increased to one shilling and threepence. §
In that year, too, their powers were again enlarged,
especially with regard to precautions against the
spreading of infectious disease. In 1886, by the
Local Government Act,\\ the Town Commissioners
got unlimited rating powers, and, subject to the
approval of the Tynwald Court, unlimited borrowing
powers. Subject to the same control, they also
obtained increased powers for acquiring gas and
water undertakings, and for making bye -laws ; and,
in the same year, by the passage of the Foreshore
Act, they became absolute owners of the foreshore.^
At the same time, too, the town was divided into six
wards, with three commissioners for each. In 1889,
by the Douglas Improvement Act, the commissioners
were authorized to declare areas unhealthy, and to
make schemes for their improvement (being, for
these purposes, invested with enlarged powers to
take land compulsorily) , and were required to provide
dwellings for as many of the working classes as the
■'' The Douglas Bay Tramway was started in 1876.
f Building lots on it sold at from 3s. 2d. to 9s. 6d. per square
foot.
I Statutes, vol. v. pp. 196-203. § Ibid., pp. 408-11.
II Ibid., pp. 512-4. ir Ibid., pp. 464-6.
700 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Tynwald Court should think necessary.* In 1890,
the Douglas Water and Loans Act authorized the
creation of stock to the extent of £217,500, of which
£144,000 was spent in acquiring the property of the
Waterworks Company.! In that year, too, an Act
was passed which permitted the Town Com-
missioners to close all private slaughter-houses in
the town, when they had provided a public slaughter-
house.! This they promptly proceeded to do. In
1892, the Tynwald Court approved of a scheme to re-
move a large number of insanitary buildings, and lay
out new streets, § and this work has since been carried
out.li
In 1895, came the incorporation of the town, by
which it was created a municipal borough, with
eighteen councillors, six aldermen, and a mayor.
The councillors are elected by the burgesses for
three years, the aldermen by the council of the
borough for six years, and the mayor by the alder-
men and councillors for one year. Provisions were
made for the appointment of a town clerk and for
the retirement every year of one councillor from each
ward (there being six wards as before) and of three
aldermen every third year.H In the same year, an
■■'• Statutes, vol. vi. pp. 118-131.
f Ibid., vol. vi. pp. 205-226. | Ihid., pp. 188-190.
§ An area bounded by Duke Street, King Street, Church
Street, Heywood Place, and North Quay.
II The following figures from a memorandum, by Mr, T. H.
Nesbitt, late town clerk, show the sums expended on Douglas
since 1866. Between 1866 and 1874, ^£40,000 ; between 1874
and 1895, ^276,574.
H The Douglas Mu/nicipal Incorji oration Act 1895 (Loose).
THE RECENT HISTORY 701
Act was passed establishing a public cemetery for
the borough.*
It is impossible here to enter into details with othertowm.
regard to the other towns, but, generally speaking,
it may be said that they are all vastly superior as
regards sanitation, and the appearance of their
streets and buildings to what they were thirty years
ago. Kamsey, in particular, has developed very
rapidly of late years, f Peel and Castletown obtained
town commissioners in 1881. The villages of Port
St. Mary, Port Erin, and Conchan have also greatly
increased, having been declared village districts, the
first two in 1890, and the last in 1896.
The police force has both improved in efficiency Police.
and increased in numbers, there now being 57
constables. These suffice for the needs of the island
during the greater part of the year, but are quite
incapable of dealing with the great numbers of
visitors in the summer. To enable them to do so
additional constables have recently been obtained,
for temporary service, from elsewhere. Prison
accommodation was very inadequate before the
new prison, near Douglas, which has all the most
* The Douglas Cemetery Act (Loose).
f Perhaps the best way of showing the progress of the towns
is to give their rateable valuation :
1887.
1890.
1895.
1899.
£
£
£
£
Douglas
85,773
105,398
123,194
138,720
Ramsey
16,591
21,132
22,973
23,217
Castletown
5,876
6,543
6,809
7,340
Peel
7,654
10,075
10,430
10,794
Country
183,747
193,685
192,240
205,729
VOL. II.
46
702 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
recent improvements, was finished in 1891.* Till
that year, the only prison was the old Castle Rushen,
where it was impossible to adopt the system of
solitary confinement in its full extent ; and, indeed,
it had been palpable for many years past, that the
state of things existing there was, from the point
of view both of humanity and of the maintenance
of proper prison discipline, intolerable. In 1886,
it was condemned by the official inspector, Sir E.
Du Cane ; and, in 1887, a motion was passed in the
Tynwald Court in favour of a new prison.
Crime. It was uot till the year 1869 that accurate criminal
statistics were kept. The result of them is to show
that serious crime is very rare. During the last ten
years (1890-99), for instance, there have been no
convictions for murder, only three for manslaughter
and five for criminal assault. The number both of
indictable and of summary offences increased up to
1885, but since then they have decreased. Offences
against the town bye-laws have also decreased.!
These facts, especially when taken in connexion
■■'• An Act was passed for the construction of this prison in
1890. Statutes, vol. vi. pp. 197-202.
f Convictions for (1) indictable offences, (2) summary
offences, and (3) offences against bye-laws :
Year.
(1)
(2)*
Total of (1) and (2)
(3)
1875
31
735
766
333
1880
68
1,004
1,072
418
1885
79
1,152
1,203
360
1890
46
932
978
354
1895
55
797
817
159
1900
53
654
707
171
Cases of drunkenness form the largest part under this heading.
Cases tried exceed convictions by 9 (on an average) annually.
THE RECENT HISTORY 703
with the increased numbers and greater activity
of the police, are very satisfactory.
The percentages of illegitimate births have con-
tinued at much the same level, though with a slight
tendency to decrease.*
Drunkenness still continues much too common. Drink.
Judging by the number of cases tried, it increased
up to 1885, when the maximum number, 855, waF
attained. Since then it has decreased rapidly, the
number in 1899 having been 526, as compared with
556 in 1866. Taking five-year periods, from 1867
to 1891, the cases tried number 419, 446, 763, 792,
and 719 respectively, and, during the last eight
years, the average number has been 618. Con-
sidering the increase both of the permanent popula-
tion and the number of visitors, the percentage for the
last period does not vary much from that of the first.
But this percentage is, unfortunately, much above
that of Great Britain and Ireland, since we find that,
if the average number of cases tried in Man had been
in the same proportion as in Great Britain and
Ireland in 1890, t their total would have been only
* Average percentages of illegitinaate to legitimate births :
1879-83, 6-2 per cent. ; 1884-88, 5-7 per cent. ; 1889-93, 5-9 per
cent. ; 1894-96, 5-7 per cent. ; 1897-8, 6-0 per cent. Maximum,
in 1879, 7"2 per cent. ; minimum, in 1894,4-4 per cent.
t Total 315,895, population in 1891 being 37,732,922 ; that of
Man, 55,608. The figures are the latest we could obtain for the
whole kingdom. The average number of cases tried in England
and Wales between 1874 and 1898 is 183,977, and for the five
years 1894-98, 186,210. The number for the year 1890 is
189,746 ; so that, as far as England and Wales are concerned,
1890 is above the average. (Judicial Statistics, 1898, Part I.)
704 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
467, or, including visitors, 579.* Licensing legislation
since 1867 has been mainly confined to assimilating
the Manx law to the English, though the Isle of
Man still continues to close its public-houses to all,
except bond fide travellers, on Sundays.! In 1894,
licenses for the sale of beer during certain hours in
registered boarding-houses were legalized! by an Act
which has since expired and has not been renewed.
In 1895, the issue of licences was committed to
newly constituted licensing courts, in the appoint-
ment of whose members the principle of popular
election was partially recognized. A Licensing
Board was formed in each of the four districts,
which remained as before, § consisting of the high-
bailiff, the justices and captains of the parishes, ||
(who were members of the old court) and, in addition,
of the members of the House of Keys and the
chairman of the town IT and village commissioners
* It is only fair to reckon the number of visitors with the
Manx population. They averaged 337,927 for 1892-9, a number
which is reckoned for customs purposes as equivalent to an
addition to the permanent population of 13,146. If, then, the
population of the Isle of Man is reckoned at 68,754 (55,608 and
13,146) its number of cases of drunkenness would have been
579, if in the same proportion as in Great Britain and Ireland. It
should be stated, however, that the proportion added is so large
that separate returns for the visitors should be obtained in order
to draw a reasonably correct inference from it.
f Licensing Acts were passed in 1876 and 1881. Statutes,
vol. iv. pp. 414-39 and vol. v. pp. 103-110. In 1882, a " Local
Option " Bill was rejected by the Keys.
I Ibid., vol. vi. pp. 605-11. § See p. 581.
II The Rectors and Vicars of parishes ceased to be members.
11 The Mayor in the case of Douglas.
THE RECENT HISTORY 705
within tiie district. It was provided that each
Board should annually elect six of its members to
form the Licensing Court for the district, the seventh
member, the high-bailiff, being chairman ex-officio.
Further, a general Court of Appeal was established,
consisting of the four high-bailiffs and five elected
members, two chosen by the Board of the Douglas
district and one by each of the other Boards. From
the decision of this court there is no appeal, except
on a question of law. The district courts were, in
the same year, permitted to substitute short-term
licences for general public-house licences if they saw
fit ; * and, in 1898, the sale of intoxicating liquors to
persons under fourteen years of age was prohibited.*
The sanitary conditions, especially of the towns, health.
at the beginning of the period, were still very
unsatisfactory, and the continued efforts of Governor
Loch to improve them met with determined opposi-
tion in the Legislature.
The Common Lodging Houses Act of 1865 was
evaded to such an extent that the small lodging-
houses in Douglas and the other towns continued to
be in a bad state till 1878, when this Act was
amended, t In 1880, a Bill deahng with sanitary
matters was rejected by the Keys, and it was not till
1884 that such questions as the formation of sanitary
districts, the disposal of sewerage, scavenging and
cleaning, public nuisances, offensive trades, unsound
meat and infectious diseases were at all adequately
* Licensing Aviendment Act, 1895 (Loose),
f Statutes, vol. iv. pp. 507-14.
706 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
dealt with.* The Act passed in that year was
repealed two years later by the Local Govermnent
Act, which consolidated and amended all previous
Acts relating to sanitary administration. f From
this date a rapid improvement set in, stringent
regulations being made about the supply of water,
the licences for slaughter-houses X and the erection
of public slaughter-houses. In 1894, the sanitary
condition of the towns had greatly advanced, but
that of the country was still unsatisfactory. To deal
with it an Act was passed which constituted parish
and village districts, with commissioners to be elected
by the people, who had, in conjunction with a new
central Board, elected by the Tynwald Court, called
the " Local Government Board," and an inspector
appointed by it, to attend to all sanitary questions
and infectious diseases throughout the country. §
With a similar object. Acts have been passed for
the prevention of the adulteration of food and drink,
public analysts being appointed to detect any
breaches of the law in this respect, |i for the
regulation of the composition of bread IT and for
the provision of vaccination and the suppression of
the practice of inoculation.** The last Act, however,
which was passed in 1876, did not make vaccination
* Statutes, vol. v. pp. 374-400.
f Ibid., pp. 512-629. This was again amended in 1889, see
vol. vi. pp. 134-150. I Ibid., vol. vi. pp. 179-83 and 188-90.
§ Ibid., vol. vi. pp. 562-78. The Burials Act of 1882 {Ibid.,
vol. V. pp. 110-27) was also a sanitary measure.
II Ibid., vol. iii. pp. 497-9 ; vol. iv. pp. 816-28.
U Ibid., vol. v. pp. 77-82. -- Ibid., vol. iv. pp. 468-71.
THE EECENT HISTORY
707
compulsory, this not being done till two years later,*
after the Keys had been alarmed by the outbreak of
small-pox in 1877.
There were outbreaks of small-pox in 18G5, 1869,
1871, and 1877, but, since vaccination has been
made compulsory, it has practically disappeared.
In 1888, a fever hospital was established at the
" White Hoe," near Douglas.
We may note that the public security has also
been cared for by Acts dealing with the safe custody
of dangerous goods, f As a result of these mea-
sures, health has very greatly improved. The death
rate, which between 1879 and 1898 I averaged 20"0
per thousand, was 20'6 during the first five years,
and 19 '2 during the last five.§
* Statutes, vol. iv. pp. 531-9.
f Ibid., vol. iii. pp. 551-62 ; vol. v. pp. 86-90 and 262-66 ;
vol. vi. pp. 557-8.
I Registration was not made compulsory till 1878 {Statutes,
vol. iv. pp. 519-22), and so no satisfactory statistics are obtain-
able before that date.
§ BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS (FIVE-YEAR PERIODS).
Numbers Registered.
Excess of
Births over
Deaths.
Rate per 1,000 of Population.
Deaths.
V
Deaths.
to
13
to
a
s
o
o
1879-83
1884-88
1889-93
1894-98
1,475
1,508
1,455
1,426
350
373
375
396
1,108
1,102
1,095
1,082
366
406
360
344
27-5
28-1
26-4
25-6
6-51
6-97
6-81
7-10
20-6
206
19-8
19-4
23-6
24-6
22-0
201
17-9
16-9
17-5
17-9
The greatest percentages (since 1884) of births, in 1889, 29'6 ;
708
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Population.
Tbade.
Has greatly
increased.
The population has not increased much since
1869, its natural growth being almost counter-
balanced by a small, but steady, emigration. The
most remarkable thing about the population is the
way in which it has moved from the country into
the towns, or rather into Douglas. Thus, in 1871,
the population of the country was 30,303, and of the
towns, 23,739 ; whereas, in 1891, that of the former
was 25,408, and that of the latter 30,200. Douglas
has increased from 13,972 to 19,525 ; Eamsey from
from 3,934 to 4,866, and Peel from 3,573 to 3,631,*
while Castletown has fallen from 2,320 to 2,178.
Insular trade has greatly grown and prospered,
though in some directions, owing to undue stimula-
tion, its prosperity has been more apparent than
real. Its growth is shown by the statistics relating
to the increase of the tonnage of the vessels entering
the Manx ports, to the returns from the railways
and tramways, to the deposits, &c., in the banks, to
the number and capital of public companies registered
as carrying on business in the island, t and to the
enormous increase in the rateable value of the towns,
of marriages, in 1893, 7"55 ; of deaths (island), in 1880, 21*9;
urban, ditto, 26"4 ; country, in 1895, 20"2. The smallest per-
centages (since 1884) of births, 23"9, in 1892 ; of marriages,
6-14, in 1888 ; of deaths (island), in 1898, 18-1 ; urban, 19-0, in
1896 ; country, 14-5, in 1889.
-'■ Appendix B, Book IV. All the country districts, except
Middle Sheading, show a large decrease : Glenfaba, of 1,117 ;
Michael, of 717; Ayre, of 968 ; Garff, of 1,220; Rushen, of 708
and Middle, of 22. This small decrease of Middle is, however,
mainly due to the increase of the village of Conchan and of
suburban residences near Douglas.
f For full particulars see Appendix A.
THE EECENT HISTORY 709
especially Douglas.* A severe check has, however,
been given to it by the failure of Dumbell's Bank iu
February, 1900.
Till about 1878, the exports of cattle, turnips, hay,
butter, and eggs largely exceeded the imports, but,
since that date, the tendency is for the imports of all
such commodities, except turnips, to exceed the
exports by a steadily increasing amount, and, of late
years, notwithstanding the largely increased pro-
duction of fruit, flowers, and vegetables in the
island, considerable quantities of these commodities
have also been imported.
Let us briefly note the chief events which have
marked the expansion of Manx trade.
In the first place, our attention is claimed by the P^^ii^ works,
public works which have been completed since 1866.
In 1870, the internal telegraphic communication,
which had hitherto been confined io Douglas and
Ramsej^ was extended to Castletown and Peel. In
1873, the Victoria Pier in Douglas was completed.
Railways have been made between Douglas and
Peel (finished in 1873) ; between Douglas, Castle-
town, and Port Erin (in 1874) ; between Ramsey
and St. John's, connecting with the Peel line at the
latter place (in 1877), and between Foxdale and
St. John's (in 1886). Tramways were laid along
Douglas Bay f (in 1883) ; between Douglas and
Laxey, I (in 1895) ; between Laxey and the summit I
* See note f p. 701. f Horse.
I Electric. The tramway to Snaefell was the first successful
mountain tramway in the United Kingdom.
710 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
steamers.
Trade
legislation.
of Snaefell (in 1896) ; * in Douglas f (in 1897), and
between Laxey and Eamsey * (in 1898).
We may also mention that a line of steamers
began running between Douglas and Barrow, in the
summer months in 1874, and that, since then, the
ports to and from which there is summer traffic by
steamer have become more numerous, and the
numbers, speed, and dimensions of the steamers 1
engaged in this traffic has largely increased.
Another evidence of the progress of Manx trade
may be seen in the legislation which its expansion
has rendered necessary. Bankruptcy Acts were
passed in 1872 and 1892, § the latter of which took
the control of the debtor's estates out of the hands
of the creditors and gave it to the court. It cannot,
however, be said that the Manx law relating to
bankruptcy is altogether satisfactory. In 1872 and
1884, li there was further legislation with reference
to Joint Stock Companies ; H in 1880, provisions
were made for the local inspection and verification
of weights and measures, it being enacted that
Manx § weights and measures were to be made
uniform with those throughout the United King-
dom.** In 1884, an Act was passed to codify the
law relating to bills of exchange, cheques, and
'■'■'- Electric.
f Cable traction.
I The largest vessel of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co.'s
fleet is 2,500 tons burthen, has 10,000 horse power and steams
24 miles an hour.
§ Statutes, vol. iv. pp. 12-26, and Ibid., vol. vi. pp. 312-64.
II Ibid., vol. iv. pp. 150-4, and vol. v. pp. i343-51.
IF Appendix A. *- Statutes, vol. v. pp. 41-53.
THE RECENT HISTORY 711
promissory notes.* In 1885 and 1898, the fraudu-
lent marking of merchandize was dealt with ; f in
1892, a duty on the registration of Limited Liability
Companies was imposed ; I and, in 1895, the law
relating to the sale of goods was codified. § There
were also numerous Acts regulating the railways and
tramways. Trade legislation is, however, still very
much behind that of England.
Since labour has become dearer and scarcer, Manx i>^ddstries.
textile industries have, generally speaking, been in a
declining position, being unable to compete with the
larger and more completely organized manufactories
elsewhere. The principal manufactured articles are
woollen cloths and blankets, hemp ropes, flax sail-
cloth, and cotton herring nets. Though the quantity
of these goods exported is greater than before 1866,
their local consumption, except in the case of herring
nets, has shrunk to very small dimensions.
Respecting other industries there is little to
record. II
Since the introduction of iron ships, shipbuilding
has been mainly confined to the production of herring
fishing vessels of a large and fine class. Brewing,
stimulated by the large summer demand of the
visitors, has flourished. There are fewer breweries
than formerly, but these few are, compared with
their predecessors, large and well organized con-
cerns.
- Statutes, vol. v. pp. 310-42. f Ibid., pp. 422-30.
I Ibid., pp. 364-5. § Ibid., pp. 618-37.
II For Agriculture, Fishing, and Mining see Book VIII.
712 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The "visiting" But there is one industry, for so it may really be
industry. _ *' . .
called, that of provision for summer visitors, which,
since 1866, has taken vast strides. Between that
year and 1873, when the Victoria Pier was opened,
the average annual number of visitors was estimated
at 60,000. In 1873, there were about 90,000; in
1877, 86,350 ; in 1880, 92,765. By 1884, this num-
ber was nearly doubled, with 182,669, and this was
again the case in 1887, when 347,968 came.*
This was, for some time, the highest number
reached, the numbers falling back in the interval
between 1887 and 1896, but, in the latter year, the
total rose to 361,362, and, in 1899, it was 418,142.
The Commission appointed to enquire into the
condition of local industries and the feasibility of
extending them has, in 1900, reported with refer-
ence to industries other than agricultural, fishing,
mining, and the " visiting " as follows : —
"We are of opinion that, owing to the great
demand for labour in connexion with the successful
visiting industry, and the consequent difficulty in
obtaining it for other industries that, with the
possible exception of forestry, market gardening,
poultry-keeping, and bee-keeping, which could be
carried on to a greater extent than at present,
by the better application of the labour at present
available, without any appreciable addition to its
amount, the extension of the present industries of
the Island is impracticable.
* This was an abnormal expansion, due to the "Jubilee"
season and rival Steam Packet Companies.
THE KECENT HISTOEY 713
" To the introduction of new industries, with the
exception of such industries as might be pursued
during the winter, to which we refer below, the
same objection applies.
" We would also point out that apart from lead
and copper ores, barley, and wood, the Isle of Man
produces scarcely any raw material for manufac-
tures, so that, except perhaps in spinning and
weaving wool and in distilling whisky, it could not
compete with English and Scotch manufacturing
centres, where they have coal on the spot, together
with a steady support of labour and enormous
capital to establish large concerns, which can work
much more cheaply than smaller ones. To set
against these advantages we have only excellent
water power. Besides woollen manufacturing and
distilleries, which would be hampered by the diffi-
culty in obtaining a steady supply of labour, the
only industries which would have any chance of
success would be art industries : wood-carving, fancy
articles in brass and iron, embroidery, &c., which
could be carried on in the people's homes during the
winter — such industries, in fact, as the Isle of Man
Guild has been endeavouring, with indifferent suc-
cess, to promote during the last ten years. To
render them commercially successful it is absolutely
necessary that such industries should have sufficient
artistic merit to enable them to command prices
sufficient to compensate for their only being carried
on part of the year."
During this period the revenue has grown from revenue.
714 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
^£44,356, in 1867, to ^82,485 in 1900, though, at the
same time, the debt has increased from £46,191, in
1870, to £186,322, in 1900.*
But the vahie obtained in public works has far
exceeded the amount of the debt, since, between 1866
and 1893, more than £400,000 has been spent on
harbours,! and more than £60,000 on pubHc build-
ings, and this, of course, is in addition to defraying
the ordinary expenses of government, some of which,
as we shall see, have largely increased in the interval.
Though part of the growth of revenue is due to
increased taxation, more of it has undoubtedly arisen
from the expansion of insular trade and wealth.
Compared at In Considering the state of the finances we may
different . .....
periods. Conveniently divide this period into three parts : viz.,
the administration of Governor Loch till 1882, that
of Governor Walpole till 1893, and that of their
successors to the present time. In 1867, the revenue
was £44,356, and there was a balance of cash in
excess of debt amounting to £13,539. On the other
hand, there had been no important addition | to
harbour and other public works for many years. In
1882, the revenue was £51,058, § and the debt was
'■'■' It reached its highest in 1894, when it was ^219,531. (See
Appendix B.)
f Exclusive of the jG2,300 specially devoted to repairs. Some
of the .£400.000 has, as we shall see, been wasted, but the
greater part of it may fairly be classed as productive expendi-
ture.
J See under Harbours.
§ We should note that from 1879 the revenue gained ^2,000
a year, being the estimated amount of EngUsh duty-paid goods
imported into the island (see p. 721 j.
THE EECENT HISTOEY 715
iei35,797, but more than ^253,000 had been spent
on harbour works alone.*
In 1893, the revenue was £72,302, the debt
£209,560, and more than £188,000 had (since 1882),
been spent on harbour and other pubUc works.! In
1900, the revenue and debt are, as already stated.
About £86,000 has (since 1893) been spent on public
works.
It will probably be interesting to indicate the
main sources of the customs' revenue and how they
have varied during the last thirty years.! Spirituous
liquors of various kinds form the largest item, the
amount of revenue obtained from them having
increased from £23,205 in 1870, to £48,199 in 1900,
the consumption having risen from 67,929 gallons in
1867, to 78,674 gallons in 1900. This, considering
the very large growth in the number of visitors, does
not indicate much alteration in the consumption per
head of the population. The change in popular
taste is indicated by the large increase in the amount
of whisky consumed, and the decrease in the amount
of rum. The largest gain is that from tobacco,
which gave £9,289 in 1870, and £19,680 in 1895,
the quantities having increased from 76,656 lbs. in
1867, to 105,306 lbs. in 1890. § Tea also shows an
■■'• Apart from the £2,B00 see note j , p. 714.
f Governor Walpolc was a very capable financier, and his
adjustments and arrangements of taxation were judicious (see
Appendix C).
I In Appendix B full particulars wiU be found of the
quantities of imported goods paying duty, and of the revenue
obtained from them. § See Appendices B and C.
716
HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Post office.
Taxation,
Local rates.
enormous increase, giving £6,671 in 1895, as com-
pared with £3,888 in 1870 ; while the quantity has
increased from 236,358 lbs. in 1867, to 353,230 lbs.
in 1890.* The duty on beer, too, is now a consider-
able item.
The post-ofdce continues, as before, to be worked
by the Imperial authorities ; it is not known what
revenue they derive from it. In 1872, the Isle of
Man Telegraph Company was wound up and taken
over by them.
In 1879, a daily mail throughout the year was
commenced, and, since then, the number of letters
and telegrams has largely increased and greater
postal facilities have been granted.
Since 1866, the duties on spirits have been con-
siderably increased, t and a smaller increase has been
imposed on the tobacco and wine duties. The duty
on coffee has almost disappeared, and those on sugar
and corn have been entirely removed, while that on
tea remained at the same level till 1900, when it was
increased.
In 1874, a duty was placed on Manx brewed beer,
and, in the same year, harbour dues were imposed.
Of the general local rates, those for lunatics and
highw^ays have practically remained stationary,
while that for education has largely increased, and
a rate for poor relief in certain districts was levied
for the first time in 1890. The rates in the towns
have enormously increased, t
'■^' See Appendices B and C. \ Appendix D.
I These are more particularly discussed under the headmgs
of highways, towns, &c.
THE RECENT HISTORY 717
The ordinary expenditure has gradually risen from expenditubb.
^635,000 in 1867, to ^72,686 in 1900. Its chief items,
apart from the annual payment of £10,000 to the
Imperial Exchequer, are the cost of collection of the
customs (including the salaries of the revenue
officers), the salaries and pensions on the Civil List,
the cost of the police force and gaol, the interest on
and repayment of debt,* the maintenance of and
repair of harbours * and the cost of public educa-
tion.* It will be seen, from the figures given
below, t that the amounts paid for the collection of
customs and for the Civil List have, as the result of
good management and the doing away with super-
fluous ofticials, been somewhat reduced, though the
salaries of most of the remaining officials have been
considerably increased, t The cost of the police has,
on the other hand, been largely increased, but more
than a corresponding gain both in numbers and
efficiency has resulted. The interest on and the Loan
•^ arrangements.
repayment of debt, by reason of Governor Walpole's
loan arrangements, stood at the fixed sum of £'10,376
from 1884 to 1889, it then advanced until, in 1892,
it reached the sum of £15,672, at which it still
remains.
* These are discussed under special headings,
t Chief items of expenditure —
1867. 1875.
1880.
1SS5.
1890.
1895.
1900.
Customs. Cost £ £
£
£
£
£
£
of collection 3,316 3,291
3,249
3,136
2,910
2,746
2,639
Civil List ... 10,025 9,932
10,149
9,834
9,871
9,947
13,532
Police ... 2,228 3,102
3,401
3,769
4,338
5,698
5,848
Gaol 1,775
1,065
1,152
930
968
1,016
I AppendLx E. Book IV.,
, ch. ii.
VOL. II.
47
718 HISTORY OP THE ISLE OE MAN
habboubs. The necessity of obtaining sufficient money for
the improvement of the harbours was one of the
main causes which brought about the constitutional
changes of 1866.* The greatest need was that of
landing accommodation, at all states of the tide, for
the rapidly increasing passenger traffic at Douglas,
and this was supplied by the pier, afterwards called
the Victoria Pier, which was commenced in 1867,
being opened for traffic in 1871, and completed in
1873. In 1872, the Harbour Board became
responsible to the Tynwald Court,* which, con-
sequently, gained control over the insular harbours.
One of the court's first actions was to obtain an
Imperial Act enabling it to levy harbour dues,! a
proceeding which was received with dissatisfaction
by the Manx fishermen who thought it very unfair
that dues should be levied upon ports, such as Peel
and Port St. Mary, where insufficient protection was
afforded to the fishing boats. They appointed a
deputation t to meet the governor at Tynwald on
The fishermen the 5th of July, and about four hundred fishermen
object to
harbour clues, accompauied it.§ The governor told them that
there was no intention of re-imposing harbour dues,
except in those places where large sums of money
* For discussion of these questions see Book VI. § 2.
f By 37 Vic. c. 8.
I Twelve from Peel and twelve from Port St. Mary.
§ It appears that there had been considerable excitement
among the fishermen, and that about 1,000 men had intended to
make a demonstration at Tynwald, but yielding to the advice
of Messrs. Adams and Clucas, their advocates, they appointed
the deputation.
THE RECENT HISTORY 719
had been expended out of public funds ; and that,
when proposals for improvements of the ports of
Peel and Port St. Mary were brought forward in
a proper manner,* they would receive careful atten-
tion. With this promise they were appeased, and,
indeed, no harbour dues were levied for some years
later. Nothing was done, however, for the Peel and
Port St. Mary harbours,! and so, in 1880, about
a thousand fishermen made a demonstration at
Tynwald and presented a memorial to the governor.
The governor replied that the Isle of Man Loans
Act, I which would enable money to be raised in
England for harbour works, had been passed by
Parliament, and that the Committee of the Tynwald
Court which had been appointed to enquire what
improvements were required in the harbours would
shortly issue its report. In this a breakwater at New harbour
works.
Peel, a pier at Port St. Mary and Kamsey, and some
changes in Castletown harbour, were recommended.
All these works have since been carried out. The
Bill referred to had been passed as one of the con-
sequences of the part-settlement of the question of
the Port Erin breakwater, which, from 1870 to 1879,
disturbed the cordial relations of the island with the
Imperial Government. During that period this
* The governor objected to the presence of so many fisher-
men, saying that : " he must protest against their meeting in
large bodies either with a view to intimidation or to dictate in
any shape or form to the Court or any members of it " (Manx
Sun).
f Owing to the action of the English Government. See p. 721.
I 43 and 44 Vic. c. 8.
720 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The Port Erin Question was of absorbing interest to Manxmen, but
breakwater. _ " _ _
it may now be relegated to obscurity with a very
brief mention. It will be remembered that, as
stated in a former chapter,* the breakwater was
commenced in 1864. In 1868, it was damaged by a
storm, and, in the following year. Governor Loch
persuaded an unwilling Tynwald Court into grant-
ing a sum of j613,000 to enable the necessary repairs
to be done and the breakwater to be completed, f
By 1870, it had become evident that the dues
would not even pay for the maintenance of the
breakwater. Under these circumstances, the Imperial
Government, on the plea that it had been misled
about the amount of dues likely to be received for
the use of the harbour, demanded that the island
should be responsible for the whole loan. It ad-
mitted that it was legally liable for this amount, but
declared that the Manx Legislature was morally
liable. To this the Tynwald Court replied that,
since the work had been largely undertaken to pro-
vide a refuge for the Imperial shipping, and not
exclusively for the fishing fleet of the island, the
insular revenue was not liable for the money
expended there. Neither side would give way.
Finally, in 1875, the Imperial authorities offered to
" concede " certain claims made by the Tynwald
Court, which included rating of the insular crown
lands, the refunding of duties paid in England on
* P. 632.
f At a later period it voted ^£6,650 more for the same
purpose.
THE RECENT HISTORY 721
goods afterwards imported to the island, and an
additional payment by the Post Office towards a daily
mail, on condition that its terms, as regards the Port
Erin loan, were accepted. But the Tynwald Cornet
declined, and so the Government refused to sanction
any further expenditure on public works and denied
all further borrowing facilities.
For four years longer nothing was done, though
there were lengthy negotiations, and it was not till
1879 that the question was settled on the following
basis : —
(1) The claim of A'58,200 to be liquidated by a
payment of i;23,000.
(2) The island to be credited with £2,000 per
annum, which was the estimated amount of English
duty paid on goods imported.
(3) The island to be granted freer borrowing
powers ; and (4) to have a daily mail.
We may add that the breakwater was again
damaged in 1882 ; that, in 1883, £2,955 was voted
by the Tynwald Court for its repair ; and that it
was finally destroyed in 1884, after having cost the
island £45,600,* to say nothing of the resulting
damage to Port Erin bay.
In 1883, the revenue of the Harbour Board received Passenger tax
a considerable addition by the imposition of a tax of dues imposed,
one penny on every passenger landed in the island,!
and, in 1885, harbour dues were again charged.! In
* I.e., Je23,000 + .£13,000 + jE6,650 + ^£2,955.
f By Isle of Man Harbours Act (Imperial), 46 and 47 Vic. c. 9.
I Each vessel not landing cargo and not landing or embarking
722 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Further new
works.
Highways.
1886, the extension of the Victoria Pier, for which
^£52,500 had been voted, was begun. It was
finished five years later. Other extensive works
which have been carried out are the Battery Pier at
Douglas, the breakwater at Peel, the Alfred Pier at
Port St. Mary, and the Queen's low-water landing
pier at Ramsey.
At the beginning of this period there was a good
deal of agitation on the subject of the highway-rate,
especially with regard to the unjust charge of 3s. on
each house in Douglas, irrespective of its value.
Several bills relating to the subject were discussed
by the Keys, but nothing was done till 1874, when
an Act was passed giving power to levy a general
rate, not exceeding 3d. in the £ on all real estate,
except in Douglas and Eamsey, and also to levy a
drainage rate.* In 1891, the policy of granting
money from the revenue for the opening out new
roads, chiefly for the benefit of visitors, was pro-
posed by Governor Walpole, and it was initiated in
1893 by a grant of £2,000 for that purpose, t
passengers and not being a wind-bound or fishing vessel, pays 2d.
per ton. Each vessel wind-bound and not discharging cargo, or
being a fishing vessel, pays ^d. per ton. Fishing vessels pay
£1 per year. Every vessel, other than a fishing-vessel, lying in
harbour more than six months pays, in addition to entrance
dues, or dues on goods landed, 6d. per ton, and on all goods
landed from a vessel, other than a fishing vessel, 3d. per ton.
'■'•'■ Stahifes, vol. iv. pp. 352-64. The title of the committee of
management was changed from " Committee of Highways" to
" Highway Board." In 1883, the towns of Peel and Castletown
were removed from the jurisdiction of the Highway Board (see
Ibid., vol. V. pp. 216-221).
f Up to 1896, £6,000 had been granted for this purpose, but
nothing further has been granted since that date.
THE EECENT HISTOKY 723
The amount of the hif^hway rate has not varied
since 1874, but, owing to the increase in the receipts
from duties on carriages and dogs and from public-
house and other Hcences, the total sum at the dis-
posal of the Board is greater, rising from £G,G77 in
1879 to Jt'9,562 in 1899.
This has, of course, enabled the roads to be kept
in better condition than formerly, though there is
still room for improvement, especially as regards the
secondary roads, which are mainly used by farmers.
Progress in various directions, not already indi- P^'ooress.
Gated, is shown by the passage of Acts relating to
the protection of women and girls,* to the preven-
tion of cruelty to animals,! to the prevention of
accidents in merchant shipping, t to the regulation
of industrial provident societies, § and to the care of
ancient monuments. ||
Under this heading we may also mention the trans-
ference of the sittings of the Legislature and of the
chief law courts, and the removal of the insular
Eecords, to Douglas, and the provision of lifeboats
and rocket-brigades for all the towns.
Church and Nonconformity.
We shall deal very briefly with the history of the
- Statutes, vol. v. pp. 503-12.
f By the " Seagulls Preservation Act " of 1868, by prevention of
the destruction of wild birds and their eggs in 1887, and by the
amendment of the " Cruelty to Animals Act " in 1885 and 1895.
Ibid. vol. iii. pp. 435-36. Ibid., vol vi. pp. 16-19, 47-9, and
638-39. I Ibid., vol. v. pp. 441-48.
§ Ibid., vol. vi. pp. 85-94 and 405-32.
II Ibid., vol. V. pp. 493-98.
724
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Church and the Nonconformists since 1866. Both
have made rapid progress, but, especially in Douglas,
it has been, perhaps, rather more marked in the case
of the latter than of the former.
Church
building.
Theological
School.
Incomes of the
clergy.
Church.
Church building has gone on steadily. Not only
are there additional churches in the towns of Ramsey
and Peel, and new parish churches in Braddan,
Bride, and Patrick, while in Douglas, a new and
commodious building has taken the place of the old
St. Matthew's Church, but such places as Port Erin,
Port St. Mary, and Foxdale have been provided with
chapels.
In 1878, the " Sodor and Man Theological
School " was established by Bishop Hill, in con-
nexion with King William's College, for the training
of candidates for orders in this diocese, so that the
design of Bishop Barrow, which the foundation of
King William's College had not entirely carried out,
might be accomplished. In 1889, the theological
school was transferred by Bishop Bardsley to Bishop's
Court, under the title of " Bishop Wilson's Theo-
logical School," and it has since been affiliated to
Durham University.
During the last few years, owing to the low
price of corn, the incomes of the clergy have been
greatly reduced, and, as the cost of living has
increased, they are, at present, very inadequately
provided for. Efforts have been made to assist
them by the establishment of a " Church Sustenta-
THE RECENT HISTORY 725
tion Fund," in 1894, through the exertions of Bishop
Straton, * and by the re-introduction of the old
custom of " Easter offerings." f The bishop has had
also to submit to the reduction of his income. By
the " Bishops Temporalities Act," in 1878, it was
arranged that, if the bishop's income amounted to
±'2,500 or more, he was to pay i^'SOO to trustees to
form a fund for the augmentation of benefices, but,
if his income were less than i;2,500, he had only to
pay as much as it exceeded ^£2,000. As, however,
his tithe has been affected in the same way as that
of the clergy, there has, latterly, been no surplus
available. Among other things indicating Church
progress we may mention the issue of a Diocesan
Calendar in 1880, and of a Magazine in 1890. A
Diocesan conference was held in 1880, and, since
1893, it has been annual.
Nonconformity .
This, as will be seen from the statistics given in ciuirch
. . . , , building.
Appendix F, has been a period of activity m church
building among the various Nonconformist denomi-
nations. The Baptists have become numerous
enough to form a distinct congregation, but the
Unitarians have disappeared. Among the Wesleyan
and Primitive Methodists, in particular, there has
='• By an Act passed in 1895 the Trustees of the Impropriate
Fund were made Trustees of this fund {Statutes, vol. vi.
pp. 648-55).
\ The passage, in 1893, of an Act to facilitate the letting and
sale of Glebe Lands has also been advantageous to the clergy
{Ihlcl., pp. 545-62).
726 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
been a great development of open-air services in the
country.
This period has also been marked by legislation
in the direction of giving Nonconformists equal rights
with Churchmen. The Civil Begistration Act of
1876 formed regular civil registration districts, where
registration is made compulsory ; * and, in 1885, this
Act was amended by a provision that the presence
of a Registrar is not necessary at a marriage in a
registered building.! By the Burials Act of 1881
burials might take place in churchyards without the
rites of the Church of England ; I and, in 1899, any
burial service, provided it be " Christian," was per-
mitted in the mortuary chapels connected with the
burial grounds of two of the largest parishes.
The good feeling existing between Churchmen
and Nonconformists prior to 1866 has, we believe,
been fairly well maintained since that date. We
can, at least, confidently state that there is a marked
absence of the antagonism which still exists in some
parts of England.
At the present time there are 2,030 members of
the Roman Catholic Church in the island, § most of
them being of Irish birth or descent.
■■■■ Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 246-43.
t Ihid., vol. V. pp. 433-36.
I Ibid., pp. 110-127.
$ Information from the Rev. Father Walsh.
THE EECENT HISTOEY
727
APPENDIX A.
ISLE OF MAN RAILWAYS.
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5
o-^
CO
CO
o3
■|o§
OS
3?
o S
< a
"^ «
Pi
0)
9.^-
£
W
^
^'^
£
No.
Tons.
£
£
%
1878
229,637
526,540
23,374
20,105
9,651
10,454
48-0
1880
352,489
765,699
34,938
33,851
18,655
15,196
550
1885
371,214
774,806
49,088
32,853
16,387
16,460
50-0
1890
384,640
807,958
62,702
35,807
17,667
10,860
50-4
1895
399,924
830,263
57,079
37,135
18,730
17,833
50-4
1899
399,924
866,710
49,002
39,392
19,398
19,994
49-2
ISLE
OF MAN
TRAMWAYS.
1883
14,000
• ■•
2,291
1,314
977
57-0
1885
21,084
3,227
1,577
1,650
49-0
1890
26,454
713,354
6,394
3,055
O QOQ
47-8
1895
176,100
1,843,697
...
26,467
12,000
14,467
45-3*
Number of Manx Vessels i and
their Tonnage.
Vessels Built in the
Isle of Man and
their Tonnage.
Tonnage of
Vessels
entered at
Manx Ports, t
Sailing
Vessels.
Steam
Vessels.
.^ CO
a ©
•^ CD
.^ CO
3-2
Ton.
No.
Ton.
No.
Ton.
No.
Ton.
No.
Ton.
1880
457,814
185
9,344
9
2,810
19
526
...
...
1885
501,134
119
8,973
17
3,570
14
286
...
...
1890
642,823
102
8,050
22
4,619
2
20
3
78
1895
756,181
103
7,953
22
4,897
4
33
...
...
* The excellent "Statistical Abstract," formerly published bj- the
Insular Government, has not been issued since 1890, so that there has
been a difificulty in procuring some of the recent statistics.
t The fjross tonnage which entered Douglas bai'bour in 1866 was
108,112. In 1874, after the completion of the Victoria Pier, it was
207,050 ; in 1879, 296,199 ; and, in 1881, 406,690. Tlie tonnage of goods
landed in the year ending 31st of March, 1899, was 167,691, of which
104,767 tons was at Douglas.
728
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
INSULAR BANKS- ON 31ST DECEMBER IN EACH YEAR.
•4-
o
a
O
00
Q)
O
a
>
<
2
•X-
•sl
:?"
3
59,434
"3 ,5*
„-3
o
a
a
■s
1882
£
770,506
488,139
6,462
51,000
85,526
334,923
£
146,529
1885
884,586
632,508
7,134
55,900
58,286
91,904
282,189
146,600
1890
1,324,595
844,016
9,960
83,600
54,059
105,000
446,859
289,296
1895
1,942,647
1,088,301
9,752
97,600
51,426
105,000
634,847
328,514
1899§
2,580,173
1,581,855
10,941
103,800
54,639
105,000
935,676
274,253
THE NUMBER OF COMPANIES AND THEIR CAPITAL REGISTERED IN
THE ISLE OF MAN, ALL OF WHICH ARE BELIEVED TO BE
CARRYING ON BUSINESS.
No.
Capital (Paid up).
1892
C7
£995,51.3
1893
71
1,007,120
1894
GG
977,51.3 (approximate)
1895
80
1,08G,111
189G
90
1,157,515
* It should be remembered that the paper currenc}^ of the Isle of
Man is fully protected by securities, which are usually first mortgages.
The practice is to require securities which are worth 10 per cent, more
than the issue.
t In 1870, the deposits were £411,000, in 1878, £889,000. The tem-
porary falling off after that year was due to the suspension of the Bank
of Mona. The " Manx " Bank was established in 1882.
I For half-year.
§ Figures given for " Dumbell's " Bank from June 30th, this Bank
having issued no balance sheet on the 31st of December, 1899. Its
business has been taken over by " Parr's " Bank. A branch of the
" Liverpool Union " Bank was established in Douglas in 1897, and this
bank was, in 1900, absorbed in " Lloyd's" Bank.
THE RECENT HISTORY
729
APPENDIX B.
EEVENUE.
Year.*
Revenue. f
Net Debt.:
Year.*
Bevenue.t
Net Debt.;
£
£
£
£
1867
44,356
• • •
1884
53,527
177,175
1868
45,235
. .•
1885
55,514
187,926
1869
43,603
8,513
1886
55,552
187,279
1870
42,944
46,191
1887
53,482
194,889
1871
43,726
46,978
1888
59,352
184,961
1872
42,787
50,645
]889
60,988
178,251
1873
41,079
56,631
1890
62,266
191,718
1874
43,166
69,834
1891
63,825
206,471
1875
42,347
95,773
1892
72,255
202,221
1876
45,807
113,386
1893
72,302
209,560
1877
47,357
111,504
1894
73,429
219,531
1878
47,629
115,572
1895
71,733
205,058
1879
52,557
121,862
1896
72,752
208,576
1880
49,906
140,119
1897
77,287
201,085
1881
52,538
132,558
1898
77,005
193,473
1882
51,058
135,797
1899
78,121
187,754
1883
51,613
163,350
1900
82,485
186,322
QUANTITIES OF GOODS IMPORTED PAYING DUTY.
(Chief Articles only.)
1867.
1880.
1885.
1890.
1895.
1900.
British Spirits ...
Rum
Galls.
26,993
32,650
2,447
5,839
18,498
Barrels.
lbs.
236,358
50,277
76,656
Galls.
47,311
26,200
2,400
6,099
21,679
Barrels.
5,739
lbs.
286,303
45,391
84,756
Galls.
55,609
24,400
1,.551
5,279
20,771
Barrels.
8,516
lbs.
326,376
48,813
91,897
Galls.
48,510
17,106
3,443
4,844
17,026
Barrels.
13,606
lbs.
353,230a
52,342
105,3066
Galls.
54,822
15,.535
2,615
4,189
17,414c
Barrels.
11,884
lbs.
36,4i3§
Galls.
58,445
14,057
Geneva
1,939
Brandy
4,233
Wine
Beer (English) ...
Beer (Blanx)
Tea
Barrels.
15,019
/ Blalt—
1 29,173 Bushs.
1 Sugar—
(238,628 lbs.
Coffee
Tobacco
(a) The consumption of tea in and after 1691 can only be approxi-
mately estimated under the new arrangement, (h) The same applies
to tobacco in and after 1892, and (c) to wine in and after 1896.
* The financial year ends on the 31st of March,
t Gross ordinary revenue.
X I.e., the excess of debt over balances. In 1867, the balances
exceeded the debt by £13,559, and, in 1868, by £13,266.
§ As, after 1895, owing to the new arrangement (see Appendix C), no
730
HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
REVENUE FROM DUTIES ON IMPORTED GOODS.
Spirits
Wine
Tobacco and Cigars...
Beer and Malt
Tea
Coifee and Chicory ...
Allowance on Duty
Paid Goods Im-
ported
Other Goods
1870.
1875.
1880.
1885.
1890.
1895.
£
£
£
£
.e
£
23,.305
26,182
27,448
28,548
31,367
32,729
1,382
1,41.5
1,425
1,272
948
935
9,289
9,022
10,074
11,477
12,674
19,680
1,080
3,363
3,961
5,231
4,930
3,888
4,060
4,399
5,019
5,168
6,671
...
162
173
117
82
...
674
2,800
3,405
383
1900.
£
48,199
2,985
18,794
7",991
262
APPENDIX C.
ARRANGEMENT OF CUSTOMS DUTIES BY GOVERNOR WALPOLE.
The most notable was with regard to the tea and tobacco
duties. In 1878, there was a loss on English duty-paid goods,
chiefly tea and tobacco, of over j62,000 annually. In 1880, after
the settlement of the Port Erin question, compensation, in lieu
of this, was received from the English Government annually.
This, by 1890, had gradually increased to dG3,400, when the
reduction of the duty on tea in England had led to a largely
increased importation of English duty-paid tea to the island,
and, consequently, to a heavy loss to the Manx revenue. The
governor therefore made an arrangement by which the whole
of the duties paid on tea in the Isle of Man were to be paid into
the Imperial Exchequer. This being done, an arrangement was
made which was based on an average consumption of 6'35 lbs.
per head of tea in the Isle of Man and 5 lbs. per head in
the United Kingdom.''^ In 1892, when the Manx duty on
tobacco was levelled up to what it was in the United Kingdom,
a similar arrangement was made with it, as it had been found
that during the previous ten years the imported duty-paid
tobacco had increased 90 per cent., while that which paid duty
in the island had increased 20 per cent, only, and, moreover,
account was kept at the Cu.stom House of the quantities of Imperial
duty paid spirits, coffee, or chicory entering the island, no return as to
the latter two can be made, while the figures relating to spirits show
less than the quantity actually consumed in the island.
* This is annually corrected by the average consumption iu the
United Kingdom, i.e., if the consumption there should increase the
insular i-eveuue receives a proportionate amount and vice versa.
THE EECENT HISTORY 731
there was considerable difficulty in estimating the duty on the
former. In this case the consumption of tobacco in the United
Kingdom was taken at 1'55 lbs. per head and in the Isle of Man
at 2'08 a head.-- Tiie result of these arrangements was a large
increase in the revenue.
The negotiation of the loans of 1883 and 1889, by which a
number of small loans at comparatively high rates of interest
were paid off, also led to a reduction of insular expenditure.
The former was for ^£230,000, at 3^ per cent, for 45 years, which
was taken at 96. This costs £4 3s. Id. per cent, on account of
interest and sinking fund, and the latter was for jE100,000, at
3 per cent, for 30 years, which was taken at 95. This costs
JE4 10s. 2d. per cent, for interest and sinking fund. A com-
parison of the rates for these two loans is a striking proof of the
improving credit of the island.
A small gain to the revenue was also obtained by the passage
of the " Public Offices Fees Act" f in 1888 by which all fees
payable in public offices were to be paid in stamps instead of
money, if so ordered by the governor.
APPENDIX D.
DUTIES ON IMPORTED GOODS.
1866. 1883. 1896. 1900.
British spii-itspergal. 6s. 8s. 6d. 9s. 10s.
Bum 6s. 8s. 6d. 9s. 10s.
Foreign Brandy 8s.) „ „, - ,„
Geneva 8s.; ^^- '^^^ ^s- ^°^-
Tea per lb 4d. 4d. 4d. 6d.
Coffee per lb 4d. Id. Id. Id.
Tobacco, unmanu-
factured 2s. 6d. 3s. -Id. to 3s. 6d.: 3s. 2d. to 3s. 6d.t 3s. to 3s. Id.:
Wine, below 26 per Not exceeding
cent, proof 8d. 8d. 30 per cent., Is. Is.
Wine, above 26 per Between 30 p. c.
cent, proof Is. 8d. Is. 8d. & 42 p.c, 2s. 6d. 2s. 6d.
Sugar 3s. §
Corn, per qr Is. II
Beer,Imported,per
36 galls 2s. tolls. 6d. 2s. 6d. to lis. 6d. 5s. 6d.*I
Do. Manx do. ... is. 6d. to 10s. 6d. is. 6d. to 10s. 6d. 4s. 6d.1I
For each bushel of
malt and 28 lbs.
of sugar used in
brewing Is. 6d. Is. 6d. 2s.
* The same arrangemeut as to average was also made (see note *,
p. 730).
I Statutes, vol. vi. pp. 50-4. ; According to the amount of moisture.
§ Abolished in 1874. || Abolished in 1870.
If When the worts before fermentation were of a specflic gravity of
1,055 degrees and so on in proportion, adding for increase and deduct-
ing for decrease in gravity.
732
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
APPENDIX E.
LOCAL EXPENDITUKE AND DEBT.
Expenditure.
Debts.
1880.
1885.
£
1890.
1895.
£
1900.
1880.
1885.
£
1890.
£
1895.
£
£
£
£
Towns*
13,634
18,634
51,255
72,591
45,201
43,447
64,934
370,353
Lunatics ...
5,604
7,603
5,325
6,497
6,509
925
2,433
Highways...
7,599
6,820+
7,8381
8,642
8,710
169
3,325
2,580
1,060
Education ..
10,142
12,825
18,623
23,586
4,10711
9,30911
16,180
24,891
Poor Relief
3,902
4,590
1,643
Cattle
)
Diseases
1
81
Prevention
Total
36,979
45,882
86,442
115,987
!
' 50,402
58,514
116,937
396,304
RATES LEVIED FOR LOCAL EXPENDITURE.
Towns
Lunatics
Highways
Education
Poor Relief
Cattle Diseases Prevention
Total
1880.
1885.
£
£
5,552
7,291
4,384
3,978
2,258
2,110
2,716
8,351
14,910
16,730
1890.
£
18,159
3,874
2,166
4,280
4.561
33,040
1895.
£
18,590
4,535
2,265
5,427
3,146
255
34,218
* Including Port Erin and Port St. Mary.
+ In 1883 the charge of the roads, lighting, and drainage of Peel and
Castletown was transferred from the Highway Board to the Town
Commissioners.
I The management of Port St. Mary was vested in Commissioners.
II Debt of School Boards.
THE RECENT HISTORY
733
APPENDIX F.
NONCONFORMIST CHURCHES/''
Ministers
Local Preachers
Members
Sunday School Scholars
,, ,, Teachers
Chapels
Sittings
Average Congregation ..
Communicants
Methodists
•
u
Ph
2
265
23
2
323t
227
•^
a
I
a
8
2
390
"2
720
270
Wesleyan.
6
a
d
12
173
2,849
5,,523
1,118
71
14,815
9,800
1
7
124
1,200
"39
8,300
5,000
2
7
118
218
36
2
650
270
130
i
350
200
50
* Information from Mr.
t Sittings let.
J. E. Douglas.
VOL. II.
48
BOOK VI
CONSTITUTIONAL HISTOBY
735
i
CHAPTER I
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION
§ 1. From 1405-1765
TN our first Book we have endeavoured to indicate
-'■■ the changes through which the Manx Constitu-
tion passed before the fifteenth century. There was,
first, the Celtic system, according to which the king
consulted his chiefs and then declared his decisions
to the whole assembly of the freemen, whose assent
thereto seems to have been merely a matter of form.
Then came the freer system of the Norsemen, under
which a selected body from among the freemen was
also consulted, and no judgment was valid without,
not only their consent, but that of the whole body
of freemen. And, finally, after 1265, came the
degradation of the freemen councillors, or Keys, into
tenants-at-will, who were only summoned when the
king, or his officers, desired an opinion on points of
law. Beyond this they seem to have had but little
share in deciding the questions at issue. Such, then,
appears to have been the constitutional position
when the Stanleys succeeded to what was practically
737
738 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
despotic power. They were represented by a gover-
nor, with a few officials, for administrative purposes.
There was, as yet, no legislation in the modern sense,
and no written law.*
Position of the Let US first considcr the position of the Lords of
Lords of the ■■-
^^^^- the Isle.f They obtained their authority by a grant
from King Henry IV., in the seventh year of his
reign, to Sir John de Stanley, his heirs and assigns,
under which they held the Isle of Man by homage
and the service of rendering two falcons to the Kings
of England at their coronation.! They possessed
the prerogatives, and, till 1460, § assumed the title
of royalty, the Isle of Man being a fief, separate
from the English Kingdom, but dependent on the
English Crown. II The Lords of the Isle were, in
''•■ "And as to the writeing of laws there was never any
written since King Orryes Days, but in the time of Michael
Blundell [? 1406] that we have knowledge of " (statement of
deemsters and others in 1422. Statutes, vol. i. p. 11).
f Owing to the meagre information available at the begmning
of this period, the account of the constitutional system, which
we will endeavour to trace in the following pages, belongs rather
to the later than the earlier part of it.
I " Rot. Litt. Pat. 7 Henry IV." (1406) {Manx Soc, vol. vii.
pp. 235-246). This was confirmed by letters patent of 7 James I.
(See Ibid., pp. 99-113).
§ I.e., when Thomas II., the first earl, succeeded and took
the title of "lord," instead of "king." The seventh earl says
that he did not know whether this was " of modesty or policy "
(Derby, Manx Soc, vol. iii. p. 6).
II The question of whether or not the English Parliament
had the right to legislate for the Isle of Man was decided in
1523, when it arose on the claim of Ann, widow of Thomas III.,
second Earl of Derby, for dower in the island. The claim was
referred to the English judges, who pronounced against the
duchess, deciding that a general Act of Parliament does not
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 739
fact, feudatory princes with sovereign powers, and,
as such, they estabhshed laws, they appointed the
principal ojBicers ; they had the patronage of the
bishopric, and, originally, of all the ecclesiastical
benefices. They had the right to summon and Their powers
_ " and privileges.
adjourn or dismiss the Tjmwald Court, Council and
Keys, to hold courts, to exercise appellate jurisdic-
tion over all civil causes, to pronounce the sentence
of death and to pardon those so sentenced. They
were absolute lords of the soil, and immediate land-
lords of every man's estate, except in the case of
a few barons.* They had the first claim to the
services of every stranger coming to the country,
the first choice of any imported merchandize, and
the right, subject to the consent of Tynwald,f to
impose customs and other imposts on imports and
exports. All treasures found, all wrecks, waifs and
strays, cattle and horses over two years old belonging
to felons, I and their sheep over one year old, all
extend to the Isle of Man, which is no part of the realm of
England, but that if the island is specially named in the Act,
it does extend to it. (Coke's Institutes, c. 69. For a full discus-
sion of this question see Gcll, Manx Soc, vol. xii. pp. 34 and
154-5). Parliament has on a few occasions, apart from the
brief period under Elizabeth and James I., when the direct rule
of the Crown was resumed, availed itself of this power, by
passing laws which affected the island.
- See pp. 871-2.
f Till the seventeenth century at least they seem to have
invariably exercised this right without consulting Tynwald (see
pp. 768-9 and after it they occasionally did so).
I Their goats were the property of the Queen of Man. The
cattle and horses under two years old and the sheep under one
year old went to the coroner (titatuics, vol. i. p. 25).
740 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Powers of the
lieutenant,
captain or
governor.
porpoises, sturgeons and whales, caught on the coasts
of the island were their property, and they had the
sole right of sport in the royal forest or waste.*
But the lords were rarely on the island, and there-
fore had to provide a substitute, who was, till 1639,
usually styled either "Lieutenant" or "Captain,"
and, after that date, "Governor."! He was the
lord's representative, and it was ordained that who-
soever "offendeth to him" should " be punished as
they that offend to the lord." I He exercised most
of the prerogatives of the lord, § and his office was
not superseded or suspended by the presence of the
lord in the island. To guard against any partiality
or misgovernment on his part, it was provided that
he should be guided by the advice of the Council
- For fuU details see Statutes, vol. i. pp. 8, 9, 13, 22, 25, 27,
54, 57, 58, 60.
f For list of governors see Supplement. The deputj^-governor,
when there was one, was styled "Deputy," or "Deputy-Lieu-
tenant." The title " Governor " was first used in 1596, but did
not become usual till 1639, after which year it, with occasionally
special additional titles (see appointments in 1702, 1713, 1718,
and between 1736 and 1793), is almost always used till it ceased
with the death of the Duke of Atholl in 1830. Sir James Gell
states (see " The Titles and Powers of Governors of the Island,"
a pamphlet printed in 1885, for full information on this question)
that the special titles do not give any powers beyond those of
governor, which in itself confers full powers, civil and military.
Between 1639 and 1773 a deputy-governor, whether permanently
or temporarily appointed, was so styled ; but, after 1773, a
temporary governor only was so styled, the permanently ap-
pointed governor, whether subordinate to another governor, as
till 1830, or not, as after that date, bebig called " Lieutenant-
Governor." \ Statutes, vol. i. p. 5.
§ Among these was that of granting customary estates out
of the wastes and demesnes of the island (see ch. vii.)
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 741
and the deemsters.* He had the right of con-
voking and presiding over the Tynwald Court, as
well as of the Legislative and Executive Council, and
of summoning the Keys, and it is probable that,
during the earlier part of this period at least, he
alone could adjourn the sittings of the Keys, as well
as those of the Tynwald Court and Council. He
also had the right of presiding in all the principal
courts of judicature, which could only be held by
his warrant. Whenever a vacancy happened in any
of the superior offices, the governor nominated a
person to fill the place until a successor was ap-
pointed by the lord ; all inferior offices were entirely
at his disposal, and he occasionally appointed a
deputy-governor, who, in his absence, was invested
with all his powers and privileges, f He had also
the command of all the military forces of the island,
and, as such, was responsible for the preservation of
order, t The governor was assisted by the household
officers, whose designations and functions are as
follows : There was, first, the comptroller, who had
the superintendence of the lord's revenues and comptroller.
household. He audited the receipts and disburse-
ments of the receiver and water-bailiff and rendered
accounts of them to the lord. In his judicial
character he took cognizance of all offences com-
mitted within the household and garrisons, and,
'■'''■ Statutes, vol. i. p. 13.
f "Constitution" {Manx Soc, vol. xxxi. p. 53; and Parr's
MS.)
I For his oath of office and that of the other chief officers
see Appendix A.
The
742 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The clerk of
the rolls.
The receiver.
The water-
bailiff.
seemingly as a military officer, he had to call the
soldiers to muster-.* As clerk of the rolls, which
office was, prior to the Revestment, generally united
with that of comptroller, he kept the Eecords,t
entered the minutes of the pleas and proceedings
in the civil and criminal courts, both of the lord
and of the barons, and issued copies thereof, which
were to be received as evidence. He also made
extracts annually from the Records of the preceding
year of the fines due, and delivered them to the
coroners, to be levied and paid according to the
governor's order. He and the receiver, or receivers,
had the management of the lord's household and the
victualling of both the households and the garrisons.
The receiver had, with the advice of the governor
and other officers, to attend to the repairs of the
castles. He also, through the water-bailiff and the
coroners and moars, received, and, in the presence
of the governor and comptroller, deposited in the
treasury chest all the lord's revenues, out of which
he paid the salaries and all other disbursements,
subject to the check of the comptroller and the
audit court.
The water-bailiff, or collector,! had the charge
-'■ Statutes, vol. i. p. 19. For his duties in connexion wifch
trade see Book II., eh. iv. § 2.
f These Eecords were "to be enrolled in parchment every
year once, and the same so enrolled, to be sent over to the
Lord his auditt, and the auditors hand to be putt to the same,
and then to be conveyed over again, and laid amongst other of
the Records" {Ibid., p. 37).
I Called at drst the "Customer" (see p. 307).
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 743
of collecting whatever accrued to the lord by
customs duties, or by any means whatever below
full sea-mark. To enable him to do this, he had
a deputy in each port. He held a court, called the
"Admiralty Court," which had full jurisdiction in
all maritime affairs between high-water mark and
three leagues from the shore. *
The remaining household officer was the attorney- ^he attorncy-
o J general.
general, whose duty was to conduct all suits and
prosecutions on behalf of the lord, to guard against
any infringement of his rights and prerogatives, and
to undertake the causes of widows and orphans.
He also advised the governor on all matters of law
which were not under his judicial cognizance. For
all these officers a table was, till 1730, kept at the
castles of Kushen and Peel.f The primary duty,
then, of the comptroller, receiver and water-bailiff t
was to collect and account for the lord's revenue and
to manage his property to the best advantage, and,
in addition to this, they, or some of them, under
the presidency of the governor, with, occasionally,
the spiritual officers, § formed the lord's Executive
Council. When they acted in this capacity, the
'■''■ For his duties in connexion with the fisheries see Boolv
VIII., ch. ii. p. 943; see also Book II., eh. iv. § 2.
f For their allowances see Statutes, vol. i. p. 32, and for full
particulars concerning them Ibid., pp. 12-19, 37, 75-6, and Manx
Soc, vol. xxxi. pp. 3.5, 41, 44, 54, 55.
I It is curious that, prior to the Revestmcnt, the water-
bailiff's oath did not contain any words referring expressly to
his position as councillor, since he was undoubtedly a member
of the executive (see Appendix A).
§ See Book VI., ch. ii. pp. 844-5.
744 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
governor had a right to summon as many of them
as he thought fit, provided that there were two at
least. Tlie spiritual officers, however, and, at first,
the deemsters, were seldom summoned, so that the
whole executive business of the country was con-
ducted by the governor and the household officers. *
The deemsters. The dccmstcrs, whoso officc lias been already
referred to, were in quite a different position from
the household officers, they being the people's
officials, and, as late as 1577, according to Bishop
and Governor Meryck, they were elected by the
people "from amongst themselves."! They were
looked upon as being, with the twenty-four Keys,
the repositories of the customs and traditions
which constituted the common law, 1 and their
opinions upon them were considered as authoritative.
They sat as judges in the superior courts, and they
also determined " all controversies without writings
and expense; "§ "for," says Meryck, "every
••- The following order, in 1561, shows that the Council were
expected to perform executive duties : " The Captain, Receivers,
Cleark of the Rolls, and Water Bayliffe, once in a month at
least, to be in the Exchequer, att the Castle of Rushen, in
Mann, or so many of them as shall be witliin the Isle ; and there
to consult of my Lord his causes and affairs of the said Isle,
for the Commonwealth's well Governance, and well keeping of
the said Isle and Houses " (Statutes, vol. i. p. 37). There are
also numerous cases to be found in the Statutes where indivi-
dual members of the Council are expressly named to carry out
specific duties.
f Cott. MS. (Manx Soc, vol. iv. pp. 95-6). They also
received a commission from the lord.
I See p. 747.
§ Cott. MS. (Manx Soc, vol. iv. p. 95).
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 745
magistrate takes up a stone* and, having signed it,
gives it over to the plaintiff, by which act he cites
before him the defendant and the witnesses."!
They were members of the Council in its judicial
and legislative capacities, but not, as a rule, in its
executive capacity till the seventeenth century, though
there is an instance of their being summoned for
executive business in 15614 Tokens that their
position was distinct from that of the other officers
remain in the facts that their oath on taking office
contains no allusion to their duties as members of
the Council, § and that, to this day, they sign Acts
of Tynwald, &c., in a different part of the sheet for
signatures from that in which the rest of the
Council sign, and that their assent to each statute
is separately stated in the preamble.il The towns
''•' This was called their " token." According to customary
law, " the Deemsters have been antiently accustomed to receive
the fee of 2d. from any person that they grant their Token unto
for any manner of cause. . . . And in lieu thereof the Deemsters
were then to send out a number of people called a (sic)
Bonnack to receive a certain custom from the Tenants such as
they pleased to give in respect of the said fees at hallo^\'-tide
and thereupon the tenants to receive their tokens gratis for that
and if any refused to pay such custom to the Bonnack they
were to cut three ropes of his house over the door whereby he
might be known to have refused the Deemsters' custom, and
the Bonnack presenting this to the Deemsters respectively with
the person's name, they were not to grant their tokens to such
without the fee for the year, which customs now of late [i.e., at
the end of the scventeentli century] liave been taken up by the
Lockman of every parish witliin the precincts of each Deemster's
liberties" (Parr's MS.).
i Cott. MS. Translation {Manx Soc, vol. iv. p. 96).
\ See Lib. Scacr. $ See App. A.
II Thus : " The Governor, Council, Deemsters, and Keys."
746 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The captains
of towns.
The coroner.
The lockman.
The moar.
The runner.
were governed by captains, who not only commanded
the garrisons, but were also civil governors, exercising
executive, and, in small matters, judicial authority.
Subordinate to these officials, who were commis-
sioned by the lord, were the coroners, lockmen
and moars, who derived their authority from the
governor. There is a coroner in every sheading,
who served summonses and other processes, returned
juries, and levied fines and executions, as directed
by any of the courts or judges. He took inquests
of deaths,* and attended most of the juries and
inquests impanelled by direction of the deemsters
or the superior courts. A lockman is appointed
for each parish, and acts as deputy or assistant to
the coroner.
There is also a moar in each parish. This office
is obligatory on the proprietors of land, and falls in
rotation on each quarterland and on the intacks
within each parish. In addition to collecting the
lords' rents and alienation fines, these officers were,
till 1765, servants of some of the courts, each of
them having a deputy, called a runner, t The
coroners, lockmen, moars and runners t held their
offices for one year only.
The deemsters are said to have claimed that no Act of Tynwald
is vahd unless signed by one of them, but the claim is
manifestly an absurd one, because it would give one individual,
in a subordinate capacity, the power of veto.
* This duty has since been undertaken by the high-bailiffs.
f Statutes, vol. i. pp. 4, 5, 7, 14, 15, 26, 49-51, for full
information about these officers.
I They were done away with after 1765.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 747
Having: thus stated what the Manx Executive The Manx
*^ Judicature.
consisted of, let us now describe the Judicature. It
was part of the duty of the household officers * to
preserve peace and order among the people by
determining differences and punishing outrages and
crimes. For these purposes they, or some of them,
sat as the governor's assessors, he being the sole
judge, forming a court, probably known by the
name, which still survives, of " The Staff of Govern- QovJvnmfnM
ment." f When, however, " greate matters and high
points" were "in doubt," ^ they called in the
deemsters, spiritual officers, and Keys, or elders
of the land, to assist them with their advice, and
the court thus formed was called the Tynwald Court, J^^^.p''''^^^''
which, in accordance with ancient custom, met
twice in the year.t But, generally speaking,
except on such occasions, and in such comparatively
trifling matters as came before the deemsters and
water-bailiff, the household officers seem to have had
a universal jurisdiction. After a time, it became
convenient to establish several courts, instead of
one only, but these courts were really only different
names for the same court acting in different situa-
tions and upon different subjects. In its capacity '^^°9°"q°\
as the superior court of criminal judicature it is Delivery,
called the " Court of General Gaol Delivery." In
* Except the attorncy-gGncral.
I At a later date it became the appellate court from inferior
courts, and exercised jurisdiction similar to that of the
superior courts in England in matters of prohibition, mandamus,
habeas corpus, quo warranto, &c.
\ Statutes, vol. i. p. 11.
Its
748 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
it sat the governor,* with the household officers,
and the deemsters, and, occasionally, the spiritual
officers* and the Keys. After 1601, however, the
Keys became regular members of it, and so it was
practically the Tynwald Court under another name.
The duties of the Keys in this court were " to assist
the Deemsters in doubtful points of law, and to pass
upon and try the jury of life and death if they be
found to degress from their evidence and bring in
a erroneous verdict." t They had, in fact, to give
authoritative information on any legal question
which might arise, and also to animadvert on any
proceedings. default or misconduct of the jury. | The proceedings
of this court were sometimes by indictments, § but
were more usually commenced by presentments on
the verdict of a jury in writing. For making these
presentments there were various inquests, some of
them being under the direction of the supreme
-''■ The governor still sits in it. (For its composition at the
present day see pp. 801-2.)
f Lib. Placif., 1601. If the Keys found the jury guilty, the
court had " to fine and punish them, and enter a record
thereupon to declare them incapable to pass on any jury for
ever afterwards."
I This power bears some analogy to the proceedings under a
writ of attaint, and, as we shall see, it was sometimes abused
in Man, as in England. See "Constitution" {Manx Soc, vol.
xxxi. p. 101). There was also an appeal to them in cases
concerning land (Parr's MS., quoting Lib. Scacc, 1621, and
Lib. Placit., 1639).
§ Our account of the Insular Civil Courts is an abstract from
that in the " Constitution of the Isle of Man " (Manx Soc,
vol. xxxi.), which is a copy of the summary made by the
Commissioners, in 1791. This summary was founded on the
evidence then given before them by the insular legal officers.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 749
courts, or the deemsters, others being impanelled
and attended by the coroners only. When felony
was suspected, a jury of six was summoned by the
coroner.* This jury was under the direction of the
deemster, and returned its verdict to him. If it
acquitted the accused, there was an end of the case.
If the offence was found to be a misdemeanour,!
it presented the offender to suffer such punishment
as the governor in Council might adjudge. If it
presented him for felony, a further trial before a jury
of twelve I took place in the presence of the court. The
prosecution was conducted by the attorney-general,
and, when the jury had considered their verdict, one
of the deemsters asked their foreman : " Vod y fer-
carree soie 1 " (May the chancel-man sit ?) If he
answered, " Cha vod" (He cannot), the spiritual
officers retired, and a verdict of guilty was given ;
but, if the answer was "Fod" (He may), they
remained, and a verdict of not guilty was given. In
the former event, one of the deemsters pronounced
sentence, but it was not carried out till the lord had
seen the evidence. This court was held in the gate-
way of Castle Kushen, twice in the year, in the
months of May and October. §
* They were summoned either upon what was called a hand-
suit, a species of bond or recognizance from a prosecutor,
or by precept from one of the Deemsters or the Governor.
f As in thefts under the value of 6Jd. The jury, as a rule, took
care to assess the value of the stolen article under this amount.
I To supply this jury 68 men were impanelled by a return
by the coroners of four men from each of the seventeen
parishes ; out of this number the prisoner might select twelve.
§ Before 1580, the proceedings in all the courts were recorded
VOL. II. 49
750 HISTORY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
The Chancery
Court.
The Court of
Exchequer.
The Common
Law Courts.
The Courts of Civil Jurisdiction were the Chancery,
the Exchequer, the Common Law, and the Manorial
or Sheading. The Chancery Court, which was first
established, as a distinct court, in 1580,* had a mixed
jurisdiction in both law and equity, though it was
more frequently resorted to in the latter than in the
former capacity. In it, as in the other courts
referred to, the governor presided, assisted by the
deemsters and such members of the Council as he
thought fit to summon. The questions before it
were usually decided without a jury, but, if the
governor thought a jury was required, he ordered
one to be impanelled which conducted the enquiry
out of court and returned its verdict to him. This
court sat once every month, except January, May,
September and October, and, occasionally, at other
times. The Court of Exchequer took cognizance of
all disputes and offences relating to the lord's
revenue, rights or prerogatives. It also exercised a
criminal jurisdiction over misdemeanours and all
actions which subjected the offender to the payment
of a fine to the lord. Like the Chancery Court, it
called in the aid of a jury only in exceptional cases.
The Common Law Courts were held in the different
sheadings in the months of May and October.! In
in loose rolls called Rotuli. For a description of the different
Kecords see p. 791.
-''■ This court " is said to have had its origin in the power of
granting arrests of the person and effects, which, in civil cases,
belonged to the governor alone." " Constitution " {Manx Soc,
vol. xxxi. p. 34).
f The form of " fencing " these Courts was as follows :
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 751
them were tried all kinds of actions between subject
and subject, whether real or personal. They, in
fact, correspond with the Court of Common Pleas in
England. The trials were by jury, which, in the
case of real actions, consisted of six men of the
sheading in which the lands in dispute lay, and, in
personal actions, of four men belonging to the parish
where the defendant lived. The verdicts of these
juries were accompanied by an account of the
evidence, in writing, which was recorded by the
court, and, if the parties thereto acquiesced, an order
was given for carrying the verdict into execution.
But, if either party felt aggrieved by the verdict, he
might, on application to the clerk of the rolls within
a limited time, and on entering into a recognizance,
traverse it and obtain a new trial of the case by
another jury, consisting of 12 in real and of 6 in
personal actions, which had to determine the
question in accordance with the evidence previously
taken. If the second verdict was not satisfactory,
" I doe fence the king of Man and his officers, that noe
manner of man do brawle or quarrell, nor mollest the Audience,
lying, leaning, or sitting, and to show then: accord, and answer
when they are called, by lycense of the king of Man and his
officers. I doe draw witness to the whole audience that the
court is fenced." This fencing was done by the moar of the
parish wherein the court sat. In the words of the Statute;
" It is the king of Man his pleasure and his officers to keep
court twice in the year, that all men, both rich and poor, deafe
and dumbe, halt, lame and blind, to come thither upon horse-
back, or on foot, to be drawne thither upon horse or carr,
that they may know the king of Man his pleasure and his
officers, and the law of his Country" {Statutes, vol. i.
pp. 52-3).
752 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
another traverse was allowed to the Keys, who *
might either affirm, reverse, or alter the verdict
before them, and, if they found sufficient reason,
might condemn the former jurors to be fined, t
These courts are also said to have taken cog-
nizance of assaults, called " blood-wdpes." I When
the business of the Common Law Courts was
T^^^ianoriai finished, its judges sat as a Manorial court, which
was held for the same districts as the Common Law
* Prior to 1690 there seems to have been a still further
traverse before it came to the Keys. See note f .
t Various pomts connected with the judicial position of the
Keys will be referred to when we discuss them more particularly.
According to Deemster Parr (MS.), " It was antiently accustomed
that, when any case was traversed imto the 24 Keys, it
should be first tried by six of them, and from 6 to 12, and from
12 to the full body. . . . But now [circa 1690] when such matters
are moved from a traverse jmy, they are brought to the whole
body of the 24 Keys immediately, the judgment of whose major
part or of all jointly doth ultimate the same." For, he says,
they are " the nltimum refugium of the common law," except-
ing only in cases when " the Lord or the Governor grant a
re-hearing by special commission or reference."
\ Correctly "blood-wites," or compensation for blood shed.
Deemster Parr's description of the procedure in such cases is
as follows: " If any man happen to draw blood in any way or
manner upon another man or woman the party so offended
is forth"\\ith to repair to the Moar of the Parish and shew him
the blood so drawn upon him, which the Moar is, after due
summons given the Sunday before the Court day at the Church
cross for all persons presented unto him to be and appear at
the said Court to answer for themselves, to declare the same
unto the Com^, whereupon a jury is impannelled who are to
call the defenders before them either to clear themselves from
the drawing of the blood, or else to stand guilty which if they
be found to be, they are amerced, if it be a man 12d. if a
woman 6d. to the Lord, besides an accustomed fee to the
Coroner of 6d. more, also 6d. to the Moar, and 4d. to the porter
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 753
Courts. In the Manorial court there was kept a
registry of the names and titles of the lord's tenants,
and, upon every change of tenant, whether by death
or alienation, the name of the new one was entered
and that of the other withdrawn, upon the present-
ment of a jmy, called the Setting Quest,* which
consists of four of the lord's tenants. One of these
juries is appointed for each parish.
Another jury connected with the Manorial court The Great
"* '' , Enqucst.
was the "Great Enquest," which was composed of
twelve men returned by the coroner from each of
the six sheadings. These men attended at the
courts for the sheadings to which they belong,
where one of the deemsters administers the oath
to them and delivers the charge specifying their
duty, which was to make enquiry if there be any its duties,
outlaws, if the petty officers executed their duty,
if the craftsmen did their work properly, if any
cattle were exported without licence, if any take
hawks or herons or their Eggs, if any Pedlars or
Chapmen are in the country without cause shewn,
if any hunt in the Lord's Forest, if any set fire to
the ling, gorse, or turf, if any leave their fell ditch
or lidgate open, if any take the Lord's wreck, if
any harbour a felon, if the Coroners neglect their
of the Garison of that part of the Island that such present-
ments are made. But if the party that is presented for such
blood-wipes come and pay the Lord's due upon the Court table,
before any jury be sworn, he is to be freed from the said accus-
tomed fees thereby, as is sometimes practised " (MS.).
'•= For a full description of the duties of this jury, the
Manorial court and its llccords, sec Book VII.
754 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
duty in casting scabbed horses or mares down the
nearest "hough" (or cHff by the sea), if any trespasses
are done, and to present or summon the wrong-doers
GrlatEn°uest *° ^^^ court. * The Great Enquest, subject to the
approval of a Second Great Enquest, which was,
seemingly, selected in the same way, and was of
similar composition, had also by custom the power
of deciding disputes concerning ways, water-courses,
boundaries, t &c., and this was confirmed by statute
in 1737, when an appeal to a " Long," or Grand,
Jury of twenty-four was also provided. |
In 1753, the reference to the second Great En-
quest was abolished, and, besides the appeal to the
Jury "^'"^^ " Long Jury," there was provided a further traverse
to the Keys, who were to present the " Long Jury,"
if they acted partially. § These Great Enquests
were on duty for six months, and returned their
verdicts and presentments to the deemsters as often
as required, or to the Court of General Gaol De-
livery at the end of their term of office. ||
* Statutes, vol. i. p. 53.
f In 1665, the Great Enquest had the duty of presentmg
those who neglected to make up their fences both in winter
and summer imposed upon it {Ihid., p. 126).
I Statutes, vol. i. p. 217. § Ibid., pp. 268-9.
II The following juries also exist in the island: The Trespass
Jury (Statutes, vol. i. pp. 57, 127-8, 134, 177), which was sum-
moned by one of the deemsters out of the parish in which the
trespass was committed. They viewed the damages and took
evidence, and then handed in their verdict to the deemster in
open court. This verdict was traversable to a jury of aix,
which tried tlie case under the direction of the deemster. Of
the same nature were the Juries of Enquiry, which, when any-
thing was lost, endeavoured to discover it and the person who
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 755
Similar to the Common Law and Manorial courts The courts of
tne baronies.
were the courts of the baronies of the Bishop, of
Eushen Abbey, of Bangor and Sabhal, and of St.
Trinian's, but their jurisdiction, except as regards
manorial matters, seems to have become obsolete
long before the expiration of this period. They
were conducted either by their proprietors or their
stewards, with the assistance of one of the deemsters
and the comptroller and clerk of the rolls, the at-
torney-general being there to guard the interests of
the lord. " These courts seem," say the commis-
sioners of 1791, " to have exercized an authority in
their several districts, equal to the whole of that pos-
sessed by the Common Law and Sheading Courts " *
in all actions where the defendants lived in the
baronies, unless they were also tenants of the Lord
of the Isle. They had also their Courts of Criminal
Judicature, where all felonies committed by the
baronial tenants were tried by a jury of twelve
selected from their fellows, in the same way as
felonies were tried in the Court of General Gaol
Delivery. In the case of the bishop's barony, and,
before the Keformation, in that of the Abbot of
Rushen, the steward might claim that a tenant
had taken it. Fodder Juries {Statutes, vol. i. pp. 138, 146,
252, 279) were impanelled by the coroners yearly in each parish
to present those who kept more live stock than they had pas-
turage for in the summer and fodder in the winter, while
Yarding or Servants' Juries {ibid., pp. 109, 120, 122-3) put
vagrant servants to work.
* "Constitution" {Manx Soc, vol. xxxi. p. 41). The
traverses from the Baron's courts were the same as from
these courts.
756 HISTORY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
should be tried in the baronial court, even though
he had been already indicted and arraigned by the
Court of General Gaol Delivery.*
coui^s^^'^^^*^^^ Besides the courts already referred to, there were
the two Deemsters' Courts which had a general
jurisdiction, one in the southern and the other in
the northern district.! They had power to decide
all causes summarily, without the intervention of
a jury, in accordance with the traditional unwritten
laws of the island. In civil cases they possessed a
concurrent jurisdiction with the Common Law
Courts in all actions where a trial by jury or
before a higher authority was not desired by the
parties nor ordered by the Governor. The deemsters
might also, in the same way, take cognizance of
criminal cases in which any specific fine or penalty
is directed by statute ; further, in both civil and
criminal matters where juries were required, but
prompt redress was necessary, they could impanel
juries, receive their verdicts, and, if the damage or
'■^' In case of conviction his lands were forfeited to the baron,
but his goods and person were at the lord's disposal (Wilson,
Manx Soc, vol. xviii. p. 107).
f The jurisdiction of the two deemsters is identical, and
they may, in case of necessity, act in each other's districts.
Till 1796, the southern district consisted of the parishes of
German and Patrick (Glenfaba Sheading), Braddan, Santon,
Marown (Middle Sheading), Malew, Eushen and Arbory
(Rushen Sheading) ; and the northern district, of Conchan,
Lonan and Maughold (Garff Sheading), Ballaugh, Michael and
Jurby (Michael Sheading), and Lezayre, Andreas and Bride
(Ayre Sheading). After that date Conchan was added to the
southern district and Middle Sheading, Marown being placed
in Glenfaba Sheading.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 757
penalty was thereby precisely ascertained, order the
payment of the one, or inflict the other. In the
event of non-comphance with such order, the dis-
obedient party was either fined by the governor
in Council or tried in the Court of General Gaol
Delivery.* In civil cases an appeal lay from the
decision of these courts to the governor in Council,
provided that it was presented within twenty-one
days and accepted by the deemster, and there was
a further appeal from them to the lord. The
Deemsters' Courts were held on one day in each
week, or oftener if required.!
The Court of the Water-Bailiff, who was also ^^^^^T''^^"
styled Admiral, dealt with all causes of action, less
than capital, which happened between high-water
mark on the one hand and the distance of three
leagues from the shore on the other. The water-
bailiff had the assistance of a jury of six men.^ He
had also jurisdiction over maritime affairs generally,
which were tried before him by a special jury of
merchants or seafaring men.
In all these courts, other than the Court of
Chancery, § civil suits were generally commenced
by complaint presented, either by word of mouth
'■^' The method pursued by the deemsters in takhig enquests
has already been referred to.
f " The jurisdiction exercised by the deemster," says Sher-
wood, "is so extensive that it is diihcult exactly to define its
limits" ("'Constitution," Manx Soc, vol. xxxi. p. 42, note 24).
I The appeals from this court were the same as from the
Deemsters' Courts.
§ For procedure in this court see p. 750.
in the courts.
758 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
or in writing, to the judge or judges presiding in
^umm'^o'ses**"^ them. The process for appearance was merely a
fudg^ents.&c, summons from the judge, which, till nearly the end
of this period (1763), when a written warrant was
substituted,* was by a slate or stone inscribed with
his initials. If this summons was not attended to,
an order was obtained from the governor directing
one or more soldiers to bring the defendant before
the court. Decrees and judgments were, at one
time, given orally, at another, put into writing.
The execution of them was committed to the
moars by the Court of Common Law, to the
coroners by the other superior courts, and to the
Serjeants by the Manorial courts. In criminal
cases, offenders were arrested by the coroners and
handed over to the gaolers, either by their own
authority or by warrant from the governor, one
of the deemsters, or some other civil officer.!
With regard to appeals, we have seen that in all
suits, whether criminal or civil, they might be made
to the lord, but there was an ultimate appeal to
the King in Council, though this was rarely made
use of.
The House of Keys exercised judicial functions
as the court of appeal from the verdicts of juries
in civil cases. They were, in this respect, described
■■' Statutes, vol. i. pp. 295-6.
f According to the commissioners (of 1791) many of the
civil officers, as well as the governor and deemsters, might
" commit upon suspicion, in such cases at least as amounted
to a breach of the peace."
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 759
as the ultirmim refugium * in the island with respect
to jury findings, but there was an appeal to the lord.
Under an Act of Tynwald, passed in 1737, issues as
to fraud or deceit in titles to land were triable before
a Committee of the House.
We now come to the government of the island in Legislative
. government.
its legislative capacity. There are but few instances
of any neio laws f being made before the beginning of
the seventeenth century, the deemsters and elders of
the land being, as a rule, summoned to Tynwald
merely to give advice to the governor and officers
in judicial questions and to interpret old laws.
When fulfilling these functions they formed part
of the court thus assembled, which was called the
Tynwald Court, and it was, therefore, only natural
that the same court should frame new laws when
they became necessary, and that it should become
the supreme legislative as well as the supreme
judicial body. From the beginning of the seven-
teenth century the legislative authority was, except
on a few occasions when the lord issued ordinances
on his own account, vested in the governor and vested in the
r^ -IT r- T7- • • 1 m lord, the
Council and twenty-four Keys, sitting as the Tyn- governor and
•^ J ' & J Council, and
wald Court, as well as the lord. Until the passage of the Keys.
* See note f , p. 752. A comparison of pp. 800-3 in the second
part of this chapter and of Appendix D, where an account of
the present Manx judicial system is given, will enable our
readers to discover what is obsolete and what is still in
existence as regards the courts and their pleadings which
we have just described.
•j- An instance of a new law is the abolition of prowess in 1429,
and there arc also some illegal ordinances passed without the
consent of the Keys which had the effect of new laws.
760
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Procedure of
the Tynwald
Court.
The Cowicil.
the Act of Settlement in 1704, it seems to have been
usually the practice of this court to discuss the Bills
before it as one body, though, doubtless, they could
only be passed by a majority of votes in its two
branches {i.e., the Council and Keys) voting sepa-
rately. After 1704, Bills were dealt with in the
following manner : If a Bill originated in the
Council, it was first debated there and then sent
on to the Keys, who could either reject it altogether
or amend it. In the latter case the two branches
met and settled the proposed amendments. If the
Bill originated in the Keys and was approved by a
majority of the members, it was sent to the Council,
whose powers with regard to it were the same as
those of the Keys. Wlien the Bill was thus passed,
the Keys were summoned to the Council Chamber
to sign it, thirteen of their signatures being required
to render it valid. It was then sent to the lord,
who could either reject or give a general or qualified
assent to it. Finally it was promulgated in full,
both in the Manx and English languages, from
Tynwald Hill, and then, after being signed by the
members of the Council and Keys * who were
present, it became law.t
Let us now trace the development of the Legis-
lative Council and of the Keys separately : —
The designation Council has existed from the
* The signatures of thirteen members of the Keys was
necessary here also.
f The position of the Tynwald Court as regards customs
duties is discussed under the heading of " Keys," since it
affected them more particularly.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 761
earliest period of which there is any record. Thus,
in 1422, we have "Lord's Council" and "King's
Council," though not infrequently, as late as 1757,
the Council are, in statutes and other records,
described as "the officers," and sometimes "Prin-
cipal Ofacers," "Chief Officers," "the Officers
Spiritual and Temporal," " the Lord's Officers of
his Council," " Officers of the Lord's Council," &c.*
Up to the year 1582, when it passed certain TiieLeciisiative
ordinances, without the concurrence of the Keys,
the Council f appears in the Statute Book as an
executive, not as a legislative body ; and that it did
not at that time exercise legislative functions is also
clear from the statement of Governor and Bishop
Meryck in 1580, that " whatever is agreed upon by
the Lord of the Island, the two Deemsters and
the Keys obtained the force of law.t It is in 1609
that we find the Council, for the first time, asso-
ciated with the Keys in legislation, and this was
usually the case after that date, though it, in 1692,
again acted arbitrarily in revising the customs duties
vidthout consulting the Keys. This was, as we shall
see, resented by the Keys, and, as a result of their
protests, we find that, by 1737, the position of the
■'• The governor and Council are frequently, as one body,
designated the Council, and in one sense, according to ancient
usage, the designation is accurate. In another sense the
officers other than the governor, are tlie Governor' s Council.
Thus, for instance, in 1422, " my Lieutenant, his Council."
For various designations of the governor's Council see Statutes,
vol. i. In discussing it in its executive capacity we have
already given the names of its members.
t Statutes, vol. i. p. 56. J Lib. Scacc.
762 HISTORY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
Council as a distinct part of the legislature, having
co-ordinate authority with the Keys, was fully
settled. The selection of the officers who were to
sit in it, except the deemsters, who were invariably
members of it, appears formerly to have been left to
the caprice of the governor, who chose those, and
those only,* whom he might wish to consult on any
particular subject or subjects. A body thus consti-
tuted is better calculated to strengthen the hands of
the governor than to be any check upon his actions.
As regards its rights and privileges, even its official +
members cannot be required by the governor to vote
with him, but it has no power to fix its own meet-
ings, being summoned by the governor who presides
over it, and his assent is practically necessary to all
resolutions passed by it.t Its official members
were deemed an essential part of it, but the un-
official members § seem not to have been, though, un-
like those of the Executive Council, all its members
claim a right to sit, whether summoned or not.||
-■'■ The ecclesiastical officers only very occasionally sat in it.
f The comptroller, clerk of the rolls, receiver, attorney-
general, water-bailiff, and deemsters.
I This is the rule of the present day, and, no doubt, in the
past also. " I say ' practically,' " writes Sir James Gell, " for
during the progress of a Bill in ' Committee,' he does not
expressly declare his assent or dissent on every question which
is put to the vote " (Letter to the writer).
§ I.e., Before the Revestment. The whole question is
obscure. See p. 815 for the temporary exclusion of the
ecclesiastical members of the Council.
II The dual existence of the Council should be fully recog-
nized, their duty to advise the governor, being quite distinct
from their duty as a branch of the Legislature.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 763
The quorum necessary to constitute a meeting is
the governor and two councillors.
At the beginning of this period, the Keys, as a The Keys
rule, only exercised purely judicial functions, and
their office, in accordance with the statement of the
deemsters to Sir John Stanley, was not " in cer-
tainty," * and could not exist without the lord's
will. But there were tokens that they were
acquiring a more stable position. Thus, in 1418, if
any of them committed a capital crime, he was not
tried in the ordinary way, but by a jury of the rest
of the 24 ; t and further evidence of development
may be seen in the title of the second court held in
1422, i.e., a " Court of all the Tennants and Com-
mons of Man," and in the fact that the laws
declared by it were confirmed by the " best of the
Commons" t In 1430, an important advance was
made in the establishment of a representative body,
duly elected by the people. § This took place at a
" Court of all the Commons of Mann, holden at the
Castle of Kushen betwixt the gates," when " 6 men
- Statutes, vol. i. p. 11. f Botul.
I Statutes, vol. i. pp. 20-1.
§ In England, between the death of Richard II. and the
accession of Henry VII., there was a period during which
Parliament had more authority than either before it or for
more than two hundred years after it. On the other hand, it is
possible that the degradation of the Keys may have been con-
summated at the accession of the Stanleys, and that the state-
ment of the deemsters, perhaps under coercion, that they were
"not in certamty " and could not exist "without the lord's
will " had caused the riot which took place at the first Tynwald
Court held in 1422. For it will be observed (see p. 764) that
Sacheverell speaks of the " ancient legislative power."
764 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
of every Shedding of Mann were chosen by the
whole Commons of Mann." * Out of this body of
36 representatives, 24 were chosen to act as an
enquest, and were sworn in accordingly. On this
proceeding Sacheverell, who was governor of the
island at the end of the seventeenth century, com-
ments as follows: "Sir John Stanley, being duly
informed of the general neglect of his affairs, and
the disorder caused by his own absence, sent over
Henry Byron, his lieutenant, a man of great
prudence and severity. . . . Whether he [Byron]
had observed some discontents in the manner of
electing their representatives, or whether he thought
it for the real honour and interest of his master to
have the ancient legislative power restored, he calls
another assembly the year following, 1430, and
ordered six men out of every sheading or hundred,
to be chosen by the whole body of the Commons,
out of whom he elected four . . . and by their
entreaty all former laws were confirmed." t
" This," he continues, " was the last finishing
stroke of the settlement of this little state," by
which he prays, the people are to be governed,
"under the honourable House of Derby." | It is,
however, doubtful whether the practical advantages
which resulted from this change were so great as
Sacheverell supposed. For it appears from the history
of the next 150 years, that the representatives of the
■''• Statutes, vol. i. p. 23.
f Manx Soc, vol. i. pp. 75-6.
I Ibid., pp. 76-7.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 765
people were very seldom called together, and that
when called it was invariably for the settlement
of judicial questions. From the instances, too,
which will be given below, it will be seen that,
though the word " chosen " is used of " the 24," it
is never again stated by whom they were chosen,
which lends a colour to the assumption of several
who have written upon the Manx history of this
period, that the lords or their governors had again
taken the right of naming the Keys upon them-
selves. In 1499,* " 24 of the land " f were sworn,
and, in conjunction with the deemsters, gave the
law on various points ; and, at a Court of General
Gaol Delivery, held in 1502, " it was appointed that
24 of the country should be chosen, and they to
choose them four merchants, who should be sworn
to deal indifferently among the country people,
and to agree on their behalf with the merchant
stranger." I These 24 consisted of four out of
every sheading. At an enquest taken at Castle
Kushen in 1504, we find the same 24 present. § At
a similar court, in 1516, held to try a case of man-
slaughter, the two deemsters asked the " Capten in
Court " to have " 24 of the most aged and wisest in
the land, according to the Lord's statutes, sworn to
them that by their advice they might answer in this
case." t The " Capten " consented, and four men
from each sheading were sworn. In 1532, an inden-
~-i= Date wrongly given in Statute Book as 1419.
I Statutes, vol. i. p. 6.
I Lib. Scacc. § Statutes, voL i. p. 25.
VOL. II. 50
766 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
ture was entered into between the bishop and clergy
on the one part, and two men of each sheading on
the other ; and, on this occasion, there is no
mention of the 24, the 12 * seeming to represent
the whole country. In 1570, on account of a com-
plaint from the people " to the Capten of Mann and
\ other the Lord's Head officers and two Deemsters
that the fforesters did clip sheep unlawfully within
the ffells," the captain " demanded the law of the
Deemsters," who "requested to have the advice of
the 24 ancientest men in the Isle, which the Capten
and other officers granted them." t In 1580, the
governor and Council, the deemsters, the bishop and
clergy, and 24 Keys, there being one or more from
" every parish in the Isle," were summoned, by
virtue of a commission from the Earl of Derby, not
only to try a criminal but to pass a law, the nature
Important of which is not recorded. Against this the bishop, |
decision about " ^
thi kI'^s^"'^ °^ archdeacon,§ " W. Christian," |i and the Keys pro-
tested, saying that, if they were called together " for
the establishing of a new law, the country ought to
give their consent for the choosing of the 24." t
The commission was thereupon " stayd by consent
of the Court till my Lord's pleasure be known." f
It is not recorded what the earl did in this matter,
but, from the following quotation from the Chancery
book in 1581, it seems probable that he gave way to
the popular demand : " But now the 24 Keys are
-•' I.e., two from each sheading. f Lib. Scacc.
l Meryck. He was also governor.
§ Hugh Holland. || Perhaps one of the deemsters.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 767
called the representatives of the country because,
when any new law is made, they doe represent the
Body of the country and were by the ancient Con-
stitution chosen by the Country out of the Shead-
ings of this Isle, and noe Law is binding on the
people (one part of the Legislative power being in
them) without their consents." * Thus a clear dis-
tinction was made between the Keys as a judicial
body, when they might be selected by the governor,
and as a legislative body when they had to be elected
by the people, t The real explanation of what had
occurred is probably that, since no new laws are
recorded as having been passed between 1429 and
1580, and since, therefore, the Keys had only been
summoned to act as a jury, or to declare the cus-
tomary law, the people, regarding these functions as
being of secondary importance, had, at first, allowed
the old right of election, which, in 1430, was in
operation on an occasion when the Keys were sum-
moned as an enquest only, to lapse, and, finally, had
forgotten that it had ever existed, except when the
Keys were to act as legislators. However this may
■'- Tarr MS. quoting from Lib. Canccll., 1581. The portion in
brackets is Parr's interpolation. It is remarkable that the
leader in this agitation, Governor-Bishop Meryck, should have
been the lord's nominee. He writes in his account as follows :
" In former times the voice of the whole people was necessary
to the making of a new law ; but now this custom is abrogated,
and whatever is agreed upon by the Lord of the Island, the
Governor, the two Deemsters, and the twenty-four Keys,
obtains the force of a law " {Manx Soc, vol. xviii. p. 22). (Pub-
lished by Camden m the first edition of the Britannia.)
f See p. 768.
768 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
By the 17th
century their
position had
become more
assured.
have been, we find that many years were to elapse
before the people were again permitted to exercise
their right of election. In the meantime the Keys
were " chosen by the Lord himself out of the
natives," * and, notwithstanding Meryck's state-
ment, that, although they " hold their offices but
durante bene placito, yet are they seldom turned out
during their lives," * they were assembled in 1685
" to enact and give for law in this present cause
only ; " f and, at the same time, one of them being
" sick," and another in England, two were put in
their place, which looks very much as if their real
status was still that of a jury which could not pro-
ceed with its business till the whole number was
filled up. But, by 1601, they had attained a more
assured position, or, at least, one of greater dignity ;
for, in that year, in consequence of an individual
having declared that the Keys " never did good to
the Isle," t a law was passed which enacted that
those who slandered the Keys should suffer the
punishment of a fine, besides having their ears cut
off.t In 1605, they were exempted " from all com-
mon services and duties of the country," I and from
serving on common juries, except by express command
of the governor. More important still was their
seemingly improved position as regards the control
of the customs duties. In 1577, these seem to have
been imposed by the authority of the governor and
officers without the Keys, and "allowed and con-
* Manx Soc, vol. xviii. p. 28.
I Statutes, vol. i. pp. 69-70.
]: Lib. Scacc.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 7G9
firmed " * by the lord. But, in 1608, it was
declared by the Keys and four men from each
parish that the earl "with the consent of the 24
Keys, the representatives of the Comons there, have
alwaies and may raise or diminish these impositions
at their pleasure." f This statement, which does
not seem to have been contradicted, is, considering
the then practice in England,! a very remarkable
one. Their tenure of office, however, still con-
tinued uncertain, for, in 1610, Bishop Phillips
complained that the governor, John Ireland, had
placed and displaced the Keys at his pleasure. As
regards the "displacing" of the Keys, the power
of doing so was exercised by the lords and their
governors as late as 1731.§ As regards the
"placing" of them, however, the reply of the
Council and Keys to the bishop's allegations would
seem to show that the mode of election was more
liberal than that mentioned by Meryck. For they
declared that the governor had "used no other
course and manner in choseing of the 24 Keys than
as ever in former times to our remembrance hatha
been accustomed, which is with the consent of all
■'■ Statutes, vol. i. p. 37.
f This was in reply to the following question, asked by the
Commission of which Richard Hoper was chairman : " "Whether
it is understood . . . that the Earle of Derby hath a power to
lay new customes " (Knowsley Muniments, -\-).
I In 1606, King James obtained a decision (in the case of
Bates) to the effect that he could raise or vary existing taxes
by his prerogative alone, and even the " Petition of Eight" in
1628 does not seem to have touched the king's right to levy
customs duties. § Lib. Scacc, 1610, 1611, 1620, 1627.
770 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
the officers and the rest of the 24 Keys." * And,
moreover, it is clear, from the reappearance of
the same names among the Keys in the Statute
Book at different dates and from the way in which
they were mentioned in the preambles of the
Acts,t that, at the beginning of the seventeenth
century,! they had become a usual, though not
an invariable, part of the legislative authority, and
that they had begun to take their place as such.
But it receives This process, however, received a check under the
a check from ^
eari^'^^'^'^'^^ autocratic seventh earl, who seems to have been
determined to prevent the exercise of legislative
powers by the Keys from becoming a matter of
right, since he continued to obtrude his commands
upon the people, consulting sometimes the Council,
sometimes the Keys, and, at other times, the Keys,
together with four men from each parish. t Thus,
* Hence probably originated the claim of the Keys to elect
their own members, first exercised in 1659 (see pp. 773-4 ; also
statement of Chaloner, p. 772). For a full account of the
" articles objected by John, now Bishop of the Isle, against
John Ireland, Livetennant and Captain," see Episcopal Records.
(They are partially published in the Introduction to Phillip's
Prayer-book, Manx Soc, vol. xxxii. pp. x-xv.)
■) In 1609, an assembly was held " of the Lieutenant and
other the Officers, with the 24 called the Keyes of the Land "
{Statutes, vol. i. p. 70) ; and, in 1628, laws were " ordered and
enacted with generall consent of the Captain, Deemsters, officers
and 24 keyes of the isle" {Ibid., p. 81).
I Earl James himself wrote : " There are four-and-twenty
called Keys, who, in all great matters concerning the country,
are advised withal. Sometimes there be four of every parish
joined with them, by order of the Lord, when any great matter
concerning the land is in hand " (Derby, Manx Soc, vol. iii.
p. 7).
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 771
in 1643, the Keys shared the humble office of
endorsing the earl's " order, doome and decree," *
with "four men of every Parish," who acted "in
the name of themselves and of the whole Commons
of the Isle, by whom they were chosen for that
purpose." * Here the principle of popular election
was recognized, though it must be observed that it
did not apply to the Keys, but to the four men from
each parish.! Indeed it seems clear that any great
constitutional question required the presence of
these elected members to give advice, though they
had " no power to settle or enact anything," I as
well as of the Keys. The four from the parishes
appear for the last time in 1643, § when 12 of the
Keys and 12 selected from the four men of the
parishes were chosen as " a select Jury and Grand
Inquest ... to find out and present all such wrongs
and abuses as have been committed or acted against
his Lordship's Prerogative, the Lawes of the Island,
or the good of the Comonaltie." § On questions
* Statutes, vol. i. p. 92.
f They were merely advisers chosen for a special purpose.
I The idea of summoning them survived this period, for, in
1667, when the revision of the spiritual laws took place, Lord
Derby ordered that as these laws " have relation to the Liberty
and Property of my people . . . four judicious men should be
chosen by the people out of each parish ... to give their best
advice and assistance and to join with the Legislative power."
He, however, revoked this order before it could be put into
execution, because, as the four from each parish had " no
power to settle or enact anything," they would " only make
more confusion" (Knowsley Muniments, ~^-).
§ Statiites, vol. i. pp. 92-3.
772 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OP MAN
Their right to
share in fixing
the customs
duties
recognized.
Statements of
17th century
writers about
the Keys.
relating to customs duties, however, the Keys only,
not the four men from each parish, seem to have
been consulted, and their right, as a component part
of the Tynwald Court, to have a share in fixing
them was distinctly recognized,* both in 1637 and
1645. At the time of Earl James's death, in 1651,
the position of the Keys was, on the whole, less
secure than in 1627, but, during the time of Lord
Fairfax, it became more assured. Let us see what
contemporary writers have to say about it at this
period. One of them, Chaloner, states that their
assistance was only called for by the governor and
officers "in cases of doubt and considerations . . .
about the ordering of the affairs of the country, for
the defence and safety thereof ; and propositions of
good and wholesome Lawes and Orders, for the
Peace and Welfare of the People, in matters of Eight
betwixt the Lord and the People, and betwixt party
and party" ; t while the other, Blundell, speaks of
them as "the Representative body of the whole
Island"! and declares that "their assent is soe
necessary as that without them no new law can be
made nor any custome be introduced or altered."
He also states that they were " elected and chosen
by the lord himselfe out of the natives of the Isle," I
and that, though they only continued durante bene
placito, yet they usually held their office for life ;
■'• Gell {Manx Soc, vol. xii. pp. 190-1).
f Chaloner {Manx Soc, vol. x. p. 29).
J Blundell {Ibid., vol. xxvii. pp. 76-7). Since 1645 they were
usually designated "the Representative Body" in the Acts
passed.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 773
and, further, that it was "required also that they
should bee landed men, such as our freeholders in
England, having 40 or 50 or more pounds of their
owne." *
Of the two accounts, that of Chaloner is probably
the more accurate. It was during his governorship
that the following judgment, on which the Keys
afterwards founded their claim to nominate their
own members,! subject to the approval of the lord
or governor, was given by the deemsters: "When fi^°e"^f^^f°i'a°m
any of the 24 Keys dye, or are removed, the rest of own members,
the number shall recommend some fit persons to
supply their places, and shall give their names
either to the Lord or Governor; " I and, consequently,
■■-■ Blundell (Manx Soc, vol. xxvii. p. 77). He also speaks
of them as "adjuvants to ye deemsters ... in cases of
judicature," and as being " impanelled upon juryes " (Ibid.,
p. 76).
f In the course of the dispute between the officers and Keys
during the period 1715-1736 the former referred to this change
as foUows : " And the said Earl's noble ancestors and his family,
being reduced, by ... . loyalty and adherence to the CrowTi,
to great difficulties and distress in the time of the said rebellion,
the said Keys, taking advantage thereof, first began to assume
the title of representatives of the people, but have always, not-
withstanding, from time to time ever since been called together
and dismissed, placed and displaced, by the Lord of the Isle or
his Lieutenant, as they saw cause. And none of the said Keys
have since the said rebellion been chosen by the inhabitants,
but have been chosen or appointed by one another, without
any power or foundation of law .... And, therefore it
is impossible the said 24 Keys should be the representatives of
the people, and that it is an absurdity to call themselves so,
neither have they, till the time of the said rebellion, ever pre-
sumed to look upon themselves as afforesaid" (Ecclesiastical
Records). \ Lib. Scacc.
774
HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
After 1660 the
position of the
Keys again
degraded.
in the same year (1659) the governor ordered that :
"Whereas there are three of the 24 Keys awanting
to make up the full body, and forasmuch as the rest
of the 24 Keys did nominate and recommend in
Court . . . the said three ... I have in the Lord's
behalf according to the Statute (1422) accepted of
the said three persons and do give my approbation
thereto."* But, v\^ith the Restoration, despotism
resumed its sway, since we find that, in 1662, seven
of the Keys were "removed by the Lord's order in
that behalf, f and others admitted and sworn in their
places," because they were considered to be favour-
able to William Christian {Illiam Dhone), then on
his trial. In 1668, Charles, Earl of Derby, because a
majority of the Keys did not agree with his views about
the tenure of the land I and had endeavoured "to
establish a right to their ffarmes," * referred to their
behaviour as " unquiet and factious," and ordered
that, unless they conformed, they " shall be put out
of all places of office and command in the Island." *
The recalcitrants, thirteen in number, consequently
submitted to the earl's terms.
In 1669, a question with regard to customs was
referred to them, in conjunction with the deemsters, §
but, in 1677, " the Book of Rates of the year
1648 "il was "revised, rectified, and inlarged " IT
* Lib. Scacc.
f See pp. 378-9.
I See p. 885. § Statutes, vol. i. p. 39.
II This book has not been preserved.
1715
H Knowsley Muniments, -^
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 775
by the governor and officers and ratified by Lord
Derby, without the Keys being consulted, and
the same course was taken in 1692.*
Notwithstanding all this, however, they seem, by f^l^l^^^ ^^
the end of the century, to have recovered some of cenufry.°^ *'"'
their lost ground, seeing that they were then referred
to as " the representatives of the country," t who,
" in conjunction with the Governor and officers,
make the legislative power of the nation," f and we
are told that " no new law can be made, or custom
introduced or abohshed " without their consent and
that of the Deemsters, t Some reflex, perhaps, of
the Kevolution of 1688 had reached Man. In 1697, KbitmS'"'"
the Keys protested against the " arbitrary actions of
the governor and officers" in a petition to Lord
Derby, in which they set forth a number of other
grievances, the chief of which were the prohibition
of the exportation of goods without their consent,
the seizure of estates for the nonpayment of rent,
the charging the people with the cost of re-stocking
and repairing their firearms, and the charging the
Keys with duties and services from which they
were exempted by the customary law, the order
compelling the inhabitants to erect chimneys, and
the heavy fines for non-compliance with it, and,
-'■ Statutes, vol. i. p. 225.
f Sacheverell (Manx Soc, vol. i. p. 73). He also speaks of
them as "the Grand Inquest of the nation" and "the last
traverse in all cases of common law, being present at all trials
for life" (Ibid.).
I Bishop Gibson in Camden's Britannia (Manx Soc, vol.
xviii. p. 28j.
776
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Lord Derby's
reply and the
result.
A further
lietition.
finally, the refusal of the officers to place these
complaints on record and their committal of two
of their number to prison for insisting that this
should be done.* In reply to this petition, Lord
Derby ordered that the question of the prohibition
of exportation should be considered by the Keys and
Council together, and that the Keys were to " in-
quire into and examine the irregularitys committed
by any of the officers against the laws and customs
of the Isle." f He, at the same time, promised
that, when he came to the island, he would examine
and redress the question of the Book of Eates, if he
saw cause. It may be imagined with what joy the
Keys took up the Commission granted to them.
They promptly presented a report amplifying their
former statement of grievances. Nothing, how-
ever, seems to have been done to remedy these
grievances. Probably the land question stood in
the way. When it was settled in 1704, the Keys
at once presented a petition to Earl William's
successor. Earl James, to the effect that "it may
be enacted as a Law, that no orders of public
concern touching either the Government of the
Island or the punishing and fining of your people
which are not warranted by the Laws already made,
or to be made, may be of any force, or be put in
execution, but be declared void and of no effect, till
the same receive the concurrence and allowance of
your people's representatives, the 24 Keys ; that so
Knowsley Muniments,
1719
t lUd.,
5T
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 777
all umbrage of arbitrary Government may be re-
moved, and your people have knowledge of the
rule of their obedience,"* and they asked him to
order " that no Officer or Officers . . . shall here-
after award, impose, or inflict any paine, penalty,
fine or imprisonment, or other corporall punish-
ment upon any of the inhabitants . . . untill such
offender be thereof convicted by the verdict of six
lawful men returned by the Coroner of the Sheading
where such offence was committed, and then such
only as by the known Laws and Customes of the
said Isle are already or shall hereafter by Act of
Tynwald be ordained or ascertained." t
They again referred to the customs question,
stating that the arbitrary method of fixing the
duties would " inavitably and too apparently ruin
the Island,"* and asking that they should, in future,
be settled with the "concurrence and assent" of
the 24 Keys, as well as of the Council. "This,"
they pleaded, "is agreeable to the constitution of
all well governed commonwealths, and will secure
your people and their possessions from any arbitrary
government and oppression."* They quoted instances
when "the advice of the 24 Keys was required and
obtained as necessary and lawfull " ; and summed
up the petition by asking " that all orders, pre-
cepts, and comands contrary to or not warranted
by the known laws . . . before be ever hereafter
* Lib. Scacc.
f They also asked that any officer who had acted as stated
should be dismissed from his otlicc.
778 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
adjudged holden and taken to be void and of none
effect," * concluding with the following words :
" Great and Good Lord, these are at present the
chiefest matters we have under consideration to
make our settlement lasting and happy. . . . We
do not seek to diminish your Lordship's customs,
encroach on your prerogative, or disrespect the
orders of the civil power ; but to prevent the ill
consequences of arbitrary government." * How this
petition was received by the lord does not appear ;
Its only result, all we kuow is that it led to no result, except that
the right of the Keys to take part in legislation
concerning the customs was recognized by the Acts
of 1711 and 1714. +
On all the other questions in dispute the struggle
between the Keys and the governor and officers
between the coutinued. In 1715, the Keys having objected to
Key??nm5. being treated like an ordinary jury, the governor
(Home) addressed them an imperious letter I in
which he required them to give a verdict in writing
on the acquittal of a felon by the grand jury and
threatened that, if they did not do so, he would
imprison them. The Keys declined and "returned
their opinion viva voce accordingly as they had ever
in such cases done." § Finally, however, they,
-■■ Lib, Scacc.
f Though, till 1737, it was practically ignored (see Statutes,
vol. i. pp. 187-9 and 196-7). t Appendix B.
§ Lib. Scaec. (Petition to earl, in 1719.) The governor
produced precedents showing that, if the Keys found the Jury
not to have proceeded according to evidence, their verdict was
given in writing, but, when the Keys and Jury agreed, the
verdict was always viva voce.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 779
" upon hopes and assurances given them by the
Bishop and Deempster that the same would not
again be required in such cases,"* gave way and
dehvered a written verdict. But, as the form in
which they had done so did not please the governor,
he imprisoned them in Castle Eushen, a proceeding
" which was never known before," * and fined them
20 shillings each. They, at first, refused to pay this
fine,t but ultimately did so under protest. Such
collisions were not calculated to diminish the state
of tension between the governor and the Keys, and
it was aggravated, as we have seen, by the difference
in their views on ecclesiastical matters.!
In 1719, "John Stevenson, one of the 24 Keys,
... in behalf of himself, the rest of his brethren,
and the people,"* brought a petition to Knowsley to
the earl, with whom, at the time, were several mem-
bers of his Manx Council. In this petition they
reminded him that he had not fulfilled his promise,
which he had made in 1704, that the people should
have laws to secure their " Liberty s and Propertys " ; *
they renewed the complaint against the officers for
illegal punishments by "fines and imprisonments," *
especially of "the Keys and common Jurys after
being agreed, and have delivered their Judgments
and verdicts ;"* and the officers were also accused of
taking excessive fees and of extorting from the
people ' ' more money for the custome of goods
imported and exported than by the Antient Book
* Lib. Scacc. f It was remitted in 1719.
I See pp. 492-503.
780
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The earl
promises
concessions,
but they were
not granted.
of Eates or any Law since are due and pay-
able." *
Stevenson suggested that the earl, with his assist-
ance and that of the members of his Council then
at Knowsley, might frame laws for redressing the
people's grievance and have them confirmed by Act
of Tynwald, and he concluded with a threat that, if
their requests were not granted, the Keys would
" seek such relief e . . . either before his Majesty
in Councell, or in the Parliament as they shall be
advised."* The earl declined to make any imme-
diate reply to this petition, but he afterwards caused
a letter f to be written, in which he ordered the
governor, Council, officers, deemsters, and 24 Keys
to meet and consider the questions referred to in it.
In this letter he admitted that, as regards some of
them at least, he saw "just cause of complaint";
he consented to the book of rates remaining as in
1692, and he stated that "if at anytime hereafter
there shall be occasion to revise, or make any
further additions or alterations" in this book it
should " be done by the consent and agreement
of the Governor, Council, officers, Deemsters, and
24 Keys,"* he reserving his "prerogative of con-
firming and allowing or disallowing the same." He
also ordained that the markets should be free to
every one "to buy all manner of goods without any
lett, stopp or molestation." * But none of these
* Lib. Scacc.
f From a comparison of handwriting this seems to have
been written by Daniel McYlrea, Junior, attorney-general.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 781
promises were kept. In consequence of the earl's And the
order the Tynwald Court met at Castle Kushen, the Keys with
the Council
when the governor made certain proposals which Pfl°ct"'^"°
the Keys declined to consider " unless severall other
proposalls drawn up by themselves were at the same
time taken into consideration and passed into
Lawes," * but this the governor and Council refused
to do. In December, however, there was another
meeting, when the following proposals, among
others, were agreed to: (I) "All orders, precepts
or comands contrary to, or not warranted by the
known laws and customs of the Isle ... to be
illegal and of none effect." (2) " For the better
preventing of all injustice ... if any of the officers.
Deemsters, or 24 Keys . . . shall at any time take
or receive ... a bribe or corruption to hinder or
delay justice," they are to be fined and " to be for ever
thereafter disabled and uncapable to have or hold
any office whatsoever." * But, though the Council
had agreed to these reforms, they refused, for some
unknown reason, to sign the Bill t embodying them.
The quarrel between the governor and Council, on
one side, and the Keys, on the other, consequently
became more bitter than ever.
It would appear that John Stevenson, acting in
accordance with the instructions of the rest of the
Keys, had again written to the earl " to acquaint
him with several matters of high importance." I
We are not informed what these were, but they
* Lib. Scacc. | This Bill may be seen in the Rolls Office.
I Lib. Scacc, or Keble, p. 595.
VOL. II. 51
782 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
probably related to arbitrary acts on the part of
the governor and Council. In consequence of this
letter, Stevenson was " called to a public account
and tried as a criminal," presumably by the governor
and Council only, since the majority of the Keys
tried him on their own account and " publickly
acquitted him." * So the question seems to have
rested till the spring of 1723, when the Keys dis-
covered that the governor and Council had " taken
upon them, after a private and unheard-of manner,
to arraign and censure not only the said gentleman
(Stevenson) but us, the legal judges, who acquitted
him."* In the interval between 1720 and 1723
differences on ecclesiastical questions had increased
the feeling of the bitterness between the con-
tending parties, and so the Keys, despairing of
Thesimimai-y any rcdrcss from the earl, drew up "a Summary
of Grievances -^ ' l j
of 1723. q£ Grievances ... in Church and State," which
they empowered a committee f to lay before " his
Majesty in Council or elsewhere, as they shall
be advised." * From a constitutional point of
view the most important of the charges thus
made against the governor and officers is that of
illegal imprisonment ; and against the governor,
that he had arbitrarily excluded some of the Keys
from giving their votes I " before they were con-
'■' Bolul.
f John Stevenson, Thomas Corlett, and Thomas Christian,
three of their own members, and " John Christian of Unerigg."
I They also renewed their complaints about being confined
like an ordinary jury, and about the illegal customs charges.
The complaints were, in effect, the same as in 1719.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 783
victed of any crime, or dismissed by the consent
of the body, without which they cannot be legally
excluded or expelled," * and that he had neglected
to call them in with the deemsters, " to explain the
law in high and doubtful points." The petition
ended with the following words: "All which and
many other gross and daring invasions on our laws,
liberties and properties, so deeply affect us, as the
same do apparently tend to the ruin and subversion
of the whole constitution." * This appeal, which the Failure of
^ ^ the appeal.
committee, exercising their discretion, thought it
wise to lay in the first place before the earl, was
unsuccessful, and another appeal presented to him
three months later was likewise disregarded. + A short
time after this, there seems to have been an appeal
to the Crown, concerning which, in December, 1725,
Edward Stanley wrote to Lord Derby: "The affair a snai appeal
'' -^ to Lord Derby
of the Island has been mentioned to Sir Kobert fauJ^^^^^°
Walpoole and next Tuesday they meet to fix on
the heads of what concession your Lordshipp is
to make." I Notwithstanding this, nothing was
done, for we find that, in 1726, " The Governor
and ofHcers having set up a new authority of their
own, without any law or practice to countenance
it, and having in a manner taken away the juris-
diction of the 24, by trying men for crimes which
■'•' Lih. Scacc. A copy of it is to be found in Kcblc, pp.
595-599.
f Loose Papers. Knowsley. The first portion was presented
on the 20th of August, 1725, and the second by " John Steven-
son, John Murrey, and Anthony Halsall, and authorised by the
24 Keys." I Ibid.
784 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
affect their lives," * certain members of the Keys
and others subscribed £150 so that they might
" obtain redress from his Majesty or otherways." *
Before doing this, however, they decided to make
a last appeal to the earl, in which they repeated
the complaints of 1719 and 1723 and prayed that
he would take into consideration their " most miser-
able state and condition" and grant them "such
relief as may hereafter effectually discourage the
ofUcers of this isle in these and all other such
arbitrary practices and oppressions, and secure"
to the people " for the future the peaceable enjoy-
ment of their religion, lives, laws, liberties and
properties." t No answer was vouchsafed I to
- BotuL, 1726. f Ibid., 1727.
I In April, 1727, the earl received a remonstrance from the
governor and officers accusing the Keys of subverting the
constitution and settmg aside the execution of their laws.
It is interesting to note that they admitted that " the Com-
mons of the Island had by the ancient Laws and Constitution
a right to choose their own representatives at the making of
any new laws." After stating this, they went on to show the
unconstitutional character of the self-election of the Keys.
(Lib. Cancell, April 13, 1727; Keble, pp. 697-702.) At the
same time they forwarded an address of " the principall
inhabitants of the Isle of Man " against the petition of the
Keys which the address described as " a libel . . . called the
gi'ievances of your people, who with hearts full of joy thanli
heaven they arc only devised by them (the Keys), and are not
yet felt nor can be feared by us whilst you employ our present
excellent Governor Horton " (Knowsley Muniments, 1723).
There is, however, good reason for supposing that the Keys
really represented the feelings of the people and that the
petition just quoted was only signed by those who were
compelled to do so.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 785
this. The Keys then forwarded their petition *
to the king, by whom it was referred to the earl,
who asked the governor, officers, and deemsters to
report upon it. In doing so they dwelt upon the
benefits which the island had received by the Act of
Settlement, and remarked that, instead of the people
being duly grateful, they, encouraged by the clergy,
considered themselves " independent of the said
Earl as to their estates." t They ridiculed the
claim of the Keys to be called the " Kepresenta-
tives of the people," since they had "been called
together and dismissed, placed and displaced by
the Lord of the Isle or his Lieutenant as they
saw cause." i
This report, however, does not appear to have
been presented to the Privy Council, and nothing
more was heard of the Key's petition. AVe only
'■'• Its preamble ran as follows: "Your petitioners are the
representatives ... of at least 20,000 of j'our Majesty's loyal
subjects many of whom have for several years past been
grievously, arbitrarily, and illegally deprived of their liberties,
lined, punished, and imprisoned, and otherwise vexed, harassed,
and oppressed in their persons, and in their estates, rights, and
properties by the late and present governors and officers of the
said isle, appointed by the Eight Honourable James, Earl of
Derby, Lord of Manii." Then, after enumerating their griev-
ances, which were chiefly with reference to ecclesiastical
matters, they proceeded, " Your petitioners with great duty
and patience waited near four years, expecting his Lordship
would find leisure to thhilj of and relieve their crymg oppres-
sions. But the Governor and officers of the said island, seeing
the disappointments which your petitioners had met with, and
not being called to account for their malpractices . . . began
to proceed in a more arbitrary manner (if possible) tlian
hitherto" {EotuL, 1728). f Lib. Scacc.
786 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
Bishop Wilson
and George
Waldron on
the position of
the Keys.
Improvement
in the position
of the Keys
after 1736.
know that the governor summarily removed eleven
of them and placed his own nominees in their
places, with the result that, till the advent of the
new regime in 1736, they were completely under his
control. Some years before the Keys were thus
**pm'ged" we have the views of two contemporary
writers as to their position.
Let us first quote Bishop Wilson, who states that
they represented the Commons of the land, and that
they joined with the Council "in making all new
laws, and with the deemsters in settling and deter-
mining the meaning of the ancient laws and
customs in all difficult cases";* and, as regards
their judicial functions, that they determined cases
of common law by a majority of votes, " also causes
touching titles of inheritance, where inferior juries
have given their verdicts before." f The other,
Waldron, f whose knowledge of their position was
evidently superficial, seems to have been chiefly
struck by the fact that they were more like English
juries than a parliament because their business was
to adjust differences between the people, and because
they were locked in till they gave their verdict. |
With the change of rulers in 1736, the Keys at once
regained their lost constitutional rights, and, indeed,
between that date and 1765, attained a more authori-
tative and independent position than the}' possessed
either before or after that time. They were no
longer imprisoned before delivering their verdict,
'■' Wilson {Manx Soc, vol. xviii. p. 116).
f He wrote in 1726. | Manx Sue, vol. xi. p. 4.
cause
variance
between the
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 787
nor arbitrarily dismissed, nor excluded from voting,
and the practically despotic rule of the governor and
officers at once came to an end. * Moreover, the
right of the Keys to a share in the control of taxation,
and of exports and imports, was expressly recognized
by legislation, it being ordained, in 1737, that " no
order, precept, or comand prohibitting the importa-
tion or exportation of any foreign goods, or any
other goods of the growth, product, or manufacture
of this Isle, shall be granted or made without the
consent of the Governour, Council, Deemsters and
Keyes." f Upon this, the Book of Rates was con-
sented to by them. Between 1736 and 1765, the ouiyoue
•^ ' of variaa
Keys were at variance with the governor on one govlrnor^nd
point only, i.e., as to whether he had the power tcfms!"*"
of compelling them to continue their meetings till
they had concluded the business before them. On
his persisting in doing so, they appealed \ to the
duke, who decided against them, and so they had to
give way, though they continued to maintain their
view of the question. §
Let us now briefly consider the method of election
* For redress of some of the other grievances see p. 422.
•}■ Statutes, vol. i. pp. 223-4. It was also enacted, in 1737,
that anj' one who insulted the Keys when sitting should be
fined or imprisoned.
I In their appeal, in 1752, they charged the governor and
ofl&cers with " divers illegal mcroachments and invasions as
well upon the Rights, Prerogatives, and Jurisdictions of your
Grace as upon the Eights, Libertys and Priviledges of the
People of this Island," but they did not specify what these
were (Loose Papers. Knowsley).
§ See p. 824.
788
HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Method of
electing the
Keys.
Then-
quahfications
and privileges.
to the Keys, the qualifications of members and their
powers and privileges as they existed just before the
Revestment.
When a vacancy occurred, the Keys elected two
persons to be presented to the governor by their
speaker. The governor chose one of them, but,
seeing that he almost invariably nominated the
candidate who had received the greater number of
votes, the Keys practically filled the post as they
wished. * The Keys had to be twenty-one years of
age and to hold landed property of the value of £3
per annum. They are summoned for legislative
purposes whenever the governor thinks proper,
but there were questions connected with his
authority over the continuance of their sessions
which remained unsettled during this period, f
Their privileges are to elect their speaker, subject
to the approval of the governor, to regulate their
own sittings when once assembled, I to reject any
Bill and to be exempt from all services to the lord. §
They can refuse to sign any or pass any law or
order which they have not an opportunity of debating
apart from the Council ; and, when any resolution
is passed in the Tynwald Court, it is competent
for any member of the Keys to require that it should
■•'• No provision was made in the event of the governor
declining to accept either candidate. This, however, does not
seem to have ever happened. See Wilson {Manx Soc, vol.
xviii. p. 116). t See pp. 824-5.
I This, as we have seen, was disputed.
§ This last is not the case now. They had also formerly a
right to shoot game without a licence.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 789
be debated by them in their own House before they
came to any decision upon it. They have no exclu-
sive privilege with regard to money Bills. * Each
" Key " held office for life, unless he chose to
resign and the governor accepted such resignation,
or unless he was expelled or accepted an ofdce which
entitled him to a seat in the Council.
There had undoubtedly been some improvement laws.
in the condition of Manx law between 1266 and
1405. Trial by ordeal, for instance, had been
abolished, as we see from the fact that, when
Hawley M'Issacke was arraigned for rising against
the governor in 1422, the accused " put him to the
Country," f i.e., he expressed himself ready to
submit to a verdict. I Further, the decision given
by Tynwald in 1429 shows that trial by combat had
become obsolete. § At the beginning of this period, ^^j^^°|f^%2CG
too, we find the system of " enquests " or " inquests " ^^'^ ^^°^-
in full operation. The members of these " enquests"
were summoned to give evidence, not to hear it.
They were supposed to know all about the facts to
'■'■'• In his examination before the commissioners in 1791, John
Quayle, clerk of the rolls, said that he had heard that the
Keys claimed it as their privilege to originate money Bills.
But this was contradicted by other witnesses and there seems
to be no proof of it. "Constitution" {Manx Soc, vol. xxxi.
p. 145). j Statutes, vol. i. p. 21.
I In 1215, the Lateran Council forbade its clergy to join in
the rite of ordeal, and soon after that it disappeared in England
as a legal process. In the Isle of Man ordeal by water was
applied to witches till well into the seventeenth century.
§ Statutes, vol. i. p. 22. It was not abolished in England
till 1819, though the assizes of Henry II. had substituted
something like trial by jury for it.
790 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OP MAN
which they had to testify, whether they referred to
the ancient customary laws, to the crimes committed
by their neighbours, or to the properties held by them.
STbe°^°'^''* It was not till the beginning of the seventeenth
"enquests" ccntury that they developed, under the influence of
English methods, into juries who listened to wit-
nesses and gave a verdict according to the evidence,
and that the grand jury that indicts and the petty
jury that tries came into existence. Nor was it till
1610 that an effort was made to abolish the practice
of swearing away a charge with compurgators. *
No written Between 1405 and the beginning of the seventeenth
records or laws " "
till after 1405. ccntury the Manx customary laws were committed
to writing, but scarcely any attempt was made to
introduce new laws, the main object of the insular
Government being, apparently, to place the " Con-
stitution of Old Time " t on record. These Records
are said to have been begun by Michael Blundell, I
the Stanleys' first governor of Man, but, if this were
so, no trace of his labours remained, even as early
as 1418. It was ordered, in 1422, that all things
were to be written " plaine with full letters," §
that every plea was to be written out of the " Court
Rolls" and put on record, and that "all doubtful
points " should be " registred upp," || but we do not
know whether these orders were faithfully carried
out or not, because, unfortunately, till 1580, all the
* Statutes, vol. i. p. 72. This practice continued in the Isle
of Man till towards the middle of the seventeenth century,
and in England it was not legally abolished till 1833.
f Ibid., p. 3. I Ibid., p. 11.
§ Ibid., vol. i. p. 18. II Ibid., p. 12.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 791
laws and proceedings of the various courts were
inscribed in miscellaneous rolls — Libri Rotidorum —
the greater number of which have been lost, and it
was not till after that date that they were entered
in separate books, now generally known as "The
Records." * The more important of these books
are as follows : —
(1) Insular Statutes, t
(2) Libri Cancellarii, containing actions, decrees,
&c., of the Chancery Court.
(3) Libri Placitorum, or Books of Common Pleas,
containing actions in that court, and the names of
its officers, juries, inquests, &c.
(4) Libri Scaccarii, or Exchequer Books, con-
taining judgments on breaches of penal statutes,
appeals from the Spiritual Court, &c.
(5) Libri Jiiramentorum, or Books of Oaths taken
by the various officials on receiving their appoint-
ments, also of the Keys. 1§
(6) Libri Irrotulamentorum, containing the com-
missions of these officials.
After the beginning of the seventeenth century,
legislation, in the modern sense of the word, gradu-
ally began. But neither the written laws, nor the
■■' For a description of the Manorial Eecords see pp. 901-2.
f These do not appear in a distinct book till a comparatively
late date. The earliest are found in (2) and then in (5).
I In loose sheets.
§ For copy of this oath see Appendix C.
II The commissioners, in 1791, remarked that the laws and
ordinances before this time appear " to have been prescribed by
792 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
legislation till '^9'^io'Lis ]udgments on legal points which had been
17th century, recorded, did away with the "breast " laws, which,
notwithstanding orders to commit them to writing
in 1636 and 1667, still remained oral till about 1690.
At that period there appeared an "Abstract of the
Laws, Customs, and Ordinances of the Isle of Man,"*
which its author, the learned and able Deemster
Parr, also described as "an abridgment of the estab-
lished and practical Laws." By means of its
embodiment in this book Manx common law became
more stable and reliable, being less dependent on the
caprices or memories of the deemsters. There was,
however, still room for improvement, and therefore,
in 1722, Lord Derby directed the governor to have
" the laws and presidents (.sic) well-digested and put
into good form and order," t but, up to the very end
of this period, and even after it, the deemsters are
accused of deciding cases by " breast " laws.
The customary The Manx customary criminal code I was a very
criminal code •' ''
ssvexe^^ severe one. Thus, thefts of the value of sixpence
or more were accounted felony, and were punished
by death. The result of this was that juries were
such different powers, or combinations of power, that, as pre-
cedents of the exercise of Legislative authority, they can have
but little weight." (Report, p. 67).
* It has, unfortunately, never been published. There is a copy
of it in the Law Library in Douglas, and some of the Manx
advocates have taken copies from this for their own use. In it
are to be found all the more important customary laws, the
various legal decisions given from time to time, and a number
of " breast " laws as well as of the Statutes.
I This was never done (Knowsley Papers).
I See Parr's MS.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 793
wont to find that the value of the goods stolen did
not amount to that sum. With a view to putting
a stop to this practice, it was enacted, in 1629, that
all sheep-stealing and " stealing and cutting of bee-
hives in gardens," whatever the value of the goods
stolen, was felony, and that various other thefts of
the same kind, but apparently considered as being
of a less serious nature, were also felony, if above
the value of sixpence, while for thefts below that
value the offenders were to be whipped " or set upon
a wooden horse." * To ensure convictions on such
charges " the most sufficient men in the Parishes,"*
i.e., the men of most substance, were to be chosen as
jurors. Such sanguinary legislation would naturally
become almost a dead letter, and that it was
so is shown by the paucity of the death sentences
recorded. An important change in Manx law was The Bin of
, . , , , ® Bights of 1737.
brought about by the statutes of 1737, which have
been called the Manx "Bill of Eights." By them
accused persons were assured of the right of trial
by jury in all cases. Traverses were ordered to be
heard within six months after the verdict. All
questions of title to land were directed to be tried
by Common Law and by sheading juries, not in
Chancery as before, and no sequestration could be
laid upon land, Szc, except in extraordinary cases,
and, even then, not without the consent of the
Tynwald Court, t As regards the administration of The prompt
. administration
the laws, so high an authority as Coke commended ofihciaw
^ "^ commended.
it in the highest terms for its promptitude and
=*• Statutes, vol. i. p. 82. f Ibid., vol. i. p. 220.
794
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
cheapness,* and his opinion was supported by that
of Sacheverell, who writes that "the ease of the
Government, and every man's interest, draws all
suits to as speedy a conclusion as possible."! A
little later, the state of things in this respect seems
not to have been so satisfactory, for we find the
Keys, between 1704 and 1730, accusing the governor
and officers of administering the laws in an arbitrary
manner. About 1720, advocates first appeared in
Manx law courts, they becoming necessary chiefly
on account of the large influx of strangers, who
were unacquainted with the laws and language, t
Lawsuits, however, still continued to be determined
" without much charges." +
§ 2. Fro7?i 1765-1900.
The
Constitution
practically
unchanged
at the
Revestment.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION SINCE THE REVESTMENT.
Before the Eevestment the Constitution had
already assumed a definite form,§ so far as regards
the three governing authorities — the Sovereign, the
Governor and Council, and the Keys— and their
mutual relations, and that event made no changes
in it, except by transferring the regal rights of the
•''- " But now let us come to their laws and jurisdiction . . . the
like whereof we find not in any place ... all controversies they
determine without process, pleading, writing, or any charge or
expense at all. Gell (Manx Soc, vol. xii. p. 155). (From
" Coke's Institutes of the Laws of England," cap. 69.)
j Ibid., vol. i. p. 7.
I Wilson {Manx Soc, vol. xviil. p. 117).
§ As explained in the last chapter.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 795
lord to the English Sovereign. The lord continued,
however, to retain his manorial rights, including the
unique power, for a subject, of the patronage of the
bishopric, as well as of most of the livings, and it
was not till between 1825 and 1829 that these last
remaining vestiges of the feudal dominion were
extinguished, and the king of England acquired the
whole of the privileges which were anciently con-
nected with the lordship of the island. We will
now trace the main constitutional changes which
have taken place since 1765.
The position of the governor* continued to be
much the same as before the Revestment till after
the constitutional changes of 1866. In consequence The rosiuon of
" -^ the governor.
of these changes, and of the force of character and
administrative ability of two able men. Loch and
Walpole, who were governors for a period of thirty-
one years, t the governors have come to perform
many more public duties than formerly. Thus,
after 1866, the governor had a substantial revenue
to dispose of ; its management, subject to the
approval of the Tynwald Court and the control of
the Treasury, was entrusted to him, and he claimed
that no motion involving expenditure could be made
without his sanction, i.e., that he alone had the
power of initiating all motions concerning the ex-
penditure of the revenue.! To sum up the situation
* For the exceptional period between 1793 and 1826 see
Book IV. ch. i. \ From 1863 to 1884.
\ It is clear that such a power, which is analogous to that of
the English Chancellor of the Exchequer, must almost neces-
sarily be confided to the governor.
796 HISTORY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
— the governor is the supreme executive authority,*
and he shares the control of the legislative and
administrative functions, including the management
of the revenue and the control of its surplus, with
the Tynwald Court, both being subject to the super-
vision of the English Government ; he has, also, the
power of veto as regards the disposal of the surplus
revenue t and the nature of proposed harbour works,!
and his signature is necessary to the validity of all
Acts. It has been the practice for him to act as
Chancellor of the Exchequer and to initiate all
questions concerning the raising or expenditure of
public funds. § On the whole, if the powers of the
governor before the Revestment and at the present
day be compared, it will be admitted that, though
'■' As representative of the Sovereign : " The supreme execu-
tive power of this kingdom is vested by our law in a single
person, the king or queen " (Stephen's Commentaries, 7th
edit. vol. ii. p. 395).
f " The surplus, if any, of the duties of customs of the Isle
of Man, after deducting the sums hereinbefore directed or
authorised to be paid or set aside thereout, or charged thereon,
shall be applied for such public purposes of the Isle of Man,
to be approved by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's
Treasury, as the Court of Tynwald shall from time to time
determine, the Lieutenant-Governor having a veto upon such
decision " (" Isle of Man Customs, Harbours, and Public
Purposes Act, 1866." 29 Vic. c. 23).
l It shall be lawful for the Court of Tynwald to determine
what improvements [in harbours] shall be undertaken ; the
Lieutenant-Governor having a veto upon such decision. (Ibid.,
p. 201).
§ This is rendered necessary by the fact that there arc no
officers corresponding to responsible ministers or to Colonial
Secretaries of Crown Colonies.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 797
emploj^ed on more numerous objects, they are dis-
tinctly smaller, or, perhaps, we should say, less
likely to be exercised, now than formerly. This is
partly due to the fact that the modern governor is
subject to the control of an ever active and alert
department of the English Government, while his
predecessor was controlled only by a lord who did not,
as a rule, interfere with his management of insular
affairs, and partly also to the greatly increased force
of public opinion, and to the argus eye of the Press.
A Governor Home, just as much as a Bishop
Wilson, would be an impossibility in these days.
Although Walpole in one passage speaks of the
" almost autocratic authority " * of the governor,
he fully recognizes that it is subject to important
limitations. He admits that "in practice, a Gover-
nor thrown into constant communication with the
people, who approach him on every kind of business,
and periodically confronted, not with his Council
alone, but with the two branches of the Legislature
in Tynwald, necessarily learns to mould his views to
the people's views, and to give shape and effect to
their wishes." t
The office of comptroller was done away with in
1765, his place as manager of the land revenue being
taken by an oflicial, who, till 182G, was called the
duke's agent, and, after that date, the Crown agent The crown
receiver aud
or Crown receiver. An official, called the seneschal, seneschal,
was appointed in 17G5 to preside over the duke's
^■- Land of Home Rule, p. 279.
j Ihicl, pp. 279-80.
VOL. II. 52
798
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The clerk of
the rolls.
The receiver-
general.
manorial courts. After 1826, he becarae a Crown
official.*
The clerk of the rolls continued to perform much
the same duties as before. He became a judge of
the High Court in 1883, and was given charge of
the Chancery Division.
The receiver, called "receiver-general and col-
lector " between 1765 and 1832, and, since then,
receiver-general onlj^ had, after 1765, no land
revenues to collect. He shared the work of collect-
ing the customs duties and port dues with the
water-bailiff till 1832, when he was superseded by
the appointment of a collector, who was taken from
among the members of the English customs service.
It would seem that, between 1832 and 1835, this
official performed no duties t whatever, but, in the
latter year, he was constituted Chairman of the
Harbour Board, a body which was at that time
appointed by the English Government, t Till 1791,
he was deprived of his seat in the Council on the
ground that he was not appointed by patent under
any of the royal seals, but he was then, on the
representation of the commissioners, restored to it.
* After 1826, the offices of seneschal and Crown receiver
were usually held by the same individual, he, in the latter
capacity, collecting the manorial, mine, and other Crown rents
as the agent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's " Woods,
Forests and Land Revenues," who have the sole management
of the Crown property and revenue in the island.
f His title of " receiver-general ' was continued, though he
received nothing but his salary.
I See p. 799.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 799
He did not, however, take advantage of this privilege
till 1813.*
Between 1832 and 1872 he did not sit in the
Council, though there seems to have been nothing
to prevent his doing so. In 1872, when the appoint-
ment of the Harbour Board was vested in the
governor, subject to the approval of Tynwald, he
resumed his seat.f
The water-bailiff seems also to have been con- water-baiuff.
tinned to be called "collector" between 1765 and
1791, during which period he was deprived of his
seat in the Council for the same reason as the
receiver-general. After that date, except between
1852 and 18G6, when he held inquests of deaths, he
exercised his functions as "Admiralty" judge only,
and was restored to the Council, though it is not
recorded that he sat in it till 1819.:^ He continued
to be a member of that body till 1885, when his
office was done away with.
The attorney-general remained as before, and, as g^neraf and
regards the deemsters, the sole change was a tern- '^'^'^"^s*"'^-
porary one, there being only one of them between
1777 and 1793. §
A new office, that of clerk to the Council, was emmdi'**^^
created shortly after the Eevestment, and, in 18G7,
a treasurer was appointed. These offices, with that
- Lib. Jurat. f By 35 and 36 Vic. c. 23.
I Lib. Jurat. The offices of receiver-general and water-bailiff
were occasionally held by the same individual.
§ It should, however, be noted that, since 1765, the words
expressing that their appointments are " during pleasure " have
been omitted from their commissions.
800 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
of governor's secretarj', are at present held by one
person. In 1777, the office of captain of the towns
was abolished, its "civil" duties being transferred
High-bailiffs, to high-bailiffs, who, in 1857, also became presidents
of the licensing courts in their districts.* In 1866,
the duty of taking inquests of deaths was transferred
to them. After 1860, their powers as to ordering the
repairs of streets, removal of nuisances, &c., were
taken over by popularly elected bodies.!
The coroners, lockmen, and moars remained as
before, except that, after 1852, the coroners no longer
took inquests of deaths.
The runners have been dispensed with.
Changes in the 'Wq havc now to consider the changes which the
courts of "
justice. Courts of Justice have undergone since the passage
of the Revesting Act. By that Act, the judicial
authority of the lord being abolished, the Court of
the King in Council, or the Privy Council, became
the immediate, as well as the last, court of appeal
from the insular jurisdictions. The manorial courts
were necessarily reserved to the Duke of Atholl, as
being lord of the manor, and were, in common with
the baron courts, called " Courts Baron," the books
and enrolments belonging to them being separated
from those of the other courts and delivered to the
seneschal, who presided over them. In 1777, their
civil jurisdiction, which had for some time past been
obsolete, was abolished. To all the other changes,
as they are more interesting to the lawyer than to
* Statutes, vol. ii. p. 423. These courts are more especially
referred to in Book TV. p. 581. f See Book V.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 801
the student of history, we propose referring very
briefly.* By the Acts of 1777 and 1796 provisions
were made for regulating the proceedings of the
superior courts, and the Common Law Courts,
instead of being held only twice a year, were
ordered to be held on specified days once in each
of the four legal terms, both in the northern and
southern districts.!
High-bailiffs' courts were in the former year estab-
lished in the towns, with jurisdiction in matters of
debt, not exceeding 40s. I in value, arising in the
districts alloted to them,§ subject to an appeal to
a deemster.
In 1814, it was enacted that foreign debts should
be recovered in the same way as debts contracted in
the island, and, to facilitate this process, it was
decided that the judgments of the British courts
should be recognized in the Manx courts as evidence
of the debt.li
In 1825, the composition of the Court of General
Gaol Delivery ceased to be identical with that of
'^'- Moreover, the only way to really study them is by reading
the Statute books.
f They are still held on these days.
I This was, at first, in Manx currency = 34s. 3^d. English,
but since been raised to 40s. in English currency.
§ To Douglas : Braddan, Conchan, and Santon ; to Ramsey :
Lonan, Lezayrc, Bride, Andreas, and IBallaugh ; to Peel :
German, Patrick, and Marown ; and to Castletoion : Malcw,
Eushcn, and Arbory.
II This was, probably, no more than declaratory of the
Common Law, as the rule of private international law is that
civihzed nations recognize and give effect to final judgments of
other civilized countries.
802 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
the Tynwald Court, since the Council (as a body) and
the Keys were deprived of their right of sitting in it.*
This court is now composed of the governor (whose
presence is indispensable), the clerk of the rolls, and
the two deemsters (of whom two at least must be
present). It is held " as occasion shall require " by
order of the governor. The jury connected with it
consists of twelve men, and its procedure and rules
of evidence are similar to those in the criminal
courts in England.!
At about the same time as the change in this
court, possibly owing to the influence of the fourth
Duke of Atholl, the deemsters ceased to attend the
Chancery Court, thus leaving the governor and the
clerk of the rolls as its only members.
Such were the chief changes in the Manx judicial
system up to 1825. Between that date and 1883 I
there was no alteration of importance, but by the
passage of the Judicature Act in the latter year the
whole system was transformed. §
i-- See pp. 826-7 for discussion of this.
f We may note that, of the various juries mentioned in our
first constitutional chapter, tlie Great Enquest, the Setting
Quests and Trespass Juries are the only ones which are still
occasionally called upon to exercise their ancient functions.
I Since the passing of the Criminal Code in 1872 all felonies
and misdemeanours, with the exception of offences punishable
by death or by penal servitude for more than ten years, and
certain other specified offences, which are triable only in the
Court of General Gaol Delivery, and misdemeanours punishable
on summary conviction, may be tried cither before the Court
of General Gaol Delivery or before a deemster and a jury of
enquiry, at the discretion of the attorney-general.
§ It makes, however, no change in the right of ultimate
appeal to the Sovereign in Council.
TPIE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 803
Law and equity were fused and the whole legal
and equitable jurisdiction of the various courts was
transferred to the High Court of Justice.
The Courts of General Gaol Delivery, the high-
bailiff's courts and Petty Sessions * were not affected,
nor were the ecclesiastical courts, except as to
certain appeals. But, in the following year, the
jurisdiction of the latter courts over probate and
matrimonial cases was transferred to the temporal
courts, and, in 1885, rules, similar to those made
under the English Judicature Acts for the regulation
of the High Courts, were approved by Tynwald. The
effect of this legislation has been virtually to assimi-
late, with very few exceptions, the Manx practice in
the administration of justice f to the English, t The
procedure, however, is still somewhat antiquated and
cumbrous, and tends to unnecessary delay in the
settlement of suits.
The Legislature.
Up to the time of the Revestment the Tynwald
'■■' These courts do not differ in constitution from the courts
of the same name in England, but there are some shght
variations in their practice.
f It is of interest to observe that the Act by which a person
charged in any criminal proceedings with the commission of
any olfence was made a competent witness at the hearing of
such charge was passed in Man in 1886, thus anticipating
similar legislation in England by twelve years.
\ A comparison of pages 747-758 and 800-3 with Appendix D,
where the changes made by the Act of 1883, &c., are referred to
in some detail, wiU give our readers an outline of the Manx
judicial system at the present day. (For the substance of this
appendix we are indebted to Mr. G. F. Clucas, advocate.)
804 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Court * passed laws concerniDg the government of
the island in all respects and had control over its
^TOdifced b finances, subject to the approval of the lord. After
^cl^^**'''^^^'^ the Revestment, or rather after the passage of the
Mischief Act in the same year, Imperial Parliament
legislated with respect to customs, harbours, and
merchant shipping,! and, in measures of a general
character having reference to the Empire at large, it
occasionally inserted clauses, without the consent of
Tynwaldjt by which penalties in contravention of
those Acts might be enforced in the island. It also
assumed the control of the insular customs duties.
These actions could only be justified on the ground
that Parliament is supreme in all the Crown's
dominions, § a principle which it had proved impos-
sible to enforce with regard to the American Colonies,
but which the Isle of Man was powerless to contest.
Such were the changes which, rather than the
'■'- It is to be understood that the expression " Tynwald
Court" includes the governor, as well as the Council and
Keys. t Manx Soc, vol. xii. pp. 193-4.
I Even before the Eevestment, however, there were excep-
tional instances of such interference. Parliament has never
legislated with, regard to the internal government of the
island.
§ See pp. 738-9 for decision in 1523. It is clear that the right
to tax the Manx people could not have been acquired by the
purchase from the Duke of Atholl, as he had no power to
impose customs duties or to legislate without the consent of
the Tynwald Court. Tlie duke's advocate, when arguing his
case before the Lords, in 1781, said " no lawyer ever did or I
believe ever will dispute that it is competent for the King,
Lords and Commons in Parliament to bind the Isle of Man "
(Pamphlet 1783).
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 805
transference of the sovereignty from the lord to the
King of Great Britain and Ireland, though this was
also not without its effect, modified the Constitution
of the Isle of Man. Its ancient laws and tenures
were, however, not interfered with.
We v^ll now endeavour to show how the position coui-T.^"^^^'^
of the Tynwald Court has been altered since 17G5.
Practically no effort was made for many years to
regain the rights of which it had been deprived, and,
in 1793, it was, for reasons which have been already
explained * placed in a worse plight than before by
the appointment of the fourth Duke of Atholl as
governor. The efforts both of the Keys and of the people
to obtain greater authority for Tynwald, t to which we
have referred in Book IV., chapters i. and ii., were
mainly directed towards securing for it a share of the
control over the insular revenue. But nothing was
accomplished till 1853, and then only a very small
concession was made, though it was admitted in
principle that the Imperial Government should not
impose new taxes, or increase existing taxes, without
the consent of the Manx people. I It was not till
1866 that any real advance was made towards freeing
Tynwald from the bonds that had been imposed
upon it, but then, though the Manx people did not
obtain all that they had hoped for, they very greatly
improved their political position. It is certain that
* Sec ]3ook IV., ch. i.
f It ceased, as wc point out elsewhere, to be a judicial body,
under the title of the Court of General Gaol Delivery, in 1825.
I " Isle of Man (Financial Measures). Return to an order of
the House of Commons, dated March, 1866," p. 2.
806 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
they would not have succeeded in doing so even at
that time, if it had not been for the influence and
assiduity of Governor Loch — a fact which should
never be forgotten by Manxmen. In 1865, the
financial position of the island was discussed by the
governor and the Treasury, with the result that it was
agreed that Tynwald, provided it would consent to a
large increase in the customs duties, should have the
control of the surplus revenue, subject to the veto of
the governor and the Treasury, and after the deduction
of certain payments and charges.* The agreement
between the governor and the Treasury, which was
embodied in a minute, dated the 21st of December,
1865, was laid before the Legislature by the governor
in a private conference on the 15th of March, 1866.
In doing so he remarked that it was a matter of
notoriety that the funds available for public works
were altogether inadequate to meet the increasing
requirements of the country ; he stated that the
Government had, therefore, " consented to an
increase of duties, and that the Island should have
the full benefit of the increase; "t that an Act of
Parliament would be necessary to enable this to
be done; and that "the Government would not
bring in such a measure without first obtaining the
approval of the Insular Legislature."! At the same
time he intimated that these proposals were subject
to the condition (not referred to in the printed
correspondence) that the Keys should consent to
'■'•'■ For a full discussion of this see Book IV., ch. ii., § 4.
f Keys' Journals.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 807
become an elective body. The Keys then retired to
their chamber and passed a resolution to the effect
that they were " prepared to consider any legislative
measure necessary to make their House " an elective
body,"* but that both this question and the other
proposals were of too much consequence to be
determined by them on their exclusive responsibility,
and that therefore they should be " laid before the
country."* On this resolution being reported to the
governor, he rejected the suggestion that the country
should be consulted, and said " that it was strictly a
matter for the Insular Legislature to determine."*
The Keys, meekly acquiescing in this view, again
retired and drew up the following : " The Keys
having this day taken into consideration the impor-
tant communication made to them by His Excellency,
the Lieutenant-Governor, by which they have been
informed that the British Government is prepared to
propose a new scale of Customs Duties for the Isle
of Man, by which scale the duties upon several
articles will be considerably increased, but proposing
also that any increase in the Revenue which may be
the result of the proposed changes shall be for the
benefit of the Island . . . and at the disposal of the
Insular Legislature, — Eesolved that, inasmuch as it
appears to the Keys that the proposed changes would
be for the benefit of the Island, they are prepared to
concm" in a legislative enactment necessary to give
effect to these proposals — the Keys reserving the
right to consider matters of detail."* They also
* Keys' Journals.
808 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OP MAN
expressed their readiness to pass an Act to make the
House an elective body. It is, of course, palpable
that the Kej^s had not had sufficient time fully to
apprehend the important questions so suddenly
brought before them ; indeed, one of their body
said, at a later date, that they had been "driven
into a corner," and that they had given their consent
because they " felt that they could not take upon
themselves the responsibility of rejecting " the pro-
posals, which were " represented as being so
advantageous to the Island," and he naively
confessed that he " did not understand the question
at the time."* When the governor had received
the resolution of the Keys, both branches of the
Legislature met in Tynwald on the same day (the
15th of March). At this meeting the governor made
a lengthy statement to the court which was to the
same eifect as the statement made by him to the
Keys previously, and he suggested that a committee of
the court should be appointed to go into the details
of the financial proposals of the Imperial Government
with him. This suggestion was agreed to by the
Tynwald Court, and the committee, at an adjourned
court on the 20th of March, reported in favour of the
acceptance of the proposals, subject only to a proviso
which, being found unworkable, was afterwards
abandoned.! The Tynwald Court concurred, and
■■'■ E. C. Farrant in debate (in the Keys) of the 22nd of June,
1866 {Manx Sun of June 30, 1866).
I It was that " such a change bo made in the Customs
Consohdation Act as will prohibit the removal to this Island of
duty-paid goods in transit, and make aU duties payable on
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 809
re-appointed the committee to act with the governor
" in watching the progress of the Act of Parhament
necessary to carry out the financial arrangements."*
The committee thereupon proceeded to London.
The Act,f which they were deputed to "watch,"
was passed on the 18th of May. It contained, among
other clauses, the following, which certainly stretched
the powers of the Treasury heyond the limit placed
upon them by the minute to which the Tynwald
Court had assented : " The Commissioners of Her
Majesty's Customs shall apply the duties of customs
collected in the Isle of Man (except the necessary
charges of collecting, recovering, and accounting for
the same, which charges they are hereby authorized
and directed to retain and pay out of the gross
amount collected, notwithstanding the provisions of
the Act of the 17th and 18th of Victoria, chapter 94)
in manner following (that is to say) they shall
thereout pay and defray the necessary expenses
attending the government of the Isle of Man, and
the administration of justice there, and other charges
incurred in the Isle which have heretofore been or
may hereafter he deemed fit and proper charges to be
deducted from and paid out of the duties of customs
collected in the Isle of Man, including so much (if
any) of the services which shall have been voted by
the House of Commons applicable to the Isle of Man
arrival in this Island " (" Isle of Man : Financial IMeasures," p. 22).
An arrangement was come to about this matter at a later date.
(See p. 721).
- Keys' Journals. f 29 Vic. c. 23.
810 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
as the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury
shall from time to time direct : Provided that no
part of the said duties of customs shall be applied for
or towards any of the Navy services, except the
salaries and expenses of the Coast-Guard service of
the Isle of Man, and that no part of the said duties
of customs shall be applied for or towards any
of the Army services, except the charges of the
Volunteeers of the Isle of Man."
Having this Act before them, the Keys met on the
23rd of May and protested that " when on the 15th
of March they agreed to the Fiscal changes lately
introduced into the Island," they "were led to
believe that any surplus revenue which would arise
from the increase of the duties thereby created would
be at the disposal of the insular Legislature." * The
impression on their minds had evidently been that
the Tynwald Court would have control over the
whole surplus after deducting the charges referred to
in the Treasury minute, i.e., that their power would
extend over the whole increase consequent on the
additional duties and therefore over any new charges,
including all increases in the salaries of the officials
that might be necessary. But they perceived that
the clause just quoted gives the Treasury, not
Tynwald, the power to increase those charges, and
only leaves Tynwald the ultimate surplus.! Kecog-
■'• Kej's' Journals.
f This power was, of course, unlimited, and it might, there-
fore, be extended so as to absorb the whole of the surplus,
though it is in the highest degree improbable that this would
ever be done.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 811
nizing the mistake that they had made, they passed
a resolution that " no increase in the salaries payable
to the officials of the Island should be made without
the consent of the House of Keys is first had and
obtained"* — a resolution which, after the Imperial
Parliament had legislated on the question, was
altogether futile. The Tynwald Court met on the
8th of June, when the governor, in reply to the
resolution of the Keys, referred to the clause in ques-
tion, and said that no one could possibly have been
misled, because, when " the question had been raised
on a former occasion in the Tynwald Court, he had
distinctly stated that the Government reserved to
themselves the entire control over the expenditure
for the government of the Island." * He pointed out
that the court had already approved of the Treasury
Minute which entrusted the control of these salaries
to the Imperial Government, and that a committee
of the court had agreed to the Bill founded on that
Minute. But he added that he had suggested to the
Treasury that, "before any permanent increase in
the expenditure was made, the matter should be laid
before the Tynwald Court and that it would then be
open for the Court to make any suggestions it
thought fit."t At the same time he stated that " it
would be for the Government to decide whether they
would adopt these suggestions or not,"t but he
-- Keys' Journals.
I Ibid. We may mention here that the Government sliovtly
after this raised some of the salaries in question without giving
Tynwald an opportunity for making the suggestions referred to.
812 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
assured the court that the Government wished it
"to have the sole control" of the surplus revenue,
and that they would not "interfere" with this
control, " unless in some gross case of misappropria-
tion."* Governor Loch's position was an impreg-
nable one, so that there was nothing left for the
Keys to do but to submit to the situation.! This
may be summarized as follows : The TjTiwald
Court's control of the surplus revenue is subject
to the veto both of the governor and of the Treasury ;
the Imperial Government, after intimating its inten-
tion to Tynwald, fixes the rates of the customs
duties ; and the salaries of the officials and the cost
of government are at the absolute disposal of the
Treasury. Notwithstanding these limitations, how-
ever, the practical result of the negotiations of 1865
and 1866 has been to give Tynwald, if not the sole
control of, at least a substantial share in, the disposal
of the surplus revenue. The Manx people had thus
made a distinct advance towards greater political
freedom, having obtained what may be described as
" Home Rule during pleasure." Since then, more-
over, several modifications, to which we will now
refer, have been made in the direction of giving the
-'• Manx Sun, June 16, 1866,
I Beyond gi-umbling at the supposed laches of the members
of the committee that went to London for not watehmg their in-
terests more carefully. One of their members, William Callister,
remarked, " It just comes to this, that we are to spend the
money just as they [the British Government] tell us, and the
idea that the representatives of the island will have the right to
expend it is all moonshine" {Manx Sun, July 14, 1866).
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 813
insular Legislature greater authority. The Treasury's
power of veto over expenditure, which was occasion-
ally enforced at first, owing to the small amount of
the surplus, has of late years " tended to become
more and more a matter of form."*
In 1872, the Tynwald Court, which, in 186G, had
gained the right to decide, subject to the approval
of the governor and the Treasury, what harbour
works should be undertaken, gained also the control
over the Harbour Board and the power of vetoing
the nomination of its members (except that of the
receiver-general, who is chairman ex-officio), which
is vested in the governor.! In 1878, it was admitted
by the Law Officers of the Crown that the insular
Legislature was competent to pass measures relating
to Church temporalities, even though the Crown was
interested in them.j
In 1886, when attention was called to the fact
that some increases had been made in the salaries of
insular officials without Tynwald being informed of
such increases, the then governor, AValpole, " while
reserving the rights of the Imperial Government
and his successors," gave "a personal undertaking
that he will make no addition to the cost of
- Land of Rome Eule, p. 274. It should, however, be
mentioned that, since this was written (in 1893), some friction
in reference to expenditure has arisen.
f By 35 and 36 Vic. c. 23.
I The insular Legislature consequently passed the "Bishops
Temporalities Act" {Statutes, vol. iv. pp. 514-19). For a dis-
cussion of this question see an able memorandum by Sir James
Gell in Manx Sac, vol. xxxi. pp. 21-32.
VOL. II. 53
814 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
government without first acquainting the Tynwald
Court."* He was, however, careful to say that he
did not ask the concurrence of the Court in the
proposed changes, but merely gave it an opportunity
of objecting to them. At the same time, however,
he gave an undertaking that he would bind himself
** to defer to its decision if the objection is sustained
on a division." * By this he seems to have intended
it to be inferred that, although he could not, for
constitutional reasons, allow Tynwald, in the teeth
of the Act of 1866, to have a voice in the voting of
salaries, he was prepared to give an opportunity for
objection, and, indeed, as far as he was personally
concerned, to go further and defer to the opinion of
the Court.
This course has not been invariably followed by
his successors.
In 1887, a further grievance was removed by
Tynwald being allowed by resolution to " impose,
abolish, or vary" the customs duties, subject to the
approval of Parliament or the Treasury, such change
to take effect immediately and to continue for six
months, and, if Parliament be then sitting, to the
end of the session, provided that the same be not in
* Land of Home Rule, p. 274. In 1880, when the " Burials
Bill " was passed by the Lords, the governor (at the
request of the Tynwald Court) obtained a promise from the
Imperial Government that, in future, no Imperial Act, which
affected the Isle of Man, should be passed without his being
first informed of it. On this condition, Tynwald gave an under-
taking that it would introduce legislation on this question, and
the lale of Man was, thereupon, struck out of the Bill.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 815
the meantime annulled by the passing of an Act of
Parliament, or a Treasury Minute.*
Before this change was made, the intimation to
Tynwald respecting any proposed alterations of the
customs duties had been a mere form, because, as it
was asked to pass a concurrent resolution with that
before Parliament, it was deprived of the opportunity
of giving adequate attention to the important ques-
tions which might be involved.
After the Revestment the Council became a much The council.
more stable body. Its composition, as we have seen,
varied from time to time, especially during the earlier
part of the period. These variations, however, took
place for substantial reasons, and not, as had
previously been the case, at the caprice of the
governor. Thus, between 1777 and 1793, the
ecclesiastical ofticers f were excluded, on the ground
that they were appointed by a subject, the Duke of
Atholl, not by the Crown. During the same period
there was only one deemster, one being then con-
sidered sufficient for the duties of that office, and
the receiver-general and water-bailiff did not sit in
the Council whilst they were customs officers only. |
- 51 Vic. c. 5.
f This refers to the Legislative Council ; they were never
members of the Executive Council. The Keys petitioned the
House of Commons against their restoration to the Council in
1793, remarking that, in their opinion, there could not "exist
a greater solecism in politics than a claim on the part of a
subject to obtrude members on his Sovereign's Council "
(Pamphlet: "A Short History of the Transactions in the Isle
of Man," p. 4).
I Between 1777 and 1793, only such of the officers as had
commissions under the royal seals sat.
816 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The Keys.
Keys become
a close
corporation.
Agitation
against tliem.
In 1825, the Council, as a body, ceased to sit in
the Court of General Gaol Delivery. In recent
times its composition has undergone no change.
Its present members are the bishop, the clerk of the
rolls, the two deemsters, the attorney-general, the
receiver-general, the archdeacon, and the vicar-
general.* In 1882, its meetings were held in public
for the first time.
At the beginning of this period we find the Keys,
whose system of self-election was firmly established,
practically holding their office for life.f They were,
in fact, gradually becoming a close corporation,
recruited solely from a few of the principal insular
families, and, though they called themselves the
representatives of the people, they really represented
no one but themselves. This being so, it is not
surprising to learn that the people took the oppor-
tunity, when the Commission of enquiry came to the
island in 1791, to protest against their system of
self-election and to demand their election by popular
suffrage, t Exception w^as taken, at the same time,
to their sitting in private§ and passing laws of
which the public had no knowledge. || On the
remonstrance of the commissioners, the Keys
■■' The second vicar-general was abolished in 1846. The
vicar-general is now paid out of the Civil List, though appointed
by the bishop, a most anomalous aiTangement.
f The latest instance of a "Ke}'" being removed by a
governor was in 1734.
\ Commissioners' Report. App. (D.) No. 2.
§ Objection had previously been made to this, in 1788. See
Appendix A. Book IV. Ch. I.
II Commissioners' Report, pp. 85-6.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 817
promised to reform their procedure in these respects,*
and again, in 1822, they resolved that " in future
the door of the House of Keys shall be open to
the public during the debates of the House."! In
1823, the speaker, in addressing the House, declared
that they would "legislate on no subject that has
not been previously submitted to the country," that
they would encourage the free communication of
the people's " views and opinions individually and
collectively, by opening the doors of this House
to their petitions and representations, presented
through the medium of a member " and that they
would endeavour to frame their measures, as far as
practicable, "in conformity to their interests, their
feelings, and their judgments."! Nevertheless, the
Keys almost invariably sat in private between 1792
and 1822, and, usually, between 1822 and 1833. In
the latter year the agitation t against them was
resumed, and, in addition to the previous charges,
they were accused of unduly controlling the verdicts
of juries, of levying rates on the public without their
consent, of disposing of these rates without render-
ing any account and of passing injurious laws. A
* In 1793, it was announced in the Manks Mercury that
"The Keys unanimously entertain the laudable resolution of
throwing the House open to the public."
f Manks Advertiser.
X It should be remembered that, till 1864, this agitation was
the work of a minority. Many Manxmen were hostile to any
change, the organ of one party going so far as to say that
"popular election would bo the greatest curse that ever fell on
the island" {Ibid.).
818 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
petition containing these charges, together with a
demand that the people should have the right of
choosing their own representatives, was sent to King
"William IV. by a number of Manxmen. In 1834,
two petitions were presented to Governor Keady
asking him to convene the Legislature for the
purpose of taking into consideration the election of
the House of Keys by the voice of the people.
Nothing having come of these petitions, a further
appeal was, in 1838, made to the governor, to
" form a constituency of the inhabitants of the
Island, for the purpose of electing the members of
the House of Keys," which elicited the following
answer : " Such a change in the Constitution of the
Isle of Man cannot be agreed to ; and I have further
to inform you that, if reform in the House of Keys
is found to be really wanted, a representation
from the Island in Parliament may be the measure
of reform adopted." Notwithstanding this reply, a
similar petition was sent to Her Majesty in the same
year, and again, in 1844, to the House of Commons.
This last petition was referred to the Keys, who, in
January, 1845, described the statements contained
in it as " false and delusive." They admitted " the
general principle of popular election," but denied
that it would be beneficial, as "it would necessarily
entail a considerable expense upon the people, and,
from the isolated position and very limited extent
of the Island, would engender a degree of bitter
animosity among neighbours, highly prejudicial and
strongly contrasted to the hitherto peaceful state of
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 819
society." * They concluded by asking for a Com-
mission of enquiry. In February, the Home
Secretary, Sir G. Grey, wrote to the governor giving
a similar reply to that from Governor Keady with
regard to the demand of the memorialists f for
popular representation, but he added: " The union
of legislative and judicial functions in the House of
Keys, coupled with the fact that a considerable
portion of its members consist of advocates of the
Manx Bar, is open to objection in principle . . . the
absence of any efficient check on the levying of rates
for local or municipal purposes and the alleged
enactment of laws, without the opportunity being
offered for the expression of any public opinion with
regard to them, are grounds of complaint which
seem to merit careful consideration." * He asked
the governor to call the attention of the Keys to
these points, and expressed a hope that the House
would do something to remedy the grievances. The
Keys, after a full consideration of this letter, replied
denying that laws were passed without the know-
ledge of the people and that the union of legislative
and judicial functions in their body was open to
objection in principle. They, however, admitted that
it would be better that advocates, who were members
of the House of Keys, should not sit when appeals
from cases in which they had been employed came
before it. They referred to the fact that it was the
* Mono's Herald.
f The chief leaders of the reformers were Wra. Callister,
Ramsey ; Wm, Kelly, Robert Fargher, and John Duff, Douglas.
820 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Tynwald Court, not the Keys alone, which levied
rates and taxes, and they pointed out that duly
audited accounts of the public expenditure were
deposited in the Rolls Office and were open to
inspection without charge.
Nothing further of any importance as regards the
question of reform took place till 1853,* when the
Secretary to the Treasury (Wilson), in discussing the
proposed fiscal changes with the deputation from the
Keys, hinted that, if the Keys were elected by the
people, the Treasury might make financial con-
cessions to the island, but that, otherwise, it could
In 1853 the not do SO. The two members who composed the
Keys agreed to .
the principle deputation t Conferred with their colleagues on their
of popular •■- °
election. rctum, and went back to London bearing a resolution
of the Keys agreeing to the proposed change, but
they were disappointed to find that Wilson had
no authority to make any such offer. In 1864, the
actions of the House of Keys in refusing increased
powers to the Douglas Town Commissioners and in
prosecuting the proprietors of two insular news-
papers for their comments thereon revived popular
feeling against them. 1 These facts, together with the
* In 1848, Dr. Bowring brought forward a motion concerning
the grievances of the Manx people in the House of Commons,
but, on Sir G. Grey promising that they should be looked into,
he withdrew it.
f George William Dumbell and William Callister (see Keys'
Journals in 1866).
I These were J. C. Fargher, of the Mona's Herald, and James
Brown, of the Isle of Man Times. At the next meeting of the
Keys it was resolved that the comments in these newspapers
were " a contempt of the House and a breach of its privileges,"
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 821
urgent need for more money to continue the insular The reasons
® _ •' ultimately
harbour works, made it clear to the astute Governor bringing about
' their popular
Loch that a change in the constitution of the House *^^''°''^<^°-
was inevitable. He, therefore, when in corres-
pondence with the Treasury, in 1865, about revenue
questions, proposed that the concessions asked for
should only be granted on condition that the Keys
became an elected body.* The Keys, after some
negotiations,! agreed to this, and passed a Bill,
which became law on December 20, 1866, to
render their House elective. In its preamble there
was a declaration that it was " expedient that the
present system of selecting persons to serve as
members in the House of Keys should cease," and
that it was desirable " to provide for the election by
people of property and intelligence in this Isle of
members to serve in such House, and to abolish the
judicial powers of the said House of Keys." \ The Electoral
•IT iT'TT- districts
island was consequently divided into ten electoral formed,
districts, consisting of the towns of Peel, Ramsey,
and the two proprietors above-mentioned were summoned to
the bar of the House to answer for their conduct. Mr. Fargher
apologized, and was pardoned, but Mr. Brown stated that he
considered his comments quite justifiable. He was, conse-
quently, condemned to six months' imprisonment, but, having
appealed to the Court of Queen's Bench, he was soon set free,
and afterwards awarded heavy damages for illegal imprisonment
in an action at law, which he brought against the Keys. The
decision was to the effect that, since the House was sitting in
its legislative and not in its judicial capacity, it had no power to
commit for contempt.
•'= This condition is not mentioned in the printed corres-
pondence.
t See pp. 806-8. \ Statutes, vol. iii. p. 372-421.
822 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The
qualification of
voters in 1866
and changes
since
introduced.
Qualification
of members.
and Castletown, having one member each ; the town
of Douglas, three members ; and the sheadings of
Glenfaba, Michael, Ayre, Garff, Middle, and Eushen,
three members each. In 1892, a further electoral
district was added by dividing Douglas into two
districts, the northern returning three members and
the southern two members, while the sheadings of
Garff and Michael were deprived of one member
each.* In 1866, the qualification of voters was
that they must be males of full age, who had to be
owners of real estate of the value of not less than
eight pounds, or tenants paying a net annual rent
of not less than twelve pounds.! By the Act of
1881 the franchise was conferred upon every
person who, (1) being a male, or a spinster, or widow,
is the owner of real estate within the district of the
annual value of not less than £4: ; or, (2) being a
male, is the occupier of real estate within the district
of the annual value of less than £4: ; or, (3) being a
male, occupies lodgings of the annual rental of not
less than ^10. By this Act female owners, not
being married, were admitted to the franchise, being
placed on the same footing as male owners,! the
Manx Legislature thus taking the lead of all others
in this important reform. In 1892, women (being
spinsters or widows), who were occupiers of real estate
worth not less than £4 annually, were also given a
vote.§ The qualification of members who, in 1866,
* Statutes, vol. vi. p. 381.
f Ibid., vol. iii. pp. 374-5.
I Ibid., vol. V. pp. 95-6.
§ Ibid., vol. vi. p. 381.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 823
had to be males of full age, and owners of real
estate of the value of £100, or of real estate to the
annual value of £50, together with personal property
of £100, was altered in 1881 so as to apply to owners
of real estate of the annual value of £50, "and
together therewith be also possessed of personal
estate . . . actually producing the yearly income of
£100, or," [as an alternative], " personal estate pro-
ducing the yearly income of £150." *
Finally, by the Act of 1892, the property qualifi-
cation was done away with, so that any male of full
age, not being a clergyman, could be a member.!
In 1866, the powers of the Keys were defined to be Powers and^
those of electing their speaker, of punishing con- the Keys.
tempts committed before their House by fine and
imprisonment and, by the Act of 1876, of punishing
libel by a fine not exceeding £50, or by imprisonment
not exceeding six months. It was also provided
that " nothing in this Act contained shall affect, or
in any manner be construed to affect, the inherent
powers heretofore exercised by the House of Keys as
a legislative body; I and that " after the promulgation
hereof the House of Keys, and the several members
thereof . . . shall ... be entitled to and enjoy the
same rights and privileges, in as full and ample a
manner as the House of Keys, and the several
members thereof for the time being, and persons
elected to be members thereof heretofore had,
- Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 372-421.
f Ibid., vol. vi. p. 384.
I For the loss of their judicial authority (see pp. 826-8).
824 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OE^ MAN
exercised, and performed, and was or were entitled
?rm"eges. ^° ^^^ enjoyed." * One of these privileges, which
was disputed before the Eevestment, and continued
to be disputed till a recent date, is their right, when
once assembled, to regulate their own sittings,
which was objected to on the ground that it clashed
with the Governor's prerogative of being able to
summon them as often as he thought proper, t
This led to coUisions early in the present century
between them and the then governor, the Duke of
Atholl, which resulted in the Keys keeping their
sittings alive by adjournment for a number of years.!
In 1871, 1874, and 1880, difficulties on this point
again arose, and, on the last occasion, the Keys
made a long statement of their case, the pith of
which is contained in the following sentence: —
'' Whenever the Keys are called together under
precept, whether specially for a Tynwald Court, or
otherwise, they claim it as an indisputable right to
adjourn their sittings from day to day, and from
place to place, as may suit their own convenience ;
and this right the members of the old House, as well
* StattUes, vol. iii. pp. 407-8. Among these the right to try
questions of the rights of members to their seats was specially
reserved by the House of Keys Election Act of 1866.
f This prerogative was confirmed by Section 125 of the House
of Keys Election Act, 1866, which enabled him to summon the
House or to prorogue it, though adjourned or prorogued to a
more distant day {Statutes, vol. iii. p. 409). He was also, by
the same clause, given the power to prorogue the House,
or to dismiss it and issue writs for a new election.
I This action of theirs does not seem to have been disputed at
that time.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 825
as those of the elected House, have not only always
maintained, but have constantly exercised." * To
this the governor replied that it had "never been
his intention to question the power of the House
to regulate, after reporting progress, . . . their own
adjournments"; f and so the question remains. I
Another question arose in 1879, owing to the
governor having demanded the attendance of the
Keys, who were in session, at a Tynwald Court,
as a matter of right. The Keys denied his right
to do so, in the absence of a summons under
precept ; but the governor has since then exercised
this power, and, seeing that it is manifestly reasonable
and convenient that he should be able to do so, it is
not likely to be disputed in future.
The increased amount of legislation during the Amount of
" legislation
last forty years is strikingly shown by a reference '^astwid^^
to the six volumes of the Statutes. During the compared.
period between 1417 and 1824 all the laws passed
are contained in 425 pages ; between 1824 and 1863,
568 pages were required ; during the governorship
of Loch (1863-1882), 1,180 pages; and, during the
governorship of Walpole (1882-1893), 1,046 pages.
In 1865, the promulgation of the whole of the Acts
■■' " Constitution " {Manx Soc, vol. xxxi. p. 18). f Ibid. p. 14.
I It is manifest that the Keys could render the governor's
summons futile by exercising their right to regulate their
sittings, because, when they assembled under precept, they
could adjourn to another date. Continued obdurac}', however,
would, no doubt, be followed by the governor dissolving the
House, and issuing writs for a new election (see note f p.
824).
position.
826 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
in English and Manx, which had hitherto been the
practice, had become very tedious on account of the
number and length of the Acts. Moreover it had
long since been rendered unnecessary by the
increase of education among the people. It was,
therefore, enacted that, in future, only the titles of
the Acts, with the marginal summaries of each of
their sections, and the official document signifying
the Eoyal assent, should be read in English and
Manx.* In 1895, the more intelligible course of
reading a brief precis of the contents of the Acts,
in Manx and English, was adopted.
Important changes have been made during this
ul^eh^udlcfaf pei'iod in the judicial powers of the Keys. It
would appear that, early in 1823, the Duke of Atholl
had complained to the Secretary of State that the
Keys had been in the habit of exceeding their
powers as members of the Court of General Gaol
Delivery, pointing out that, though they were
supposed not to interfere with juries unless they
thought they had acted mistakenly or corruptly,
they had gradually taken the position of voting
on every case, and therefore, since no decision of
theirs was valid which was not signed by thirteen
members of their body, justice was often obstructed
or delayed. After making due enquiry, the
Secretary of State decided that the Keys did not
legally form a part of the Court, that they could
not interfere with its proceedings, nor have a
voice in the sentence or judgment.
"*= Statutes, vol. iii. p. 177.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 827
It was also decided, at the same time, that the
Council, as such, could no longer sit in the Court,
At the next meeting, therefore, the court sat with-
out the council and Keys, and so, on its trying one
Kelly for burglary, his advocate pleaded that the
court was not legally constituted by reason of the
absence of the Keys, and was, accordingly, in-
competent to try the case.* The plea was over-
ruled, and the trial proceeded. Kelly, having been
found guilty and sentenced to death, presented a
petition to the king for a reversal of the sentence.
The House of Keys also presented a petition to the
House of Commons against their exclusion, declar-
ing therein that they " would infinitely prefer the
abolition of the present system of government to
the success of the present system of encroachments,
which, in preserving the mere semblance of an
internal constitution, would leave it utterly inefficient
to any salutary purposes." f Keceiving no answer,
they appealed to the Privy Council, before whom,
in July, 1825, their case, with that of Kelly, was
argued, t It was decided that, by the laws of the
Isle of Man, the Keys do not form an integral and
constituent part of the Court of General Gaol
Delivery, and that their not having been summoned
did not affect the validity of the judgment pro-
nounced against the petitioner. In 1866, the last
* No exception was taken to the absence of the Council.
f Keijs' Papers, see also Pamphlet (1824) p., 15.
I The solicitor-general (Sir Charles Wetherall) and Mr.
Clarke (the IManx attorney-general) for the Crown, and
Messrs. Brougham and Alderson for the Keys.
828 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
vestige of their judicial authority — their appellate
jurisdiction — was abolished.* We will conclude our
account of the Manx Legislature by referring to
the chief changes which have taken place in its
procedure,! whether as regards legislative or exe-
cutive matters, since the Eevestment.
Private bills. rpj^e niost important change in the Manx legislative
system has been the introduction of private Bills
which were formerly unknown. " Private legisla-
tion," says Walpole, " follows much the same course
as is pursued with public Bills. Private Bills, how-
ever, usually, though not invariably, emanate in
Tynwald. A petition is presented to the Governor
prajang for leave to introduce the Bill ; the Governor
directs that the petition shall be heard in Tynwald
on a certain day. The advocate promoting the
petition is then called into Tj^nwald and heard ;
and the petition is usually referred to a committee
to ascertain whether the standing orders of the court
have been complied with, and occasionally to report
on the merits of the measure. On receipt of the
report, a motion is made that leave be given for the
introduction of the Bill ; the motion is put, and, if
carried, the Governor names the branch of the
Legislature in which the Bill will be taken up in
the first instance." I "Walpole then proceeds to point
out that " in nothing, perhaps, is the advantage
■■'• By the House of Keys Election Act, 1866. {Statutes,
vol. iii. pp. 425-8).
f The procedure in reference to the introduction and discus-
sion of Bills in the two branches of the Legislature is given in
Appendix B. | The Land of Home Bute, p. 271.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 829
which the Manx enjoy from the existence of their
local Legislature so conspicuous as in the case of
private legislation. Bills of the utmost importance
to the Island, involving perhaps the construction of
a new railway, are considered at a cost which is
simply trifling compared with the expense of similar
legislation in England. Bills of a minor character
can be carried at the cost of a few pounds ; and it
may safely be stated that no village in the Island,
however small, would be deterred from asking for
the power which it required to obtain water by
compulsion, for example, from any dread of the
expense which such an application might entail."*
As regards the modern method of dealing with Method of
" Iirocedure in
financial and other questions in the Tynwald Court Sfun^'^'^^''^
we again quote Walpole : " When the court meets
for financial purposes, the two branches of the Legis-
lature sit together and the Governor presides. Debate
is carried on by the members of both branches. In
the discussions on these subjects neither branch has
any privilege over the other." f When " divisions are
taken, each branch votes separately. The Governor
takes the votes of the Council, and directs the
Speaker to take the votes of the Keys. The
members of neither branch retire while the division
is being taken, but merely answer ' aye ' or ' no '
when their names are successively called out. When
the division is completed, the Speaker reports the
result in the Keys to the Governor, who thereupon
announces that ' the Council is of the same opinion,'
* The Land of Home Rule, p. 272. f Ibid., p. 275.
VOL. II. 54
830 HISTOBY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The executive
committees of
the Tynwald
Court.
or that the Council is of a contrary opinion, as the
case may be. When the two branches concur in
their ojpinion, the question is carried. When they
differ in opinion, the question is lost, the separate
concurrence of both branches being necessary for its
passage." *
The power of the Tynwald Court to delegate
executive authority to its members, or others, was
until 1864, t exercised solely in the selection of the
Highway Board. It would appear that, since
the Act of 1776 merely states that this committee
should consist of five persons, without specifying
from which branch of the Legislature they should
be selected, its members had been invariably taken
from the Keys only, and this continued till about
1835. After that date it became the practice for
the Council to have one or two members on this
committee, and when, at a later date, other Com-
mittees, or Boards, of the Court were constituted,
such as the Asylums Board, the Harbour Board, t
the Local Government Board, and the Council of
Education, both branches were usually represented
on them also. On only one occasion of late years
has a difficulty arisen in appointing these Boards
and that was in the case of the Lunatic Asylum
Board, § when " the Council, which was in favour
of some extensive additions to the asylum, vetoed
* Land of Home Rule, p. 276.
f When a Lunatic Asylum Committee was fii"st appointed.
I For special position of the Harbour Board, see p. 799.
§ Since the completion of the Poor Asylum, this has been
called the " Asylums Board."
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 831
the nominees of the Keys ; and the Keys, who were
desirous of greater economy in building, vetoed the
nominees of the Council. In the result, the Court
was kept alive by adjournment, while the Houses
agreed each to nominate two members for each
vacancy on the Board, allowing the other House
the right of vetoing one of those so nominated," *
"It is probable," says Walpole, "that with the
exercise of a little tact any similar difficulty hereafter
arising may be avoided in the same way. Yet it
must be acknowledged," he continues, "that, while
the forms of Tynwald remain as they are the
embarrassment might at any moment recur and
become critical. But the highest inconvenience that
would consequently result would be the protracted
failure to elect an administrative board. In every
other respect the machinery of government would
go on as smoothly as ever." *
APPENDIX A.
EXTRACTS FROM THE OATHS TAKEN BY THE VARIOUS OFFICERS.
The Governor: "Your allegiance to the King's Majesty of
Great Britain reserved ; you shall swear to be true, and true
faith and fidelity bear to the Right Honourable Earl
Derby, and to his heirs. You shall not reveal the secrets of
this Isle, nor houses, nor garrisons therein, to any foreigner or
stranger.
" You shall truly and uprightly deal between the Lord and
his people, and as indifferently betwixt party and party as this
staff now standeth, as far as in you Ueth. You shall take the
advice and consent of the rest of the Lord's Council of the said
* Tlie Land of Home Rule, p. 277.
832 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Isle, in all matters that concern the State and Government of
the said Isle and houses. These, and all other things per-
taining to the Governor of this Isle, his office and place, you
shaU, according to the purport and extent of your commission,
and the laws of the said Isle, do and perform as far as in you
lieth.
" So God you help," &c.
The Bishop and Archdeacon swore allegiance in the same
way, to be true to the Earls of Derby, and to duly perform
their duties, also "to maintain and defend the ancient laws,
statutes, and customs " of the Isle, and with their " best advice
and comisel to be aiding and assistmg to the Captain of the
Isle or Governor for the time being, for furtherance of the
government and benefit of the Isle."
The Vicars-Generals^ oath was nearly the same, except that
the words as oft as they should be " called upon or required "
so to do, were added to the clause given above.
The Comptroller, Clerk of the Bolls, Attorney-General, and
Beceiver were sworn with their best advice and council to
aid and assist the Lieutenant, Captain, and the rest of the
Council, so oft as was needful, or so often as they should be
called upon by them, or any of them, for the furtherance of the
government.
The special duties of the Comptroller and Clerh of the Bolls,
were embodied in their oaths as follows : —
" You shall not commit, or see any voluntary, or wilful
waste committed by any manner of person, but you shall
reveal or amend the same as it lieth in your power.
" You shall deal duly and truly, from time to time, so long as
you shall, accordmg to the trust reposed in 3'ou, execute the
office of Comptroller and Clerk of the Eolls ; take accounts as
well of all receipts of money to be levied for the Lord within
the charge of the Receiver and Water-Baihff, together with the
disbursements due to be paid, and shall see the same employed
to his Lordship's best advantage to your knowledge.
"You shall deal uprightly and truly between the said Lord
and his tenants, for and concerning all matters wherein you
have to deal \vith the said tenants for the Lord, or otherwise,
without sparing the rich, or oppressing the poor, or without
any other milawful exaction, other than such as is necessary
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 833
foi' the use of the Lord, and safe keeping of the said Isle and
houses.
" You shall make true and just account of all the receipts of
money and customs received and had by the Receiver and
Water-Bailiff; as also of all payments, allowances, and dis-
bursements out of the same, as far as it behoveth you, and as
it standeth with your charge and oflBce, as often as you shall be
called upon by the Lord, his officer or officers authorised to call
upon you for the making of the said accounts."
That of the Attorney -General was the same as regards the
first clause, his oath then continuing : —
" You shall faithfull}^, justly, and truly, -svithout favour or
affection, dread or fear, envy or malice, and without respect
of love or gain, kindred or friendship, consanguinity or
affinity, plead and defend the said Lord his causes, in all
and every thing and things whatsoever, which b^y the laws
of this Isle are or shaJl grow due to the said Lord, by his right
or interest here.
"You shall see to and provide, in as much as in you lyeth
or belongeth, that all forfeitures, fines, amercements, aliens'
goods, felons' goods, wayfes, strays, vvTecks at sea, flood-gates,
and such like, be truly estreated and paid to the said Lord, or
otherwise disposed of to his Grace's use.
" You shall, from time to time, at every court, plead and
defend the cause of all widows, orphans, and fatherless children,
and not refuse any."
That of the Receiver was also the same as regards the first
clause, his oath continuing :
" You shall deal duly and truly as weU in the receipts of
money to be levied for the Lord's use within your charge of
the office of Receiver, as aU such customes and other com-
moditys to be paid to the said Lord, and shall employ the
same to the Lord his best profit to your knowledge.
" You shall deal uprightly, truly, and indifferently, betwixt
the said Lord and his tenants, for and concerning the said
receipts of the said money and customes, or anj^ other matter
wherein you have to deal with the said tenants for the said
Lord or otherwise, without sparing the rich or oppressing the
poor, or without any other unlawful exactions, other than such
as is necessary for the use of the Lord, and the safe keepmg of
the said Isle and houses.
" You shall make due and true accompts, as well of all your
834 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
receipt of moneys and customes aforesaid, as also of all
payments wherein you stand charged by virtue of the said
office, or wherewith you may not be charged otherwise than
upon your own conscience, as need require you to be called by
the Lord, or his officers authorised to call upon you for the
making of the said accompts."
The Deemsters' and Water-Bailiff's oaths, on the contrary,
had no relation to any advice or assistance to the governor
and Council. The former was as follows : —
" By this Book, and by the holy contents thereof, and by the
wonderful works that God had miraculously wrought in
heaven above, and in the earth beneath in six days and seven
nights (your allegiance to the King's Majesty of Great Britain
reserved), you shall bear true faith and fidelity to his Grace
James Duke of Atholl and his heirs, in whom is the title of
inheritance of this Isle and houses thereof.
"You shall without respect of favour or friendship, love
or gain, consanguinity or affinity, envy or malice, execute
the laws of this Isle justly betwixt the Lord and his people
of this land, and betwixt party and party, so indifferently
as the herring back-bone doth lie in the midst of the fish.
" So God you help and by the contents of this Book."
The Water ■Bailiff'' s oath contained the same provision as
to waste as that of the Comptroller, &c., and then proceeded : —
" You and your cleputys, as far as in you lyeth, shall execute
the office of Water-bailiff and Customer duly and truly,
according to the trust reposed in you, during such time as you
shall execute the same office.
" You and your deputys, as far as in you lyeth, shall duly
and truly receive and take for the said Lord's use such
custome of all men, for ingates and outgates and other
customes, as is limited by the book of rates or otherwise,
as upon your discretion ratably you shall receive and take
the custome of all comoditys to be transported or brought in,
not mentioned in the said book of rates.
" You and your deputys, as far as in you lyeth, shall make
true and just accompt unto the said Lord, or his officers, of
all such receipts as you shall receive, or ought to receive,
for and in the name and behalf of the said Lord, from time
to time, and as often as you shall be called upon, to the most
profit, best use and advantage of the said Lord, any use,
custome, or other matter to the contrary notwithstanding.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 835
" You shall not give your consent for the transportation of
any prohibited wares, forbidden to be transported by the said
Lord or his Lieutenant-Captain and Counsell.
"You and your dejmtys, as far as in you lyeth, shall not
conceale any wrecks, or any other commoditys due, or which
ought to be due, to the said Lord, appertaming or ^belonging
to the said office of Wafer-Bailiff or Customer.
" You a7id your deputijs, generally as far as in you lyeth,
shall do and execute all other matters and things belonging to
the said office of Water-Bailiff and Customer, not herein-
before mentioned, and all and every other matters and things
whatsoever whereunto you shall be called, or other-wise shall
come unto, or do and execute of your own accord, for the
execution of justice and equity in the said office, or any other
cause to the Lord's most advantage, not favouring the rich, or
oppressing the poor, and all this according to the purport and
extent of your commission.
" So help you God, &c."
APPENDIX B.
GOVERNOR HORNE'S LETTER TO THE KEYS IN 1715.
" To the Gentlemen of the Twenty-four Keys.
"Gentlemen, — It is with some uneasyness that I have
observed a disobedience in some of your body to the authority
of the Staff as cannot be parralleled among our Records.
I did positively require you to make your return in writeing
when you passed upon the Grand Jury whether thej' pro-
ceeded according to Law and Evidence or no, this is your
duty, most of you did not only refuse this, but contrary to
my particular order several times repeated, contemptuously
did disperse j'ourselves and go home without regard to what
was required, as if you were subject to no authority or rule, but
such as you shall prescribe for yourselves. The effect of this
is but too apparent throughout the Island by many instances
of the iiTegularities and contempt in the common people, that
has perhaps not been so much as seen here before. . . . And
therefore I take this opportunity to tell you that did so, that it
is contrary to your duty, and a high contempt of the authority
of the Staff intrusted with me luider the tenor of an oath to
836 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
support and preserve, and I think you are under the same
obhgacion, and for this contempt I have just occasion to sett
a fine upon such of you as contemned the authority placed in
me bj' the Lord and the Lawes of this Land, and since you
have not known how to make use of the Hberty I formerly
allowed you, I once more require j'our answer in writeing
in the manner before mencbned, and if you still persist in
yom- disobedience I must . . . take some other methods than
I have yet done, and confine you here (Castle Eushen) till
you give that obedience to my order that becomes you.
" (Signed) Alex. Horne."
APPENDIX C.
The oath taken by the Keys is recorded, for the first time,
in 1710, as follows : —
"Your allegiance to the King's Majesty of England re-
served. You shall true faith and fideUty bear to the R' Honb'«
Wilham Earle of Derby and his heu-s during your life. You
shall be aiding and assisting to the Deemsters in all doubtful
matters, the Lord's Councill, yom- ffeUows' and your own j'ou
shall not reveal. Y"ou shall use your best endeavours to main-
taine the antient Lawes and Customes of this Isle.
"You shall justly and truel}- deliver your opinion and do
right in all matters which shall be put unto you, -without
ffavour or affection, affinity or consanguinity, love or fear,
reward or gaine, or for any hope thereof ; but in all things
deale uprightly and justlj', and wrong noe man. Soe God
you help and the contents of this Book " (Lib. Scacc. See also
" Constitution," Manx Soc, vol. xx-s-i. p. 169).
APPENDIX D.
PRINCIPAL CHANGES MADE BY THE JUDICATURE ACT (1883), THE
JUDICATURE (ECCLESIASTICAL; TRANSFER ACT (1884), AND
BANKRUPTCY PROCEDURE ACT (1892).
The courts existing prior to 1883, viz., the Staff of Govern-
ment, Chancery, Exchequer, Common Laiu, Admiralty, and
X)eejns^e/-s' "' were united and formed into "Divisions" of the
* Including all original and appellate jurisdiction conferred on the
governor, to be exercised judicially bj- law or custom.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 837
" High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man," of which the
governor is president.
Of these the " Staff of Government Division," though pre-
sided over, as formerly, by the governor (whose consent is
necessarj' to every judgment) and at least two of the three judges,
was depi'ived of all its original jurisdiction, and is now solely
an appellate court, hearing appeals from the other divisions of
the High Court ; and from the Licensing Appeal Court on
questions of law.
The jurisdiction hitherto exercised by the Exchequer Court
was assigned to the " Common Law Division," as was also
the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court:''- These two courts
were consequently abolished.
The practical result of these changes is that the whole of the
original jurisdiction of the old courts is now exercised by the
Chancery and Common Law Divisions of the High Court. Of
these the Chancery Division is presided over by the Clerk of
the Rolls, sitting without a jury. It is held fortnightly during
the legal temis, and exercises jurisdiction over the following
matters : the administration of the estates of deceased persons ;
the dissolution of partnerships, or the taking of partner-
ships or any other accounts ; the raising of portions or other
charges on land ; the sale and distribution of the proceeds
of property subject to any lien or charge ; the execution of
trusts, charitable or private ; the rectification or setting aside
or cancellation of deeds or other written instruments ; the
specific performance of contracts respecting real estate ; the
partition (otherwise than by setting quests under orders of
the Common Law Division) or sale of real estate ; the wardship
of infants, and the care of infants' estates ; the care and
custody of lunatics, idiots, and persons of unsound mind, and
the care of their estates.
The Common Law Division is presided over by the two
deemsters, each of whom holds a court in his own district. In
this division is included (1) the jurisdiction of the Common
Law Courts, in which the deemster sits with a jury of six
men ; (2) the jurisdiction formerly exercised by the Exchequer
and Admiralty Courts ; (8) the summary jurisdiction exercised
without a jury ; | (4) jurisdiction in testamentary matters ;
* We have already referred to the abolition of the oifice of the
water-bailiff, who presided over this court until 1885.
f As formerly. We may mention that the deemsters hold these courts
838 HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
(5) jurisdiction in bankruptcy matters ; (6) the criminal juris-
diction witli a jury of enquiry ; -■' (7) jurisdiction over refractory
servants ; f and (8) the reception of the verdicts of trespass and
other juries." =■=
APPENDIX E.
In the Council, a Bill is introduced (1) by a member without
previous leave, or (2) on its being sent by the Keys. In
either case, on a motion being made, it is read a first time. A
BUI may be rejected at its first, second, or third reading, but
a BiU from the Keys is hardly ever rejected on the first
reading. The Bill is read a second time, on a motion, at a
subsequent meeting. If the second reading be carried, the
Council, without a motion, go into committee]; and consider
the Bill in detail, and amendments, if there be any required,
are made. Sometimes a Bill is referred to a select committee,
and is then considered when the report of the committee has
been made. The next step is the reading of the Bill, on a
motion, the third time. Further amendments may be made
during the third reading.
In the Keys, a BUI is introduced (1) by a member who has
previously received permission from the House to do so,§ or (2)
from the Council. In either case it is read a first time without
a motion. At a subsequent date it is read a second time, on a
in their respective districts at least once a week during the legal terms.
In them suits are brought for the recovery of debts exceeding the sum
of £2; suits for the possession of land or houses, if brought within six
months from the time when the cause of complaint arose ; questions
of title arising out of suits for possession ; suits founded on contract,
but not for damages for breach of contract.
* As formerly.
f This jurisdiction (originally conferred in 1665, Statutes, vol. i.
p. 120), which gave a deemster power to order a refractory servant to
return to the service of his master, or in default to be imprisoned, is
now practically obsolete.
\ Of the whole Council. The consideration in committee on the
same day as the second reading is sometimes objected to, and, if so,
it is postponed.
§ A member gives notice that he will ask for leave to introduce a
Bill at one meeting ; at the next meeting he gets leave, at the third,
the Bill is read a first time, and, at a subsequent date, on a motion, it
is read a second time. There is no recorded instance of a member not
obtaining leave to introduce a Bill.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 839
motion, considered clause by clause and passed. The House
sometuues refers a Bill to a select committee and considers
it clause by clause after receiving the committee's report,
but it does not, like the Council, sit in committee of the whole
House.
The foregoing relates to Public Bills. If notices have not to
be served on interested persons and witnesses have not to be
examined, a Private Bill may be dealt with in the same way as
a Public Bill. But there are few such Bills in which this is the
case. By the Standing Orders of the Tynwald Court, a petition
for leave to introduce a Private Bill may be made to the court,
and ordered by the govei-nor to heard at the court. Notice
must be given to the persons interested, and the court may
take evidence at its Bar, or refer the petition to a committee to
take evidence and to report. If leave be then given to intro-
duce the Bill, the governor directs in which branch it is to be
first considered. If the Bill be taken up in the Council,
evidence is usually given at the first reading of the Bill, either
at the Bar or before a select committee. Counsel is heard on
the introduction of a private Bill on behalf of the promoters
and interested parties, and, during the progress of the Bill,
counsel on either side is heard on any points arising either in
the Council or when the Council is m committee on it. Special
leave for Counsel to appear on behalf of either a promoter or
an opponent of a Bill is given on a petition presented by a
member.
If the Bill be taken up in the Keys, evidence is given and
counsel are heard either at the Bar of the House at the
second reading, or before a select committee. Even though
counsel have been already heard before a select committee,
they may also be heard and questioned by the House (if it so
desires), at the Bar, on the second reading of the Bill. The
method of granting leave for counsel to appear is the same as
in the Council.
We will now describe the procedure when diflerences of
opinion arise between the two branches with regard to ]3ills,
or clauses of Bills. If it be a Bill which originated in the Keys,
and amendments have been made by the Council, the Bill as
amended is sent back by the Council to the Keys. The Keys
have then either to accept or reject the amendments. In the
latter case, the Bill is returned to the Council for their further
consideration, and, if no agreement be arrived at, the Bill
840 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
drops.* But in most cases before a Bill is dropped efforts are
made to adjust the differences between the two branches.
Formerly the whole of the Keys went to the Council Chamber
for that purpose, but now either messages are sent from one
branch to the other, or, more usually, the Keys send, either
at their own request, or on a request from the Council, a
deputation of their membersf to hold a conference with the
Council in its chamber.]: These conferences, over which the
governor presides, and at which there is a free discussion, are
held at the request of the branch which has the possession of
the Bill. The deputation report the result of this discussion to
the Keys who may decide either to adhere to their previous
opinion, to accept any modification of it that may have been
suggested, or to agree to the Council's proposals. Sometimes
an agreement is not arrived at until the deputation has visited
the Council Chamber several times.
A conference may also take place in order to give one branch
information or explanation about a Bill passed by the other.
It sometimes happens that, after the Bill has passed both
branches, and before it is signed, it is discovered that some
important provision has been omitted. In this case the
Council considers the question of inserting the provision, and,
if they adopt it, it is sent to the Keys for their approval. If it
be approved it is inserted in the Bill.
The Bill, when passed, is signed in the Tynwald Court by a
quorum of both branches {i.e., the governor and two members
of the Council, and thirteen members of the Keys). When
this has been done it is called an "Act" and is sent to the
Secretary of State for the Home Office, that it may obtain the
Pioyal Assent. The Secretary transmits the Act to the Lord
President of the Privy Council, § who hands it to a committee
of the Privy Council. The committee instruct the Attorney
and Solicitor-General for England to report upon it.|i On
* In the case of 'a Bill originating in the Council, the above process is
reversed, Council being read for Keys.
+ Five or seven, in accordance with the Standing Orders of the Keys.
I Walpole remarks that this conference closely resembles what used
to be known as a free conference in Parliament, " and that it usually
proves an efficient contrivance for reconciling differences " (Land of
Home Rule, p. 270).
§ When the Act has relation to a Government Department, it is
usually referred to that Dc-partment for observations concerning it.
II They sometimes consider it separately, and sometimes together.
THE CIVIL CONSTITUTION 841
receiving the Act back from them the committee report to the
Sovereign in Council their opinion as to the Act, and, if their
opinion be favourable to it, they advise the Sovereign to ratify
it/'= If it be ratified it is returned with the Royal Assent to
the governor, who causes it to be promulgated on the Tynwald
Hill, at St. John's (in the manner indicated in the text),
and the Act then becomes law. On returning from the hill to
the chapel, the fact of promulgation is attested by the
governor's signature on behalf of the Council and by the
speaker's on behalf of the Keys.
(The greater portion of this Appendix is due to Sir James
GcU.)
* Occasionally, after an Act has been sent for the Royal Assent,
suggestions are made for its amendment before the assent is given, and
these suggestions are transmitted to the governor, who lays them
before the Legislature. Sometimes, when they have been laid before
the Tynwald Court, the coui-t has agreed to their adoption, but, other-
wise, they are dealt with as amendments, made by one branch and
submitted to the other, the Council first considering them. It is very
rarely the case that a Manx Act has been refused the Royal Assent.
CHAPTER II
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION
rpHE Ecclesiastical Constitution of the Isle of
-■- Man is, at the present day, in nearly all respects
which differentiate it from the ecclesiastical consti-
tution of England, obsolete. We, therefore, while
indicating what parts of it are still in active opera-
tion, write about most of it in the past tense.
There is little definite information about it before
the re-organization of the Manx Church on a post-
reformation basis, which probably took place when
its spiritual statutes were committed to writing.
This, as we learn from contemporary evidence,*
* The Ecclesiastical Records of 1610 mention the " Book of
Spiritual Laws late dehvered in by the vicars-general, (Sir
William Norris and Sir Wilham Crow) " ; and, in 1680, John
Harrison, vicar-general, stated to Bishop Bridgman that Sir
"\V. Norris and Sir W. Crow had received them orally from
their immediate predecessor, Sir Henry Gale, and transcribed
them " at the request of John Ireland, Lieut.-Govemor, on
behalf of "William, Earl of Derby ; " and that the laws so tran-
scribed were " owned and received as the Spiritual Laws and
Customs of the Isle by the said Lieut., 2 Deemsters, and 24
Keys of the Isle under their own hands." He then proceeded
to state that they were handed by Bishop Phillips to Bishop
S12
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 843
was done about the year 1610,* not in 1577, as
stated in the Statute Book. Some idea of the con-
stitution of the reformed Church may be most
conveniently obtained from an analysis of the
"spiritual laws," including those which, although,
for the most part, probably administered at this
period, were not ratified by the Legislature till 1667.
These, together with the laws of 1610, make in all
145 " breast " laws, or judicial dicta recorded for
the guidance of the courts.! A large portion of
these laws is concerned with the clergy's powers.
The powers and privileges of the bishop, to take Powers and
^ . privileges of
him first, were very considerable. As Baron I of the bishop,
the Isle § he held his own court ; he had, and has,
a seat in the Council, ranking next to the governor,
Foster and by him to Bishop Parre ; Bishop Parre then handed
them to Sir John Harrison, his registrar, who handed them to
his son and namcsalcc, wlio gave the above evidence.
"-'■■ The laws of 1610 are to be found at pp. 40-7 in the Statute
Book (vol. i.).
f See MS. in the Record Office and Knowsley Muniments
-^. They were, in 1667, " revised, examined and rectified by
the Legislature, i.e., the Governor, Deemsters, and 24 Keys,
with the assistance of the Bishop and Vicars Generall," but
they are not in the Statute Book.
I Prior to the Reformation, the barons, all of whom, except
the bishop, were heads of religious houses, are supposed to
have been members of the Council, and they certainly formed
part of a properly constituted Tynwald Court, " sitting beside '
the king, according to the law given in 1418 (Statutes, vol.
p. 3).
§ The bishop's oath, as Baron of the Isle, was as fellows :
" Ffirst before God and your Honor I doe swear and avow
that from this day forward, I shall be imto you faithfuU and
obeydient, and faith to you bear, for the Lands, Tenements and
heriditamcnts which I clamc and hold of you within this Isle :
844 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
and he is the supreme administrator of the spiritual
laws. He has the privilege of appointing two
vicars-general, and he has the patronage of four
of the ancient vicarages, viz., Braddan, German,
Patrick, and Jurby. When he has the right to
present to an incumbency, and does not do so
within six months from the Easter next follow-
ing the avoidance, the right of presentation falls
to the Crown. If a minister commit any heinous
fault, he may be suspended and proceeded against
by him, with the advice of the clergy. He had
his herring scout and fishing-boat tithe free, and
he received the following fees : For every cita-
tion sixpence, for every " suspencion " eighteen-
pence, and for excommunication two shillings and
sixpence; "also, when any great offence is worthy
excommunication, then the ordinary hath been used
to take for the Excommunication, Absolucion, and
receiving all such persons into the Church again ten
shillings." He also received one penny for the
name of each fornicator presented by the chapter-
quest. For probate, his fee was, by the decision of
the Commission of 1532, limited to sixpence, or, for
a poor man, to twopence.
Of the The archdeacon, or his official acting as his sub-
and stitute, also held courts, m which, exceptmg the
vicars-general. . , . . ^. .
episcopal causes,^ he had the same jurisdiction as
Alsoc that I shall truly yield unto you all the Customs, Rents,
and Seruices which of right I ought to pay for the same, and
that at the dayes and hours thereof due and usuaU. Soe God
me help," &c. {Lib. Placit., 1577).
* For these see Sodor and Man, p. 102.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 845
the bishop ; * he had, and has, a scat in the Council
and had the right to his herring scout and fishing-
boat without paying any tithes. The vicars-general
are appointed by the bishop, and hold their offices
during his tenure of the see, or during pleasure.!
They are the judges of the bishop's I Church courts,
and are entitled to seats in the Council. Since
1846, the bishop has appointed one vicar-general §
only, who presides over the sole remaining eccle-
siastical court, li
Let us now consider the rights and privileges of of the clergy,
the clergy generally. The penalty for assaulting a
clergyman was excommunication, and for cursing
" an officer either spiritual or temporal " the offender
was to be " committed immediately into St. German's
prison, and not released till he first gave bonds to
perform his censure, which is to wear the bridle for
several market days at the several market towns for
the space of an hour in the height of the market."
It was provided that any difference in a matter of
slander between a clergyman and a layman was to
be adjudicated upon by a jury, one half of whom
were clergymen and the other half laymen, also,
that, when laws about spiritual concerns were
enacted by the Tynwald Court, the consent of the
- See pp. 861-3.
\ During a vacancy in the sec thej' are appointed by the
governor, but his appointment expires on the see being filled up.
I The bishop, as a rule, does not preside in person.
§ His salary is charged on the Civil List, which is a unique
arrangement.
!1 See p. 866.
VOL. II. 55
846 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
clergy was necessary to make them binding.* No
one is allowed to sit or bury in the chancel of any
church without the consent of the rector, who is
obliged to keep the chancel in repair, while the
parishioners have to maintain the body of the church
" within and without, with all ornaments and other
necessaries." t An important privilege was that
"all instituted Parsons and Viccars of thirds or
Viccars of pension, ought to have his brige and
staff; that is to say, if they have a man servant
that cometh to them of his own free will, he ought
not to be taken from them." On the other hand,
they were severely punished for transgressing the
spiritual laws. Thus, if they married any one with-
out licence or banns, they were suspended for three
years, and, if they performed a clandestine marriage,
they and all present were excommunicated and
committed to St. German's prison.
Their fees. As to their fccs, rectors and vicars were allowed
to choose their fishing-boats at Easter time, and
their scoutes at herring-fishing time. I The mortuaries
received by them were as arranged in 1532,§ it being
provided that none were to be paid for those who died
when less than ten years old. They also received
twelve-pence "for every will and inventory, except
there be a legacy left by the deceased to the minister
to the value of twelve pence. "§ With regard to tithe,
■■' None have been enacted since 1704.
f This is still the case.
I In the Lib. Scacc, 1610, there is a decision that they were
also to have the tithe of all new boats to the following Easter.
§ Statutes, vol. i. pp. 29 31.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 847
each tenth stook of corn was taken by them, and no
one was allowed to make up his stacks before the
tithe stooks were taken by the parson or his proctor.
"All Tyth Flax and Hemp" was ordered "to be
brought to the Parish Church with the seed thereof,"
also the tithe butter and cheese in the months of
June, July, August, and September; and all those
that deposed " they have neither butter nor cheese
made within any of the said monthes," were, if they
had " one milk cow, to pay two pence, and out of
four goats two pence." Sheep, lambs, purrs, (or
wild swine), calves, colts, geese, eggs, hens, honey,
wax, fish of all kinds, were subject to tithe, and
various fantastic arrangements are to be found in
the Statute Book with reference to its incidence.
All trades were tithable. " All persons that are
marryed and unmarryed that have received the com-
munion before," paid twopence every Easter, while
those that received it for the first time paid one
penny.*
The duties of the clergy, as we learn from the Their duties,
churchwardens' oath,t were "to read the service of
the Church on Sundays and Holy days soberly and •
distinctly, and in due time. To preach one sermon
ever}' Sunday (having no lawfull impediment) in
such Language or Tongue as shall be to the best
* They were revised in 1643 {Statutes, vo\. i. p. 95), see pp. 857-8.
f A similar form of oath is found in the time of Lord Fairfax,
but the exact form of the above was not written down till
Bishop Wilson's time, though something like it was doubtless
in full operation soon after the Reformation. (From a MS. in
Ecclesiastical Records.)
848 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
edification of the people. To catechize the youth of
the parish every Sunday in the afternoon, and to
explain some part of the Church Catechism after so
plain and familiar a manner as may be to the edify-
ing of the Parishioners. To suffer none to come to
the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's supper until such
time as they be confirmed. ... To visit the Sick,
to marry none without Banns or Licence, nor at
any time but betwixt the Hours of Eight and
Twelve in the forenoon : and to live so soberly as to
be a Pattern of Eeligion and Virtue to his whole
Parish."
Functionaries Bcsidcs the clergv, there are their functionaries,
of the clergy. .
the archdeacon's official, the sumner-general, the
episcopal and archideaconal registrars, the proctors,
and the sumners. The archdeacon's official, as we
have seen, presided over the archdeacon's court. *
Since 1874 he has held a merely titular office so
far as the public is concerned. Probably his only
functions are to advise the archdeacon with respect
to his duties as such and to represent him on
occasions when archidiaconal duties need not be
, performed by the archdeacon in person. The
sumner-general has still, in some cases, to take
letters of administration of the estates of deceased
persons, but his position as apparitor of the ecclesi-
astical courts has become almost a sinecure, f Though
■•'■ He seems to have formerly been recognized as capable of
being summoned to the Executive Counf.il, but he was not a
member of the Legislative Council.
I See under sumners.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 849
appointed by the governor, * he takes the oaths of
office before the bishop or vicar-general. The
episcopal registrar kept the records of the episcopal
courts and made office copies of them, took
depositions of witnesses, made distribution of
estates when called upon by the court and reported
on matters referred to him by it. The archidiaconal
registrar performed similar duties for the arch-
deacon's court. Both these officials were done away
with in 1874, and a diocesan registrar was appointed,
whose duty is to keep the diocesan records.
The proctors collected the clergy's dues.f They
were abolished on the passage of the Tithe Com-
mutation Act in 1839, and a tithe agent appointed.!
The sumners, whose duties are now confined to
delivering citations from the ecclesiastical court as
the sumner-general's deputies, had formerly to " call
within the church with the advice of the Vicar or
Curate all such things as he is requested of the
Parish that is gone or lost," to " stand at the
chancell door at the time of service to whip and
beat all the doggs" § and to convey offenders against
the spiritual laws to gaol.
The parish clerks, who, since they were, and are,
chosen by the people, !| are in a different category to
the other functionaries, " had to ring the Bells in
due time, to attend the minister (when required)
- See p. 501.
f They were paid bj' getting sundry dues in kind.
I lie is appointed by the clergy. § Churchwardens' oath.
II Formerly their appointment had to receive the approval of
the bishop, but this has not been the case of late years.
850 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
at the visitation of the Sick, at the burial of the
Dead, or baptism of Children. To raise the Psalm
when required by the Minister, or else to procure it
to be done to the satisfaction of the Minister."
Their duties are now mainly confined to attendance
at baptisms, weddings and funerals, and to repeating
the responses at the church services.
Their fees. rpj^g sumuers and clerks were mainly paid in kind,
the sumner receiving " for his paines and duty doing
one principall cheese " from each tenant, also one
choice lamb and one fleece of wool, and of the corn
crop he had " a band of three lengthes of three
principal cornes porcion alike paid from every
husbandman." For conveying a prisoner to gaol
he received fourpence.* The clerk had the cheese
tithe, the lamb, and the fleece in the same way as
the rectors and vicars, also " a groate (fourpence) out
of every plow," and from those " that have no
plowes and keep smoak," one penny. He also
received a portion of what is called " Clark's silver "
at deaths, which " on the south side of the isle is
elevenpence, and the head penny, of which the
curate has sevenpence, the parish dark threepence,
and the parson's dark twopence." On the north
side of the island the amount of "Clark's silver" was
fifteen pence, but it is not stated how it was divided.
The clerk's corse present was at the funeral of a
man twenty pence or his " apparell," and at the
funeral of a women seventeen-pence. These were
the fees paid by the representatives of well-to-do
''■'• Statutes, vol. i. pp. 44-5.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 851
people ; with regard to poor people, it was a matter
of agreement.*
The chm-chwardens, four for each parish, were, and ^,arjen; ^nd
are, elected by the people when assembled in vestry ^^®"' '^"^^"
once yearly. Their duties were "to see good orders
kept in the church and church-yard, their church-yard
ditch to be well made, to make a true and just
accompt to their parishioners four times in the
yeare, to enquire of all offences committed against
the Spiritual Law : as also to see all lawful injunc-
tions read in the church, to present all those that
use Witchcraft or Sorcery, Adulterers, Fornicators,
Blasphemers, Drunkards and such like : also such
as profane the Sabbath, that refuse to come to
church to have divine service, or receive the blessed
sacrament." t
At the present day their duties are practically
confined to collecting the cess, or Church rate, to
distributing the morning collections for the benefit
of the poor, and to assisting the rector, or vicar, in
maintaining the church and churchyard in good
order.
Another body, now obsolete, connected with each Thechapter-
'' _ quests.
parish and its church was the chapter-quest, consist-
ing of four men, who were empanelled every year
by the bishop or vicars-general to perform much the
same duties as the churchwardens.
Another very considerable portion of these spiritual
=>" Statutes, vol. i. pp. 44-5. The clerk's fees are now Is. 6d.
for each burial. Some of them have small glebes.
f From their oath. For further details see Sodor and Man,
p. 115.
852 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Laws relating Jaws relates to criminal matters and, more especially,
to criminal ' ^ '' '
matters. ^q offences against morality. The following are the
more important and characteristic of them. " That
such as defame the dead are to make pennance* and
to ask the kindred's forgiveness, because it is done
in disgrace of all his Relations, and Publication to
be made that none revive the same in Penalty of i£3
to the Lord's use and forty days' imprisonment."
" That if any aspersion be cast on man or v^^oman,
the slanderer is to be punished if he cannot prove
the same, and the like publication to be made for
the living party as for the dead." The punishment
for slander against the living was usually that of
wearing a bridle f at the market cross of the nearest
town, or to make from one to fourteen Sundays'
penance, according to the enormity of the offence,
in the several parish churches. Common whores
were "to be drawn after a boat in the sea during
the Ordinarie's appointment." t
■•'' According to an order issued by Convocation (in the
Ecclesiastical Records, dated 1623), a malicious slanderer was
"to remain a Lyer of Record, and do open penance ....
putting his finger on his mouth, and confessing a Lye in
saying ' Tongue, thou Lyed,' and so publickly to ask the
party offended forgiveness."
I Waldron says, " If any person be convicted of uttering a
scandalous report, and cannot make good the assertion, instead
of being fined or imprisoned, they are sentenced to sta^nd in the
market-place on a sort of scaffold erected for that purpose, with
their tongue in a noose made of leather, which tliey call a bridle,
and having been thus exposed to the view of the people for some
time, on the taking off this machine they are obliged to say
three times. Tongue, thou hast lyed" {Manx Soc, vol. xi. p. 41).
+ This punishment has often been quoted as showing the
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 853
Adulterers were usually condemned to " make
seven Sundays' pennance in several parishes, and
for a relapse fourteen, and adding always the number
of seven as oft as they transgress, besides a fine to
the Lord with imprisonment."
" Whosoever commits Fornication shall make
three Sundays' pennance, and if they marry that
they go from the Sheet to the Ring;"* and,
" All offenders censured to Pennance are to per-
form their censures and satisfy the Law before
they be admitted to the Holy Communion, and
to pay threepence to the minister for every day's
Penance for writing certificates, and to the Sumner
twopence, and if the offender bring not a sheet he
is to pay the Sumner fourpence for furnishing
him, and no appeal be from the Church, and
none offending be privileged from censures."
If any one appealed from the spiritual judges
to the " Staff of Government," he was handed
back to the former for punishment if he could
not prove his case.
Reputed sorcerers or witches were presented by
the chapter-quest, and examined by the bishop. If
he thought their conduct suspicious, he appointed
a jury, and, if this jury could "bring or prove
any notorious fact or crime done by them, then
they were handed over to the civil authorities for trial.
great cruelty of Manx Church disciplbie, but it maj' be doubted
if it was more cruel than the punishment of whipping at a
cart's tail as practised in England, and it was certahJy not
so indecent.
=»= I.e., they must be married at once.
854 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
The severest punishment imposed by the Church
was excommunication.* It was only made use of
in the case of hardened offenders, and, as we have
already seen, of slanderers of the clergy.
Such were the laws, now fallen into disuse, under
which was administered the famous discipline of the
Manx Church, about which Bishop Wilson wrote :
" There is nothing more commendable than the
discipline of this church. . . . Offenders of all
conditions, without distinction, are obliged to sub-
mit to the censures appointed by the church,
whether for correction or example (commutation
of penances being abolished by a late law), and
they generally do it patiently. Such as do not
submit (which hath hitherto been but few) are
either imprisoned or excommunicated ; under which
sentence if they continue more than forty days,
they are delivered over to the Lord of the Isle,
both body and goods." t
Laws relating An cvcn larger portion of these laws was occupied
with the disposition of the estates of deceased per-
sons, especially those of intestates.]; Thus, the
Ordinary had power, in certain cases, of amending
dispositions or supplying the neglects of a deceased
person, where they seemed obviously contrary to
natural piety. For instance, ' ' if any make a testament
and leave not sixpence legacy to their children,
■■■■ Bishop Wilson writes, " People are never excommunicated
but for crimes that will shut them out of heaven" {Manx
Soc, vol. xviii. p. 112).
f Ibid.
l All this jurisdiction was abolished in 1884. (See p. 866.)
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 855
unmarried, legitimately begotten," the Ordinary
may make such children executors; or "if any die
intestate, having no children legitimately begotten,
but only base children, then the Ordinary shall
make and ordain his next of kindred, both of
father's and mother's side, to be lawful executors ;
and the base-born to be rewarded of charity, at the
discretion of the Ordinary." Generally speaking, the
Ordinary was allowed a large discretion in appor-
tioning the remains of a parent's property as was
best for the education and maintenance of the
children.*
The tender care of the Manx ecclesiastical law for
the interests of the destitute and of children was
also shown by the following : When a person died
who owed money, and his debts were found to
" surmount " his inventory, the lord received the
first share, then the orphans, and, finall}^ others, f
Attendance at church was, as we have seen,
ordered to be enforced by the churchwardens and
chapter-quests, and it was ordained, by the thirty-
first law, in 1667, " that there be a communion in
the Church at least eight times in the year, . . .
and all at fourteen years to receive, but first to be
examined by the minister, or be presented, unless a
lawfull cause appear."
" The main characteristic of the Manx ecclesias-
* Somewhat, perhaps, like that exercised by the Court of
Chancery for the benefit of infants in England.
t The English rule, under similar circumstances, favours the
Crown, but makes no mention of orphans.
856 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
rtiMacteristic ^^^^^ code " * IS its prevailing supposition that
ecciesiastfcai " faith " * generally prevailed, and no doubt this was
actually the case till the eighteenth century. Excom-
munication would therefore be a horrible reality in
this world, and so would the penalty of taking a
false oath in the next. Accordingly we find that
a great part of the evidence in many cases lay in the
voluntary oaths of one or more of the parties. Thus
"in a difference depending betwixt party and party,
when one gives it to the other upon his oath abso-
lutely, there shall be no further hearing of that
matter in the Spiritual Court." This implies so
much trust in men's oaths as to ignore all risk of
collusion. Again : " "When sufficient men are sworn
to prize" [app^^aise] "children's goods, the said
goods shall not be forced on them, under pretence
of overrating them (for men must discharge their
consciences), but the executors or overseers must
take all things according to prizement " ; also that
" for fathering an illegitimate child the woman's
oath is sufficient," though it was not sufficient to
prove a promise of marriage. Upon such grounds.
Compurgation, the Manx legislators encouraged compurgation
generally, and, more especially, that solemn process
of purgation which is thus described in the tenth
customary law : " He that entereth his claim within
a year and a day after the probate of the will and
endeavouring to prove the same within the said
limited time, without Bill, Bond or evidence, shall
prove the same upon the grave of him or her from
■■'■■■ Keble, p. 202.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 857
whom the same was due with lawfull Compurgators,
according to the ancient form, viz. lying on his
Back with the Bible on his breast and his Compur-
gators on either side one." This swearing on the
grave seems to have been prescribed in default of
documentary evidence between a deceased person,
his debtors and creditors.
In 1609, it was abolished by the Tynwald Court,*
but it, nevertheless, continued in vogue for nearly a
century later.
The portion of these laws relating to the dues of
the clergy caused a great deal of discontent ; they
were, therefore, in 1643, through the mediation of
the 7th earl, modified as follows : —
(1) The fee of three shillings and fourpence, taken
by the clergy for distributing the goods of a child
under 14 years, was reduced to sixpence. (2) The
parson or vicar of a parish was to have the nomina-
tion of the clerk, with the approval of the bishop, as
the appointment of clerks by the lord had been
complained of. This deprived the people of their
ancient right of election, but it was restored by the
spiritual laws of 1667. (3) The clergy having taken
one shilling for making wills, and having refused to
prove wills unless they were written by them, it was
ordered that every man may make his own will. (4) It
having been stated that the clergy had taken eight
shillings as a corpse present for goods worth four
pounds, and in the same proportion for other values,
it was ordered that no corpse present should be taken
'•^= Statutes, vol. i. p. 72.
858 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
when goods were under the value of six pounds
twelve shillings and fourpence, when of that value
and under the value of twenty pounds, the corpse
present was to be twenty pence, when under forty
pounds, three shillings and fourpence, when forty
pounds and above, six shihings and fourpence ; and,
moreover, only housekeepers and masters were to
pay any corbes. (5) Tithe butter and cheese were
to be done away with, but, in lieu thereof, payment
was to be made on cows, sheep, and goats. The
proctors for collecting the harvest tithe were to be
named at an earlier date, since farmers had suffered
from their non-arrival by their crops wasting in the
fields. The clergy were not to be allowed to demand
"their small tythes and offering money " on Easter
Sunday, because "an undecent and irreverent use"
had sprung up of their demanding these dues " at
the time the people are to receive the Communion;"
indeed it was stated that they sometimes stopped the
people " from receiving the blessed sacrament,
because they have not paid their duties." It was
therefore enacted that they should receive these
dues on Monday or Tuesday in Easter Week ;
also, it having been complained that orphans' goods
and debts had not been sufficiently secured by the
spiritual court, it was ordered that, if the bishop or
his officers did not take sufficient security, they were
to make the loss good. These laws were assented
to by the Keys, and certain representatives from the
parishes.*
* Statutes, vol. i. pp. 92-99.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 859
There were no further modifications of these laws
till 1685, when some new regulations as to the duties ,
of ministers and churchwardens were made at Con-
vocation.' Then, in 1704, came the Ecclesiastical "Constitu-
. . tions"of 1701.
" Constitutions " of Bishop Wilson, which may be
briefly summarized as follows : —
1. No one to be confirmed unless properly in-
structed.
2. Or to be admitted to the Holy Sacrament till
confirmed.
3. No one to be Godfather or Godmother or to be
married without receiving the Holy Sacrament.
4. Unconfirmed children and servants to attend
evening prayers so as to be instructed previous to
confirmation, under penalty of a fine to be imposed
on their parents or masters.
5. No one having incurred the censures of the
Church and having done penance to be admitted to
penance again unless the Church be fully satisfied
of his, or her, repentance. If he, or she, does not
satisfy the minister or churchwardens of this, the
Church shall proceed to excommunication.
6. No one living a disorderly hfe to be admitted
to the Holy Sacrament.
7. No money to be received on the Lord's day,
under penalty of censure.
8. Commutation, or money payment in lieu of
penance, to be abolished.
9. Children to be sent to school. Parents
neglecting to send them to be fined.
* These were not confirmed by the Tynwald Court, and
were, therefore, not binding on the laity.
860 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
10. Salaries of schoolmasters to be increased.
11. Poor children to be taught gratuitously.
12. Poor people may keep their children at home
some weeks during the summer, provided that they
send them to church every third Sunday at least,
one hour before evening service, to be taught there.
13. Names of persons absenting themselves from
church to be entered.
14. Convocation to be held on Thursday in
Whitsun week every year.* This alone of all the
"Constitutions" is still acted upon.
With the exception of articles 10-12, relating to
education,! which were new, there was nothing con-
tained in these constitutions which had not had legal
sanction before. As regards articles 5 and 8, which
relate more especially to discipline, the former put
an end to the lax practice of admitting obdurate
offenders more than once to penance, without resort-
ing to a severer punishment, and the latter confirmed
the prohibition of commutation, enjoined by Act of
Tynwald in 1691. t The constitutions were con-
sidered "very reasonable, just and necessary " § by
the Tynwald Court, and were consequently confirmed
by it. In 1736, the same authority abolished the
practices of compulsory compurgation and of de-
livering over persons excommunicated in the
spiritual courts, body and goods, to the Lord of
'■'•'■ For " Constitutions " in full see SiatiUcs, vol. i. pp. 155-9.
f Education had already been made compulsory by order of
the 8th earl, in 1672. (See p. 472.)
I Not in Statute Book. (Sec p. 472.)
§ Statutes, vol. i. p. 159.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 8G1
the Isle. * Voluntary compurgation, however, was
allowed, and excommunicated persons were im-
prisoned for three months. From this time, as we
have seen, the spiritual laws were not so generally
enforced, and, by the beginning of the present
century, they had become practically obsolete.
Having thus briefly summarized the more impor-
tant of the ecclesiastical laws, let us now enquire
into the constitution of the courts which adminis-
tered them.
There were three classes of Church Courts, in Three classes
of Church
which the bishop presided either in person or by Courts,
deputy.!
First, the Summary Court, in which the proceed- counT'^
ings were almost entirely viva voce. During the
summer half of the year, i.e., from St. Mark's day to
St. Simon and St. Jude's, it was presided over by one
of the vicars-general, and during the winter half by
the archdeacon or his of!icial. It also granted letters
of administration for all intestates, in unopposed
cases ; it gave sentence on claims by way of legacy or
debt, J and on all other matters relating to the goods
of the deceased ; and also concerning tithes § and
other Church dues.
■■■ Statutes, vol. i. p. 222.
f The following information is taken partly from Keble's
Life of Bishop Wilson, partly from "The Constitution of the
Isle of Man" {Manx Soc, vol. xxxi.),and partly from a minute
of Sir James Gell'sin 1876. {Ibid. vol. xxix. pp. 25-50).
I Suits for the recovery of debts and moneys seem to have
been its chief business. It is very difficult to draw an exact
line between the jurisdictions of these courts.
§ By the Exchequer Court Act in 1777, the " determining the
VOL. II. 5G
862
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Chapter
Court.
Consistory
Court.
Second, the Chapter Court, to the cognizance of
which all immoralities and other violations of dis-
cipline within each parish were presented by the
ministers and churchwardens and chapter-quests,
who held a sort of inquest every third week with
regard to the cases which they should present. The
Chapter Courts were held in circuit by the vicars-
general and archdeacon's official twice a year in each
of the six sheadings. Their business, besides the try-
ing of the disciplinary causes, which, in most cases,
were disposed of summarily, was the admission of
churchwardens and chapter-quests, the granting
probate of wills, and administration of the estates of
intestates. If disciplinary causes and matters
relating to wills and administrations in the bishop's
jurisdiction were not disposed of summarily, the case
was remitted to the third court, the Consistory
Court, which was the highest of the ecclesiastical
courts. To it appeals lay in all the cases above
mentioned, and besides them, it dealt with certain
cases which were reserved as episcopal causes.* It
also had a general jurisdiction in all matters of
ecclesiastical cognizance. The proceedings in it
were entirely documentary, sometimes by written
plea or answer, but generally by evidence committed
to writing. In some cases, e.g., where sentence of
deprivation on a clergyman was to be pronounced.
right of tithes " was declared to be properly cognizable in the
Court of Exchequer, the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Court
being then confined to enforcing the paj'ment of them (Statutes,
vol. i. p. 322). -'= Sodor and Man, p. 102.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 8G3
the bishop's personal presence was required, in
others, his virtual presence by his vicars-general was
sufficient.*
As to the working of these ecclesiastical courts ^vn^o^.g
generally. Bishop Wilson comments : "In matters eccreSasUcai^
spiritual, it is easy to observe very many footsteps of
primitive discipline and integrity ; offenders are
neither overlooked nor treated with imperiousness ;
if they suffer for their crimes, it is rarely in their
purses, unless they are very obstinate, and relapse
into their former or other great offences. As for civil
offences that come before these courts, they are
soon dispatched, and almost without any charge."!
The ecclesiastical courts acquired more extensive They had
■1 greater power
powers in Man than in England,! inasmuch as it En^iand^^"^ ^"^
not only belonged to them to determine the validity of
vnlls, and to grant administrations, but to sustain all
causes respecting them, or concerning the legacies or
the debts of the deceased, within one year and a day
from the probate of the will, or granting of adminis-
tration ; § and likewise all suits against executors
* The bishop and the other barons held courts for their
baronies. As their constitution is similar to that of the civil
courts, they are discussed in Ch. I. pp. 755-6.
f Manx Soc, vol. xviii. p. 117.
I " The ecclesiastical law of the island is in many respects
different from that of England ; and the ecclesiastical courts of
the island have a jurisdiction in temporal matters much more
extensive than that which was exercised by the EngUsh
ecclesiastical courts, at any rate since the Eeformation" (Sir
James Gell, in "Church Notes " (ilfa?zx Soc, vol. xxix. p. 36),
This was written before the changes in 1884.
§ And Ytdthin three years for foreign debts.
864 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
and administrators, as such, at any time within two
years from the cause of action. They also for divers
offences, besides inflicting Church censures, detained
the offenders in the ecclesiastical prison, which was
a subterraneous vault in the Castle of Peel, in order,
after an examination of a jury of six (whom they
were authorized to impanel), to be delivered, if
judged necessary, for further trial and punishment,
to the temporal power ; and not only did they com-
mit to their dungeon for the purpose of such deten-
tion, but confinement there was sometimes ordered,
by their definitive sentence, in affairs merely
spiritual.
The staff by which these laws were administered
consisted of the archdeacon, nominated by the lord,
and the two vicars-general, the diocesan registrar,
the archidiaconal registrar, and the sumner-general,
whose special duties we have already referred to.
We have already seen that some of these officers
had a share in the civil government of the island. In
1842, Bishop Short referred to the constitution of
Bishop Short's the Manx Church and its courts as follows : " It
account of the
Manx Church, seemed to resemble what an English diocese was
before the days of Charles I. There were no visita-
tions, but the bishop held an annual Convocation,
which could enact canons binding on the clergy m
foro conscienticB, but not in foro legali, till they were
confirmed by an Act of Tynwald. But as there was
no expense and little difficulty in passing an Act of
Tynwald, there would have been no practical hin-
drance to altering any of the local constitutions of
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 865
the Church. There was a great deal of parochial
discipline still kept in the island.* The ecclesiastical
courts not only regulated those subjects which are
brought before them in England, as marriages and
wills, but the administration of the property of the
deceased belonged to them for a year and a day. In
addition to this, as there were no poor-laws, the
whole provision for the poor was in the hands of the
churchwardens, as it was in England before the Act
of Elizabeth, t A collection was made in church
every Sunday, and the proceeds of this were adminis-
tered by them. When a poor person had relations
able to support him, and who neglected to do so,
these were brought before the ecclesiastical court as
neglecting a Christian duty, and the court settled
what allowance they should make. Such cases were
of frequent occurrence, and I never knew the right
of the poor relation denied, whatever excuse they
might plead for themselves. The temporal court
used to support the ecclesiastical by allowing persons
condemned by it to be sent to gaol ; and if they
would not go with the summoner, the governor was
asked to lend his assistance, and always did so ; but
I believe this practice has now been stopped." |
Since then the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical changes since
courts has almost disappeared. The first change time,
was the transference, by the Ecclesiastical Courts
* See note f p. 659.
f This still continues to be so as regards most of the country
districts and the town of Peel (see 690-1) .
I Short's Hisiorij of llie Church of Erifjland, Introduction,
pp. Ixiv-lxv.
866 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OP MAN
Act, of the jurisdiction of the archdeacon's court to
the episcopal court in 1874.* In 1884, by the Ecclesi-
astical Judicature Transfer Act,\ probate and other
jurisdiction as to the estates of deceadants, and all
jurisdiction in matrimonial matters, was transferred
from the ecclesiastical to the temporal courts,
district probate sessions being substituted for the
chapter courts. The jurisdiction that now re-
mains to the only ecclesiastical court, which is
presided over by the vicar-general, as representing
the bishop, is mainly concerning affiliation questions,
the swearing in of churchwardens, and the granting
faculties.
Among other changes, we may note that, by the
Church Act of 1880,+ four rural deaneries were
established, and commissioners were constituted as
trustees of endowments for Church purposes. This
Act was further amended in 1895, when a cathedral
chapter, with four canons, was constituted under the
name of the " Dean and Chapter of Man," the
bishop being the dean of the cathedral church.
Convocation still meets on the Thursday after
Whit-Sunday, and we may note that its power of
making canons, though not exercised since 1704, has
never been abrogated, so far affording a token that
the Manx Church is a separate National Church §
* Authority is left to the archdeacon " with reference to
visitations, or," what is judiciously styled " the performance of
other duties pertaining by the laws ecclesiastical to the office of
Archdeacon" {Statutes, vol. iv. p. 329).
f Ibid., vol. V. pp. 352-73. [ Ibid., pp. 58-76.
§ As proofs of this see Bishop Wilson's special prayers
THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION 867
governed by its own laws,* which, however, must be
approved by the insular Legislature.!
(Sodor and Man, pp. 226-7), and note that special prayers for
the insular Legislature in 1889, and with reference to the war
in South Africa, in 1900, were put forth by Bishops Bardsley
and Straton respectively.
'■^- It should be noted, however, that canons passed by the
Convocation at York are binding on the Manx clergy.
f Sir James Gell has shown in " Church Notes" (Manx Soc,
vol. xxix. pp. 40-1) " that the Insular Legislature has hitherto
exercised full control over the temporalities of the Bishop and
Clergy within the Isle, and jurisdiction as to the regulation
of . . . the external affau-s of the Church in the Isle of Man."
BOOK VII
THE LAND QUESTION AND ITS SETTLE-
MENT
THE LAND QUESTION AND ITS SETTLE-
MENT
WE have already indicated the ways in which
land in the Isle of Man was probably, for the
most part, divided as late as about the end of the
sixteenth century, and have endeavoured to describe
the tenure upon which it had been held up to the
accession of the Stanleys in 1405. At that date, fSyfunder
except for some spiritual baronies, it would seem ^Int^^^'^
to have been the lord's demesne, and the grant by
King Henry IV. to Sir John Stanley, in 1406, left it
in the same position, since it constituted him the
superior lord of the island, the greater part of which
was held by his immediate tenants. Another part
was freehold, and was held by the bishop, the Abbot
of Kushen, and other barons,* by fealty, while the
-•= I.e., the abbey lands of Rushen, Malew, Braddan, Lonan,
and Lezayre. The baronies of St. Trmian's in Marown, of
Bangor and Sabhal in Patrick, of the bishop in MaroAvn,
Braddan, Patrick, Ballaugh, Michael and Jurby (the bishop's
demesne was in Ballaugh and Michael, and his baronies in the
other parishes), of St. Bees in Maughold and the " Stafif
Lands " in the same parish. The Abbot of Rushen, the Prior
of Douglas, the bishop and the other barons were mesne lords
whose tenants rendered them similar payments and services to
those which the lord received from his tenants.
871
872
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
remainder consisted of the castles and unrented, or
waste, lands. When the monastery of Rushen and the
priory of Douglas were dissolved, their lands were
vested in the Crown. In 1609, * the Crown trans-
ferred them to the Stanleys, who, at some unknown
period, had also obtained possession of the other
baronies, except those of the bishop, of St. Bees,
which fell into the hands of the Christians of Miln-
town, and of the " Staff Lands." f The Revesting
The Crown Act made no difference in the position of the Atholls
purchased
t^e^se rights in with regard to the land, their manorial rights over
which they sold, in 1826, 1 to the Crown. In 1860,
by the " Disafforesting Act," § a part of the waste, or
demesne, lands thus acquired was sold, || another part
being allotted to the Crown and the rest to the owners
of customary lands in lieu of rights of common. Such
being the various changes which have taken place,
the different classes of estates in the Isle of Man at
the present day are : —
Different
classes of
estates at the
present day.
(1) The ancient customary estates, including the
abbey lands and baronies, excepting
(2) The bishop's barony and demesne, the barony
of St. Bees, and the " Staff Lands."
(3) The waste lands called " The Forest," oper-
ated upon by the " Disafforesting Act " of 1860.
* Act of 7 James I.
f Probably formerly subject to the customary service of
caring for the pastoral staff of the Saint (Maughold) to whom
the parish church was dedicated and of producing it for pro-
cessions when required.
I By 6 Geo. IV. c. 34. The purchase was not complete till
1829. § Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 78-89.
To pay expenses.
THE LAND QUESTION 873
(4) Estates created out of the estates of the
Crown by freehold grants from the Commissioners
of Woods and Forests.
(5) Lands (not included in " The Forest ") still in
the hands of the Crown. *
The estates in the first two classes are divided
into (1) farm-lands or quarter-lands, t which are the
principal estates of the country, and average from
40 to 150 acres in size ; (2) mills, &c. ; (3) cottages,
i.e., plots of land in towns and villages and a few
small plots in the country adjoining quarter-lands.
Intacks, or parts of the forest or common and other
waste lands, which, from time to time, have been
licensed by the lord or his officers to be enclosed, X
form a further division in the lord's lands, but not
in the abbey lands and baronies. In considering
the nature of the tenure upon which these estates
were and are held, it is only necessary to refer to
the first two classes, since they cover much the
largest part of the island. What the tenure was in
* Manx Law Temires, by Richard Sherwood (late deemster),
pp. 5-6. For an interestmg account of the tenure of the
baronies and the " Staff Lands " see ibid. pp. 2 and 14-17.
\ It is not known when the title " quarter," or fourth part
of a treen, was first used instead of ireen, as the alternative
name for a balla or farm-land. In 1593 the term " quarter of
land " is used, and, in 1645, " Fanii-Lands or Quarter Lands."
(See Statutes, vol. i. pp. 64, 100.)
I This power, saj's Sherwood (Manx Soc, vol. xxxi. p. 53,
note 46), is expressly referred to in the Statute of 1422 {Statutes,
vol. i. p. 14), by the expression " setting of lands," and nearly
all the intacks of the island have their titles founded on it.
874 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The nature of
the service of
Manx villeins
and cotters.
the fifteenth century may be indicated by describing
the way in which the lord probably arranged for the
cultivation of the land at that epoch. In England,
during that century, the manors were cultivated,
either by the unpaid labour of villeins, who, in
return, had a portion of them for their own use free
of rent, or by the paid services of labourers who
were practically, though not nominally, free. Each
labourer probably had a cottage, "wdth a small
piece of land attached, for which he paid a money
rent.
In Man, the lord does not, in the Stanleys' time,
seem to have cultivated any part of his demesne,
except occasionally, when he failed to get tenants.
The Manx villeins, therefore, did their services
by paying certain customary dues in kind, such as
corn, cattle, turf, and fish, which were appropriated
to the maintenance of the garrisons * of the insular
castles as well as of the lord's household both in
Man and England; by doing a certain number of
days' labour t in each year in repairing the castles
and highroads ; and, in the third place, after 1511
at least, by pajang a fixed rent, the amount of
which was estimated in money, though it seems to
have been usually paid half in money and half in
kind
+
• 4-
Those whose holdincrs were very small were called
■■'• Statutes, vol. i. p. 62.
f See under " Revenue," pp. 318-21.
I Rolls Office (Loose Papers). Replies to queries by Lord
Derb}- in 1705. Between 1601 and 1608 it was paid in money
onlv.
THE LAND QUESTION 875
cotters, * and performed similar services, though less
in amount. They were mainly settled on the
"Abbey Lands," and, doubtless, till the dissolution
of Kushen Abbey, f most of their time was employed
in cultivating the abbey estates, while the cotters
who were on the lord's land appear to have supplied
all the labour that was required by the tenants, since
it is probable that there was no landless labouring
class I till after the monks disappeared. In return
for these services, and the rent, the tenants occupied
their lands for as long as the lord chose. They l^od^fyjng
were, in fact, tenants-at-will. But this base tenure ^^^^^^^ *^'^">'®'
must in practice have been much less oppressive
than it was in theory, on account of the difficulty in
getting tenants, of which there is evidence in the
laws prohibiting any one leaving the island without
licence, compelling the tenants to occupy and
manure their land, and ensuring them a supply of
labourers. § It must be remembered, too, that
though, according to the Statute Book in 1422,
the land was re-allotted to the tenants annually, 1|
this meant very little more than the interchange of
=•= The name " cotter " would lead as to infer that they were
originally the saixie as the cotarii ofi the English Records, a
class inferior to the villeins.
f The abbey lands were held on similar conditions, except
that a large proportion of them seem to have been cultivated
by the cotters for the monks direct, instead of for the tenants.
I Under the joint-tenancy system (see p. 52) this would
naturally be the case.
§ So that the lord's lands should " not fall to decay "
{Statutes, vol. i. pp. 5, 14, 51, and 55).
II Ibid., vol. i. p. 14.
876 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Which
developed into
a copyhold
called the
tenure of the
straw.
An entry on
the court rolls
ensured its
validity.
the different parts of the treens between very
much the same joint-tenants, * as is shown by the
long-continued recurrence of the same names in the
manorial books.! Such being the state of affairs, the
tenure-at-will speedily developed into a sort of copy-
hold tenure, called the " tenure of the straw," |
because, when any tenant "had seized his lands into
the lord's hands or else had alienated the same unto
any other person, he was to come into the [manorial]
court and make resignation thereof by delivering of
a straw and thereupon a record was to be entered
of the same which was all the assurance the suc-
ceeding tenant had of the estate in nature of a copy-
hold which was also held sufficient evidence to his
holding without any other escript." § The earliest
>\- For evidence of the existence of this form of tenancy see
pp. 52-4. The introduction of leases at the end of the
sixteenth century and the partial payment of rents in money
instead of in kind, which became usual at the same time, would
probably tend to bring it to an end.
f In connexion with the same farms.
I Statutes, vol. i. p. 51.
§ Lib. Scacc, 1636. "Like most of the tenant right and
copyhold estates in England, the ancient Manx tenure was not
in form originally a fee-simple interest. From the earliest of
the manorial records now existing in the island, it is manifest
thatthetenure was, as to its form, a leasehold interest . . . not-
withstanding the form of the holding, the custom of the country
as recognized by customary laws and decisions of the Courts
construed the tenm'e to be in effect an estate of inheritance
descendable from ancestor to heir, and as such the estates were
held from generation to generation " {Manx Law Tenures,
pp. 7-8). An estate analogous to a fee-simple estate had in
fact been evolved out of a perpetually renewable lease, until at
last the very form of holding by lease disappeared.
THE LAND QUESTION 877
surviving records of this kind, or court rolls, which
were compiled in the Manorial or Sheading Courts,*
date from 1511, for the south of the island, and from
1515, for the north. In these are inscribed the
names of the tenants of each treen, together with the
amount of rent payable by them.f
The tenants, then, held their lands by admission
and entry I upon these Kolls, and, as time went on,
they obtained a fixed tenure. Indeed, we find that The tenants
•' ' began to
they gradually began to consider their estates as their est^a^^th^r
own, and to sell and exchange them without any
licence from the lord. This custom, which probably
became established owing to the negligence of the
governors, in the absence of the lord, was temporarily
stopped, in 1582, by an ordinance that lands were not
to be alienated except by the lord's licence, issued
by the Council, without the consent of the Keys ; §
and, in 1593, a blow was struck at the straw tenure
by Earl Ferdinando's order that, " If any person shall
pretend title to any farme, houses or ground . . . and
do not exhibit his bill in writing for the same . . .
whereby it may be entered of Kecord within the
space of twenty-one years next after he or his
ancestors have been dispossessed thereof, that then
he or his successors claiming after him to be utterly
excluded and barred from making any title thereunto
for ever." ||
'■"'• For a description of these courts see pp. 752-3.
f For dues in kind payable by them sec pp. 874 and
318-21. I Appendix A.
§ Statutes, vol. i. p. 58. || Ibid., vol. i. p. 62.
VOL. II. 57
878 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Another change was initiated in 1601, when there
was a "great death of cattle and horses," * so that the
inhabitants were "not able as before to pay their usual
customes of corne victual and fyer unto the garri-
sons of the said Isle the Countrey not having pro-
vision for beeives nor yet horses for carriage of ther
Arrangements turffc and liugc as heartoforc." * It was, therefore,
in 1601 and 1608. "^ ' '
arranged that, instead of these customs, they were
" thensforth to paie yearly for their usual quarters
of customarye land a duble rent in money," and
only half the usual amount of " settinge corne," *
This arrangement, however, only continued till 1608,
when the exact amount payable by each parish in
lieu of the customs to the castles was fixed by the
Commission held by Kichard Hoper,t and from that
time the customs were paid either in kind or in
money, at the option of the tenants.
Some years before this, probably partly in conse-
quence of the ordinance of 1582, the practice of
taking leases for three lives, or even shorter periods,
became more general,! though there are a few
'■' Botul. and Manx Note Booh, vol. i. pp. 61-4.
f See p. 319.
\ There are several instances of this in the manorial books.
Thus, in 1613, "Henry Clarke and his fellows" paid rent for
the quarter of ground " for which they had before paid a bene-
volence and now betake themselves to hold by lease." " Wm.
Norris, Clerk, one of the Vicars-General of the Isle," took the
parcel of land near Douglas, called " Kyrmyn's Ground," for
" the term of 6 years to begin at Michaelmas next, 1610," at a
rent of £S 6s. 8d., and " to pay for a fine at the Feast of All
Saints next coming the sum of ^8 6s. 8d." {Lib. Vast.). Some
particulars about leases at this time are to be found in a
valuation made by Ellis and Hoper in 1608, and in " a Book
THE LAND QUESTION 870
instances of leases having been taken as early as
1542.*
But, in 1609, the ordinance of 1582 seems to have
been practically cancelled by James I., who, by
letters patent under the great seal of England,! con-
firmed the rights of the inhabitants to sell or transfer
any of their estates, real or personal, at pleasure, and
declared that any law or custom permitting the free
alienation of their properties should remain in full
force, t Leases, notwithstanding, continued to in-
crease in numbers, which shows that some of the
tenants at least had no fear that the acceptance of
them would affect the nature of their holdings.
Some, however, who were more cautious, declined
to make any change, and others arranged to get rid
of the leases which they had previously signed by
containing the particular grants of the leases from Michaelmas,
1610 . . . made by John Ireland Lieutenant of the Isle and
Richard Hoper by virtue of a commission to them in that
behalf directed by the Right Honoble. Robt Earle of Salisbury
and Treasm-er of England and Thos Earle of Suffolk and
Chamberlain of His Majesty's household interested in the State
of the Isle by His Highnesses Letters Patent bearing date the
1st day of July 1610 " (Knowsley Muniments, i^')-
* In a book in the Records, dated 1609, and entitled " a
Breefe Collection of all such Leases within the Isle of Man as
have been formerly granted by some of the Earls of Derby to
the Inhabitants thereof, with their several dates, what acres
they do contain, what rents are vested, what estates are in
being," &c., we find that there had been thirty-nine leases taken
for three lives, twenty of which had expired by 1609. The
earUest of these leases dates from 1542, and tlie latest from
1592, but twenty-six of them are dated between 1582 and 1592.
f Appendix D.
\ " Rot. Pat." (Manx Soc, vol. ix. pp. 122-5. See Appendix B).
880 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
paying a fine to the lord for permission " to hould
by the straw."*
In 1630, Lord Strange endeavoured to put an end
to this anomalous state of things by sending over
commissioners to arrange leases in lieu of the straw
tenure throughout the island. They, however,
accomplished very little,! because most of the
tenants refused to give up their ancient tenure,
which Lord Strange writes of as " a certain holding
. . . whereby men think their dwellings are their
own ancient inheritances, and [that they] may pass
the same to any, and dispose thereof without license
of the Lord, but paying him a bare small rent, like
unto a fee-farm in England ; " but he adds, signifi-
cantly, "wherein they are much deceived."! On
his arrival in the island, in 1643, he appointed a
Commission of four of his principal officers to arrange
the question of the tenure, and he authorized them
to offer (in a way which savoured of coercion)§ leases
for three lives, or twenty-one years to those who still
held "by the straw," on condition of their paying
fines ii and a double rent, in return for which they
were to receive certain remissions I| not made in
previous leases. In 1645, this arrangement was
■'■■ See Li^. Vast., 1610, where arrangements of this kmd were
made by " Ewan Christian, Deemster," and others, with Edward
Rigby, commissioner.
f We know this from the Records (Lib. Scacc), and Lord
Strange remarked that they were " ill chosen," and had " merry
times and bad reckonings." Derby {Manx Soc, vol. iii.
pp. 41, 43.)
I Ibid., vol. iii. p. 47. § Appendix C.
II We shall refer to these more particularly later.
THE LAND QUESTION 881
sanctioned by Act of Tynwald, with a proviso saving
the rights of inheritance and partial ov\^nership to
the tenants, " according to the antient and usuall
customary lawes of the island." * By the same
Act alienation without the consent of the lord was
declared illegal, notwithstanding the order of King
James to the contrary, in 1609, but, as we shall see,
constant difdculties arose in enforcing this law.
With reference to these rights of inheritance it was i^bl^rfto^ce'^of
then placed on record that, in conformity with the '^'"^' "'"'^'^■
customary laws, the quarter-lands, itc, descended to
the eldest son, or, in default, to the eldest daughter,
" and in default of such to the next of kindred and
to no other child or children, person or persons what-
soever, except it be by gift, grant, or assignment in
case of poverty." f At the same time, the lord's
interests were carefully provided for by giving him,
in addition to the power of forfeiture, which he
previously possessed, the " right to comitt the bodies
or take the pawnes of such person or persons as shall
be behind with their rents." I
In 1647, the order of 1593 making the limitation
of claims to lands twenty-one years was confirmed
by Act of Tynwald, and the clause in the Act of
1637 making it five years was repealed. § We now
return to the question of the leases. A recent writer
considers that " the granting of these leases was a
considerable benefit to the tenants, as, in considera-
* Statutes, vol. i. p. 100.
f Ibid., vol. i. p. 100. (See Appendix D.)
I Ibid, vol. i. p. 101. J Ibid., vol. i. p. 104.
882 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
tion of the double rent, they got rid of several heavy
customary burdens, amongst others the delivery of
a beef annually to the Castles from each quarter-land,
and the Lord's right of pre-emption or being
victualled at a certain price, and also payment of
benevolences." * As far as the release from these
burdens is concerned, these leases were certainly
more advantageous to the tenants than those entered
into by them before 1643 ; and we find that the
tenants, tempted by this, alarmed by the allegation
that, under the tenure of the straw, "they were but
tenants at will, and might be put out at the pleasure
of the lord," f and persuaded that, by taking these
leases, "both they, their wives, and children, were
sure of the same during any of their lives," I became
leaseholders in considerable numbers. I This is the
explanation of their action given by a contemporary
observer, but there is no doubt some force also in
Deemster Sherwood's contention that the tenants
believed that the leases " did not affect the nature of
their holdings," and that such leases " were in effect
lettings of the customary burdens at fixed rents in
money." § Another inducement to the tenants to
become leaseholders was afforded by the action of
certain of the lord's officers, who took leases by his
orders. The first hint that the new position of the
tenants was not a secure one came in 1650, when
* Manx Laiv Tenures, p. 8. f Appendix C.
\ The amount (j62,869) paid by them in fines is sufficient
evidence of this. The abbey tenants did not take these leases
till 1666, when they were practically forced to do so {Statutes,
vol. i. p. 163). j Manx Law Tenures, pp. 8-9.
THE LAND QUESTION 883
certain officers who had formerly taken leases re-
ceived their lands ''for ever under and upon the
rent, services, duties, and cutomes heretofore usual,"
upon the condition that in the future they should be
" liable and bound for their holdings under such
conditions as may be agreed upon by the Earl and
his heirs and the people of the Isle."* An Act of
Tynwald was passed to confirm this grant, t A
further step was taken in the following year, when
some of the officers were allowed to revert to the
straw tenure ; | during Lord Fairfax's time also
several compositions were paid for this privilege. §
No wonder, then, that the tenants began to
perceive that they had been deceived. They had,
* Mills {Statutes, pp. 505-6).
f This Act is only given by Mills, not by Gill. It is signed
by "John Greenhalghe, Will Christian, John Christian, Robt.
Calcote " (members of the Comicil) and nineteen " Keys."
I A notable case was that of Richard Stevenson, whose
estates of Balladoole, Scai-lett, and the Calf Island were, in
1654, granted to him by the Countess of Derby " to hould to
him, his heirs and assigns according to ancient custom and
holding by tenant right in this Isle called ' the tenure of the
straw ' for ever " {Lib. Scacc).
§ The following is a specimen of these : —
" Anno 1660. At Castletown. Compositones made the viii"*
of March 1660
Straw tenor \ John Quayle for iiij^ rent^
Whether that was not parcell of the quarter
in lease before an- 1 of Ballaknickle to
tiently 19th July 1659. ' hould by tenor of the
Received this the said straw payd now for
day and yeare j the considerac^on
Received this ijs fyne from John Quayle "
(Loose Papers. RoUs Office)
ij^ to be paid
at Michuil-
mas next
884 HISTORY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
in fact, by accepting the leases, lost their customary
right of inheritance, and the lord, after the Restora-
tion, lost no time in disputing the permanency of
tbeTenm^*^ °* their holding. " The consequence of this was general
dissatisfaction and constant disputes, and an almost
open rebellion against the authority of the lord."*
The first case in which this state of affairs came to
a definite issue was that of John Lace, who claimed
the estate of Hango Hill, of which he seems to have
been dispossessed by the late earl. This case was,
in 166G, referred to the Keys, who decided that Lace
was entitled to continue to hold the land, which he had
re-occupied after 1651, or to receive compensation t
for having been again deprived of it in 1664, when
it was granted to Bishop Barrow. | Earl Charles
was much annoyed by this decision, and told the
Keys that he would have " no more of these kind of
practises," § and that, if they persisted in such
conduct, he would express his dislike in a way which
he was sure would not be " pleasing "§ to them.
The Keys, or a majority of them, continued obdu-
rate, and refused to subscribe a paper wherein it
was stated that John Lace's title was not estab-
lished. The earl thereupon wrote: "Having too
great an evidence of the unquiet and factious humour
that rules in severall of my 24 Keys . . . and finding
='= Manx Law Tenures, p. 10.
t Lib. Scacc. He claimed ^60.
I Ibid. In making their report the Keys quoted a promise
of the late earl alleged to have been as follows : " That at his
Departure out of the Isle when his Honor was restored to his
own that the said Lace should have his Lands again." § Ibid.
THE LAND QUESTION 885
they endeavour to establish a right to their Farms in
themselves not only to the overthrow of my just
dues and prerogatives in the Island, while they
challenge an unlimited title to their own tenements
beyond the term of their leases ... it is my will
and comand to all my officers that the estates of
the foresaid persons be att the expiration of their
leases seized upon for my use and none of them be
admitted to compound for their estates without
speciall licence obtained under my hand . . . and I
also require that the foresaid psons shall be put out
of all places of office and comand in the Island." *
This threat frightened the Keys, who signed a cer-
tificate stating that the grant to Bishop Barrow was
effectual as against the title set up by John Lace.t
But, though there was submission for a time, the
difficulty with regard to the title to land continued,
and the uncertainty of tenure caused by the lord's
claim that he had the right to dispose of all the
lands, on the expiration of the leases, to others than
the former lessees, together with the alleged impos-
sibility of working the land at a profit if any rent
was paid t and the attractions of smuggling, § re-
sulted in many of the farms being abandoned.;!
* Lib. Scacc.
t The Laces, however, still contested the question, and it
was finally compromised in 1728 by a deed of release from
Stephen Lace to the trustees of Bishop Barrow's Fund for the
consideration money of £161 15s.
I See pp. 923-4.
§ Pp. 428-32.
II Some few of these were cultivated by the lord, but many
went out of cultivation altogether.
886 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
The lord
succeeds in
enforcing
alienation
tines.
Further trouble, too, had arisen about the aHenation
fines, which the tenants refused to pay, declaring
that they were not in accordance with their ancient
customary tenure and that they had only been
granted in the form of benevolences to the lord
when he was in especial need. In this respect,
however, the lord was able, after some delay, to
enforce his demand in 1673, by inducing Tynwald
to confirm the Ordinance of 1582 and the Statute of
1645, which ordered that "no manner of person or
persons whatsoever shall give, grant, or assigne, any
Lands or Tenements within this Isle, without the
special lycence of the Lord of the said Isle, or of
the Officers thereof." * Tradition has it that the
tenants were so discontented with this state of
affairs that the Keys, as representing them, went
to London to interview King James 11. t This
expedition has been regarded as apocryphal, but its
occurrence receives some confirmation from an entry
in the Exchequer Book in 1703 to the effect that some
years before " the Keys went over to England." I
-■'• Statutes, vol. i. p. 135. (Eepealed by Act of Settlement.)
There are numerous entries in the Records at this time of
licences to alienate, and of conveyances rendered void by not
having been confirmed by the lord. The tenants had to pay for
these licences.
f In the words of the song : —
Tra harrish Sostj'n,
Va Ree Jamj's reill,
Iviare-as-feed ayns charra-
neyn
Hie gys Lunnin ny whail."
t Lib. Scacc.
" When over England,
King James did rule,
The 24 in carranes
Went to London to meet
him."
THE LAND QUESTION 887
But, whether this expedition took place or not,
it is clear that the difficulty of obtaining tenants
continued, and it led Earl William, in 1692, to
appoint commissioners,* not only to manage the
insular revenue, but " to sett and lett all lands now
out of lease."* They do not, however, appear to °,iSur*
have met with any success, smce it is recorded, in
1693, that land in a number of parishes was sur-
rendered to the lord, the owners being unable to
pay rent.f The coroners were consequently ordered
to give notice at the parish churches " that whoso-
ever will come in and pay most to our Honourable
Lord for the said tenements shall be admitted
tenants." t No one, however, responded to this
invitation, and therefore, in 1699, Earl William
came to the island and issued a proclamation to
the effect that he intended settling the tenants "in
their several holdings and tenures," I and that he
had appointed Bishop Wilson to receive any pro-
posals they might have to make, with a view to
deciding the question. § Nothing, however, was
done till after his death in 1702, when he was
succeeded by his brother, James, who, on the 10th
* Lib. Irrot. The commissioners were Roger Kenyon,
William Sacheverell, John Rowe, and Richard Stevenson.
f Lib. Scacc.
I Ibid. He admitted "the great loss and uncertaintie "
there had been in having " things left so long under uncertain-
ties."
§ There being disputes about the rights of owTiership to some
farms, the earl took them mto his own hands, but declared that
he would malce compensation to the rightful owners when the
disputes were settled.
1704
888 HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
of June, 1703, in writing to the bishop, remarks
that " the sooner the Island can be settled on a good
bottom it will be mutch better for both the Island
and myself." * In consequence of this letter, Bishop
Wilson, with a deputation of three members of the
Keys,f proceeded to England to see the earl. They
made certain proposals, which were, with one excep-
lettiementin ^ion, accepted by him. An Act, called the "Act of
Settlement," embodying these proposals, was passed
on the 4th of February following, and it was
promulgated at Tynwald on the 6th of June. It
is a compact, like Magna Charta, between a feudal
sovereign and his vassals. Its substance is briefly
as follows : The earl, on his part, declared and
confirmed to his tenants " their ancient customary
Estates of Inheritance in their respective Tenements,
descendable from Ancestor to Heir according to the
Laws and Customes of the Isle." I
* Lib. Scacc.
f Ewan Christian of Rlilntown, Ewan Christian of Lewaigue,
and John Stevenson of Ralladoole.
I Statutes, vol. i. p. 162. The preamble of this Act recites
the reasons for it as follows : " Whereas several! Disputes,
Questions, and Differences have heretofore arisen and been
contested between the Lords of the said Isle and their
Tennants touching their Estates, Tenures, Fines, Rents, Suites,
and Services, to the great Prejudice of the Lords, and Impover-
ishment of the Tennants and people there, who by that Means
have been discouraged from making such Improvements as
their Estates were and are capable of ; for the absolute and
perpetual ascertaining whereof, and the avoiding all Ambiguitys,
Doubts, and Questions that may or might at any Time hereafter
arise or grow touching or concerning the same. Proposals were
made unto the said James Earl of Derby, now Lord of the said
Isle" (Sfa^w^es, vol. i. p. 161).
THE LAND QUESTION 889
The tenants, on their part, covenanted to pay to
the earl " the same fines which they severally and
respectively paid for their several and respective
tenements ... at the Generall Fining" in 1643.*
If any of the lives v^ere still in being, then only two-
thirds of the general fine was to be paid. Upon any
future change by succession or alienation, one-third
of the same was to be paid, and, if it were by death
of a tenant, twelve months were to be allowed to
pay it in. Minor holdings, such as cottages,
"milnes" and intacks, were included under the
same rule, also the abbey lands, subject to the
payment of the same fines as in 1666, and to the
" yielding, paying, performing, and doing the
annuall rents, customes, suites, and servises as for-
merly and anciently accustomed." f
As regards the tenants of the lord's lands, it was
also agreed that the double money rents of the
quarter-lands, together with all other rents, suits,
and services, were to be paid as arranged in 1643.
But no change was made in the money rents of the
tenants of the abbey lands, who continued to pay
the single rent in money, but, since their money
commutation for the customary payments in kind I
was from time to time increased in value, their rents
are practically equivalent to those of the tenants of
the lord's lands.
=:= Statutes, vol. i. p. 162. f Ibid., p. 163.
I No formal commutation for these customary payments in
kind has ever been made, and some of the tenants in the
Lezayre abbey lands still pay in kind. These payments do
not now exist in the lord's lands.
890 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Gifts, even to children, and mortgages, were to be
treated as alienations, but the mortgagor was to be
allowed twenty-one years from the date of his mort-
gage for his chance of redeeming. Clauses were
subjoined bringing under the same rules any in-
closures or mills hitherto uncharged, or that might
come into existence in the future. Some special
cases were then provided for ; and it was arranged
that all payments were to be in Manx currency, and
that they were to be made within eighteen months
after the passing of the Act. The Setting Quests
in each parish had to see that the tenants' names
were duly entered in the Court Eolls. Then came
the enacting clauses to the effect that the before-
recited proposals should be law, and that the titles
founded on them should remain good and firm, as
against all manner of claimants. All existing dues
and interests were reserved to the owners, and the
military service due in time of war was expressly
continued. A supplementary and explanatory Act
was passed at the same time, by which it was
enacted — (1) That "carriages" should be paid "as
formerly accustomed, i.e., four carriages from every
quarter of Land." * (2) That fraudulent bargains
for letting lands, &c., for security of money, "under
other notions than that of a mortgage," f to defraud
the lord of a fine, should be considered as mort-
gages, unless the Court of Chancery decided other-
'■^'- Statides, vol. i. p. 172. For explanation of carriages, see
under Boon Services, Book II. chap. iv. § 8.
f Statutes, vol. i. p. 173.
THE LAND QUESTION 891
wise. (3) That the intacks and cottages bordering
the roads, which had been occupied without leave,
should be annexed to the farms and tenements next
adjoining, their occupiers to become sub-tenants, or
to retire, with such compensation as the Court of
Chancery should fix. If, however, no complaint
was made within eighteen months, they were not
liable to removal. (4) That, though all mines and
quarries were reserved for the lord, yet the tenant
was to have the right of raising stone, slate, or lime-
stone for his own or his neighbour's use, but not for
the general market, without a special licence. This "^^s
"^ ^ re-enacted in
Act, with the explanatory Act, was re-enacted and ^"'^•
confirmed in 1777, with the consent of the Crown,*
and it is to this day considered the basis of the tenure
of all the Manx customary estates, except those of
the barony tenants.! The tenure thus established Nature of the
tenure thus
is referred to by the learned Deemster Sherwood as established.
" that ameliorated species of copyhold called cus-
tomary freehold, similar in many respects to the
tenant-right or customary freehold tenure prevailing
in the North of England." I The customary tenant
or owner is, in fact, " entitled to an estate, freehold
in quantity, but not in quality, and to the complete
enjoyment of the land, subject only to the reserva-
tions referred to, and to the payment of the annual
chief rent and a small fixed fine on every alienation
* For the attempts of the fourth Dulie of Atholl to upset
part of this Act, see Book IV. chap. i. pp. 531-4.
f See Appendix E.
I Manx Law Tenures, pp. 11-12.
892 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
and descent,* and to the other customary burdens f
not compounded for in the original payment of
double rent." I Thus was one of the most impor-
* After the passing of the " Act of Settlement," which repealed
the portions of the Acts of 1645 and 1673 referring to ahenation,
it was, according to Deemster Sherwood, doubtful whether or
not the tenant had an iincontroUable power of ahenation. In
1746, it was decided by Deemster Myh-ea that the Lord's con-
firmation was necessary to render alienations vahd, and the
precepts for holding the Baron or Manorial courts, till recently,
contained notices affirming this, though there appears to be no
instance since 1704 of an alienation having been made void for
want of confirmation. One of the claims set up by the Duke
of AthoU in 1780 and 1791 (he contended that the Manx tenures
were base and that no one could alienate without a licence
from the lord) was to this supposed right of confirmation, and
it was not till 1844 that it was finally settled by a decision of
the Privy Council that under the " Act of Settlement," tenants
were entitled to alienate their lands without confirmation by
the lord (Manx Law Tenures, pp. 32-5). In the Bishop's
barony there are no alienation fines, but there is one payable
on the installation of each bishop, consisting of an ox or colt
from each quarter-land.
I The only one of these burdens now remaining which is of
any consequence is the liability of the owners of each quarter-
land to serve in I'otation as moars. The duty of the moar, or
his deputy, is to collect the rents and fines of the lord's lands
in his parish, and, if he fail to do so, his estate is liable to the
lord for them. The abbey and barony tenants, except those of
the bishop's barony, are also liable to a similar office, called
" scrjeantship." The bishop appoints his own serjcant. The
moars and Serjeants are sworn in at the baron courts. If a
quarterland is divided between several owners, the largest
owner is usually selected as moar, or serjeant. He is, how-
ever, entitled to receive a contribution from the other owners
in proportion to the lord's or abbey rent of their holdings, and,
in case of his failure to carry out the duties of his office, the
quarter-land is liable to the lord for the amount of the rents
and fines. | Ibid., p. 12.
THE LAND QUESTION 893
tant grievances of the tenants settled. But several
others remained. The first of these was the attempt JJest?on.°'''°'
of the lord to get a rent from the commons, or
mountain, lands. These lands, though belonging
to him, had hitherto been open to the landed
proprietors * for grazing, quarrying, and cutting
turf at a nominal charge.! Great, therefore, was
the indignation excited when, in 1710, Lord Derby-
had an assessment of the commons made in order
to enforce payment of a rent, and those who were
employed in making the assessment were prevented
from doing so by a number of people, chiefly the
small proprietors or crofters. But, though the
leaders I in this affair were fined and imprisoned.
Lord Derby gave up the plan of enforcing a rent,
and, instead, began enclosing some of the commons'
lands and selling them. This, seeing that the land-
owners had come to consider the mountain lands as
their own, was a still further grievance, and the
feeling thus aroused culminated, in 1724, in a riot,§
* I.e., the lord's tenants. We will, in future, call them land-
owner.s.
f In 1577, the rent for taking turf from the lord's " Forest "
was ^d. per annum; and for grazing stallions or bulls IM.
each was paid during the same period. Besides this, a fee of
^d. once in seven years (!) was due to the keepers of the gates
on the roads leading to the mountains {Statutes, vol. i. pp.
49-50).
I "William Kewley and 43 others {Lib. Scacc).
§ It appears from the evidence wliich was given that some
provisions which were being taken to the governor and his
party were stopped, and that "a mob with long sticks and
staves" threatened the governor, though he was accompanied
by a number of soldiers {Ibid.).
VOL. II. 58
894 HISTORY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
which broke out one day when the governor and
officers were in the mountains with a person who
was treating for some of the land. The ringleaders
of this riot were ultimately captured, placed in the
stocks and heavily fined. After this there was no
more trouble about the commons till 1774. Before
speaking of the renewal of this dispute, it will be
desirable to consider the other grievances of the
landowners.*
grievances In 1719, wc hear of a complaint made by the
the land. Keys to Lord Derby that "titles to Lands and
Tenements have of late been tryd other ways
than by the course of the common Law." f He
referred the question to the Council and Keys, who
agreed that in future titles to lands, &c., were not
"to be sent to the Lord, but to be commenced by
entering an action at common lawe at the sheadinge
court and that such action only shall be looked on
as a proper and sufficient claime . . . the process to
be by jury and traverse according to Lawe and
Custome, and the judgement of the 24 Keys in
such cases to be finall." t This decision was
assented to by Lord Derby. I Further grievances
were the sequestration of some estates, the titles
of which were in dispute, the " granting licences to
enclose the lands of several persons under their
strand hedges, which they and their ancestors have
held time immemorial, allowing the inquests to
* I.e., the nominal tenants. f Lib. Scacc.
I Notwithstanding the agreement, this was again a cause of
complaint in 1723.
THE LAND QUESTION 895
proceed without summons, or notice given to the
parties . . . dismissing without just cause and
branding with infamy some of the inquest, and
obtruding others that may best serve their turn
... by which means people are deprived of their
unquestionable rights,"* and the " illegally dis-
possessing several persons of their lands and ways
and not allowing them the due course and benefit
of law for the prosecution and recovery of the
same."*
We do not learn how the various points in dispute seem to have
were settled, but it is probable that the landowners seiS''*'°'''^
attained most of their objects, because there is no
record of any further trouble about the payments of
lord's rents, which, as the value of money fell, and
the value of land increased, gradually became almost
nominal, and nothing has since occurred to disturb
the title of the landowners to their estates, which,
subject to the payment of lord's rent, was recog-
nized on the transfer of the manorial rights of the
Duke of Atholl to the Crown. f Such questions as
- Lib. Scacc, 1723.
f Upon this " the whole of the customary tenants of the
Island, including the customary tenants of the Abbey Lands and
of the baronies of St. Trinians and Bangor and Sabal (the
mterests of the mesne lords of which had long previously fallen
into the hands of the Crown) but excepting the Bishop's Baronies
and the Maughold Barony Lands [formerly belonging to St.
Bees, but laterly to the Christian family], became immediate
tenants of the Crown and so continue to the present time.
The Bishop and the proprietors of the Maughold Barony Lands
are therefore the only remaining representatives of the few
Ancient Freeholders or Barons of the Island " {Manx Lato
Tenures, pp. 4-5).
896 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
did arise concerning land * and its rental were
between the landowners and those to whom they
let their lands. That the new landlords, who
formed a majority in the Keys, took good care of
their own interests is shown by the passage of an
Act, in 1753, under which any one intending to sell
tenants' goods under execution had to pay the land-
lord a year's rent before it could be done, and no
sale of property was good against the landlord's
claim for rent,! and this, it was affirmed in 1777,
was to be paid in preference to all other debts. +
commons^ Wc now retum to the commons question. The
contou^(i ^'^ fourth Duke of Atholl granted numerous licences to
enclose portions of the commons, such enclosures
being called "Intacks."§ Some of these were
disputed, and, verdicts against them having been
* The only exception to this was in 1879, when the Crown
contested the right of the customary freeholders to the sand
and clay underhing their estates, but these wei'e firmly
estabhshed by the decision in the Ballaharra clay case. (For
full report see " Attorney-General for the Isle of Man v.
Mylchreest " in Law Reports. "Appeal Cases," vol. iv.
pp. 294-310.)
t Statutes, vol. i. pp. 275-6.
I Ibid., p. 306. Servants' wages were placed on the same
level. We may note that, in 1869, all real property was made
Uable to debts ; previously to this, quarter-lands "having passed
one descent " were not liable [Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 471-3),
and that, in 1871, all Acts passed authorizing the takmg of
lands for pubUc purposes were eonsoUdated in the "Lands
Clauses Act" {Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 514-50).
§ See note *, p. 900. The fact of the Great Enquest, which the
people considered as the guardian of their mterests in these
matters, not being in existence between 1777 and 1793, caused
more than ordinary dissatisfaction with these enclosures.
THE LAND QUESTION 807
supported by the Keys, were not carried out. Such
enclosures, however, continued under the Crown,
and no resistance was made to them till 1855, when
an unusually large portion was thus enclosed. The
Great Enquest refused to ratify this enclosure, on objections to
^ thoir being
the ground that "it would be predjudicial to and an enclosed.
infringement upon the rights of the public," * and
their action was fully endorsed by popular approval.
It is impossible to go fully into the arguments of
the opposing parties, but they may be briefly stated
as follows : The landowners admitted that the soil
of the unenclosed lands is vested in the Crown, but
they said that they had enjoyed immemorial rights
of common, of quarrying stone, and of digging sand
and gravel over and from such lands ; that, although
portions of them had been enclosed from time to
time under licences granted by the Lords of Man,
all such enclosures were made with the sanction of
the Great Enquest, f and that they could not be
made without the sanction of that body. The renlv The case for
•^ '-J the Crown
of the Crown was to the effect that it has the ex- ^''^*'^''-
elusive right of property in the minerals, &c.; that it
is entitled to certain forestal rights for the preser-
vation of game ; that it has a right to grant licences
to enclose (the functions of the Great Enquest
being confined to enquiring whether the enclosures
would be prejudicial to any public way, watercourse
- Pari. Papers (1859), Return to House of Commons, p. 8.
f The decision of the "Disafforesting Commissioners" was
adverse to the view that the Great Enquest had any right of
approval. But this decision is contrary to the opinion of
Deemster Parr and Manx lawyers generally.
S98 HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
or turbary); * that it is entitled to pasturage of the
unappropriated lands, qualified by the enjoyment
of such rights of common as any landowners might
be able to establish, and that the existing practice
for every person, whether a landowner or not, to
take the rights of common without stint is one
which is incapable of being defended as legal right,
'■''■ In this respect the contention of the Crown appears to
have been correct, since, according to Deemster Sherwood, the
customary method of obtaining an " Intack " was to apply to
the governor " who granted a licence authorizing the applicant
to enclose the parcel named in the licence, provided that the
Great Enquest of the Sheading in which the land lay should
first view the same, and in their return certify the quantity and
boundaries of it and also reserve the public highways, water-
courses, and turbaries. The licence contained a condition that
within a certain time the applicant should cause a rent to be
settled thereon, otherwise the licence to be void. Many licences
also contained a condition that the premises should be enclosed
within a certain time. The applicant, after obtaining this licence,
issued the necessary summons for convening the Great Enquest,
who on view of the premises made their return certifying the
quantity, and reserving all such roads, watercourses and turbaries
as they conceived necessary for the public interest. This being
completed, the party attended at the Court Baron and presented
his licence and return, whereupon an amiual quit-rent was set
upon the land by the Attorney-General or the Lord's Officer,
an entry was made upon the roll admitting the party as tenant
to the Lord of the land in question, and chargmg him with the
rent, which afterwards formed a portion of the regular rental of
the Parish ; and an alienation fine was also fixed on the land
in terms of the 7th clause of the Act of Settlement. Under
this entry the party became entitled as against the Lord to a
customary estate in fee simple in the lands." {Manx Law
Tenures, pp. 21-2.) The deemster (Ibid., p. 21) says that the
power of the governor to grant licences to enclose was derived
from the Statute of 1418, j 3, but this law seems rather obscure
and, in any case, it was repeated in 1737 {Statutes, vol. i.
pp. 4-5).
THE LAND QUESTION 899
because its existence is injurious to the interest of
those proprietors who may have vahd claims. The
only point in dispute that was easily settled was the
undoubted right of the Crown to the minerals, &c.
Since the other points were, for the most part,
obscure, and since there was no doubt that the
landowners had enjoyed a right of user, though it
may only have been on sufferance, the " Woods and
Forests" department, as representing the Crown,
offered to give them two-thirds of the land, while
retaining one-third. But this offer was clogged vnth
so many injurious conditions that it was rejected
by the Keys. Commissioners were then sent from
England to investigate the question, and, after
receiving their report, the "Woods and Forests"
offered to divide the commons equally between the
Crown and the landowners, and they withdrew the
objectionable conditions. This offer was accepted JJj^,^^^^^!*°°
by the Keys, * and, in 1860 and 1864, Acts of compromise in
Tynwald f were passed to enable the proposed
changes to take place. Commissioners were ap-
pointed by the Crown to examine the claims to
portions of the commons, and, when these were
decided, some receiving land and others money com-
pensation, a further portion of the commons was
■'• They had sent a deputation of two of their members, George
William Dumbell and William Farrant, to interview the com-
missioners in London, and they succeeded in obtaining more
favourable conditions for the Manx landowners.
+ "The Isle of Man Disafforesting Act, 1860," and the
" Compensation Act," 1864. (See Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 78-90
and 105-109.)
900
HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Notwith-
standing
more
opposition by
the crofters,
&c.
sold to pay expenses, and the remainder was divided
in accordance with the proposals of the Commis-
sioners.* Trustees, called "Commoners Trustees,"!
one from each Sheading, were appointed in 1866,1
to manage the property of the landowners and
the rents received by them were expended in
liquidating the lord's rents about once in three
years. These changes were not carried out without
opposition from the crofters and tenants. In May,
1864, they expelled an agent of the " Woods and
Forests," who went, with some police, to clear off
their sheep from the mountains, but a second ex-
pedition, headed by Governor Loch, who was accom-
panied by the garrison soldiers and a number of
police and special constables, overawed the country-
men gathered to oppose them and accomplished this
without serious opposition. And in this way the
question was settled. There still exists, among those
whose lands adjoin the mountains, much dissatis-
faction with this settlement, because they were
deprived of what had practically been a monopoly
* A map made for the Dakc of AthoU in 1827 put the
acreage of the forest at : Northern mountains, 19,601 acres ;
Southern, 8,320 acres; Ayre lands, 1,190 acres; The Mooragh,
33 acres. Total, 29,144 acres. From this the intacks claimed
" within the old Forest Wall," amounting to 3,445 acres, were
deducted, leaving 25,699 acres. Of this 8,573 acres were sold
to pay the expense of forming mountain roads, reahzing rather
morethanjE25, 000, the remainder being divided equally between
the landowners and the Crown. The amount of compensation
paid was £1,823 9s. 8d. to 69 persons.
f They must have an annual estate of ^£100 and go out of
office each year.
I Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 335-353.
THE LAND QUESTION 901
of free grazing on the mountains for a very inadequate
compensation, but the greater number of the owners
and tenants, who, as being remote from the moun-
tains, had not lost a right of any great practical
value, were not unfavourable to the change. More-
over, the manner of using the commons by those
adjacent to them was not economical, since it
encouraged sheep-stealing, overcrowding, and disease.
APPENDIX A.
The ancient mode of conveying customarj' lands was by a
verbal agreement and a symbolical surrender by delivery of a
straw by the grantor to the grantee. This was done at the
half-yearly manorial, or baron, courts, and the transaction was
recorded on the rolls of the court in tlic way stated below.
After a time, as dealings in land became more frequent, the
inconvenience of delaying the completion of the transaction till
the date of the manorial courts was more felt, and so convey-
ance by deed gradually became the custom, but this did not
supersede the practice of being entered on the rolls, =^ which
was necessary in order to furnish the moars with a list of the
tenants' names to enable them to collect the lord's rent. These
rolls consist of the following books, called the Manorial Books : f
(1) Libri Assedafionis, or Setting Books, being the rent rolls
containing the names of aU landowners and the rent which they
pay to the lord.j
* Manx Law Tenures, pp. 37-8. The non-entry of a grantee, how-
ever, does not now affect the validity of his title, though the Duke of
Atholl contended, in 1781, that " the constant evidence of inheritance in
the Isle of Man is an entry in the Lord's Court" (Pamphlet, 1783).
t These books were kept with the others referred to in Book VI. oh. i.
till 1765, when they were separated and placed in the seneschal's office.
The first of these hooks left on record, dated from the Castle of Rushen,
is the setting of the lands and tenements of Tliomas, P^arl of Derby,
before certain Commissioners, in May, 1511. It contains the particulars
of the rents in the Tjarishes of Malew, Arbory, Rushen, Santon, Mang-
hold, Lonan, Conchan, Braddan, Marown (Knowsley Muniments .^'-
aud Seneschal's Office). The first survey we have of the other parishes
is dated 1515.
902 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
(2) Libri Vastarum, or Wast Books, containing the admissions,
entries, and titles of landowners and the alienation fines and
rents paid by them.
(3) Composition Books, describing each particular tenement
and recording the fines paid at the Act of Settlement and at
other times.
(4) Libri Monasteriorum, or Abbey Books, containing the
rentals of the abbeys and of the various baronies."'
The method of being entered on the rolls has contmued to be
much the same since 1511, or, probably, even earlier. It takes
place at the baron or manorial (formerly sheading) courts, held
twice yearly by the seneschal of the lord proprietor, who is
now the English Sovereign, in the following manner : The
names of the sellers, or deceased proprietors, are dra^vl1 out of
the Liber Asseclationis, and the names of the purchasers, or
heirs, are entered in the Liber Vastaruvi, as well as their
respective titles, by which they are entered, ascertained, and
specified. Then from the Liber Vastaruvi a. new Liber Asseda-
tionis is made. In making these entries the governor, deemsters,
seneschal, or other officers, before the Revestment (after it the
seneschal was the sole ofiicer), were, and are, assisted by a jury
of four men in every parish, called a " Setting Quest." These
men, according to Hoper's report (Lib. Scacc, 1608), were
sworn " to aid and assist the Court in entering the said tenants'
names ; and that none be put upon the said rentals or Court
RoUs, but such as have a good title to the same, either by
tenant-right, purchase, will, or otherwise ; and such entries, so
made by the Court and Setting Quest, to be reputed and taken
of such force and validitj^ as that, in case any tenant's bill of
sale should happen to be lost or miscarry, the record being
fairly and fully expressed, the same is sufficient to make good
the sale as well as the title." By the 19th (MS.) customary law
" No traverse can be granted upon the verdicts or returns of
the setting quests, as upon other juries at common law." To
ensure their knowledge of the properties being up to date, it
was formerly the custom that " the moar of the present year
was to be of the setting quest of the year following " (Parr's
MS.), and, as a safeguard for secm-ing the lord's rent, they were
* The first survey of the abbey rents on record is dated October, 1607.
It was taken by Philip Leigheaud Edward Ellis (Knowsley Muniments
"^^•' and Seneschal's Office).
THE LAND QUESTION 903
compelled, if unfortunate enough to enter an insolvent tenant,
to make good the rent themselves. But these two provisions
are not now enforced. The oath administered to the setting
quest was as follows : " 'By the true Contents of that Book, and
all the miraculous Works that God performed in Six Days and
Seven Nights, you shall do Justice, you shall do no Falsehood,
for Fear or hoxe, Friendship, Affinity, Hatred or Malice, or for
the Sake of any worldly Gain. You are not to draw any
Person's Name out of the Setting Books or Rentals, but upon
the Death of a Tenant, and you are then to enter the Heir at
Law, or other Person to whom any Title may accrue by Deed,
Gift, Will, Decree, Settlement, or other Conveyance, and that
5'ou will do all Things appertaining to the office of Setting
Quest justly, truly and conscientiously, according to the Law
and Practice of this Isle. So help you God, and the Contents
of this Book" {Lib. Irrot.). The following will serve as a
specimen of these entries : —
" 1585.
rWillm. Quaill \
Nom. Jur. j Pat. Andrew |
Assed. Lib. 1 Wm. Maddrell
V Christ. Shimmin
Jur.
Grenabj' — Thomas Moore — Christopher Shimmin. Thomas
Moore by dehvereye of the Strawe in Court, acknowledgeth it
sould be Xpher Shimmin's for ever" (from Seneschal's Office).
The difference between the ancient Manx and English copy-
holds was that, in the Manx, the symbolical delivery by the
straw was from the old to the new tenant, and the bargain and
sale was made directly to the latter, the lord merely recog-
nizing his new tenant by enrolment on his rental books. In
the case of the English copyholds, the land was surrendered by
the accustomed symbol, the verge or rod ; there was no deed,
but the title of the new tenant depended upon a copy of the
surrender and admittance. At the present day there is, speak-
ing generally, scarcely any resemblance between tliem, though
it must be remembered that English copyholds vary consider-
ably in the different manors.
We wiU add a few words on the law relating to land and to
the modern method of transferring it. Before 1869 quarter-
land estates were only liable for the debts of their owners if
904 HISTOBY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
they had been purchased by them ; but, by the " Real Property "
Act, in that year, they were made liable, equally with intacks,
to be taken in the execution of the payment of debts.''' By the
" Wills " Act, in the same year, power was given to devise all
real property of whatsoever description by will. There is no
law of entail in the Isle of Man.f
The transfer of land can be effected at a very moderate cost.
The general devolution of the title is speedily ascertained by
reference to the manorial books, supplemented by the excellent
system of registration, which has been greatly improved from
time to time, especially in 1847.1 No charge on a property is
valid unless it is recorded in the Record office, and the
charges take precedence in accordance with the date of regis-
tration. The purchaser of a property is only liable for the
charges recorded on it at the time of the purchase, and these
are easily ascertained from indices which are open for examina-
tion without the payment of any fee. Copies of documents are
furnished on the payment of a small fee, and the originals, also,
are allowed to be examined under rules and regulations pro-
viding for their security.
APPENDIX B.
" The King to all to whom, &c., greeting. . . . Know ye that
we therefore by virtue and force of our said royal authority,
and of our special grace and mere will alone, have ordained,
constituted and established a firm and perpetual law, likewise
we grant and concede to aU and each of our subjects, and other
persons whatsoever living and residing, and who have any
inheritance in possession and rights, and goods, and chattels in
our said Island of Mann, or any part thereof belonging or
which now or hereafter may belong to them, that they, and
every of them, may transfer, alienate, grant, and demise both
the whole Island aforesaid as well as any part thereof ; and also
all and every the lands of inheritance, free tenements, rights,
goods, and chattels within the Island aforesaid, or any adjoin-
ing the same, by their deed or instrument, sealed and delivered
under their seal : And that such grant, alienation, or demise,
* Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 471-3. f Ibid., pp. 465-70.
\ Prior to the 14th of December, 1847, there was no statutory regula-
tion requiring the recording or registration of dt^eds affecting real estate
in the island. The custom of doing so nevertheless prevailed {Ibid.,
vol. ii. p. 183).
THE LAND QUESTION 905
shall be good, firm, valid, and effectual in law, according to the
tenor of the said deed or charter, without any other delivery of
seizin, or acknowledgment, or notary public, intervening; or
any other ceremony, solemnity, or form of right for that
purpose, to be further used or requii-ed, any law, custom,
statute, or ordinance of our Kingdom of England, or the Isle of
Mann aforesaid notwithstanding. And further, by virtue of
our royal pleasure, we ordain, constitute, and estabhsh a firm
and stedfast law, and do give and grant to all and each of our
subjects . . . to whom the inheritance of the said Island, or any
part thereof, or any estate of and in the said Island does or may
belong ; that in case the person to whom the inheritance of the
said Island, or any part thereof, or any other estate of and in
the Island aforesaid, or any part thereof, or any inheritance,
free tenement, possession or right within the said Island, or any
adjoining the same shall descend, or in any other manner come
to a married woman, every such woman shall and may be able
to transfer, alienate, grant and demise, such her inheritance,
estate, or right, by deed signed as weU by her as by her
husband, under their seals, and acknowledged in our Court of
Chancery in England, notwithstanding anj' law, statute custom
or ordinance of our Kingdom of England, or any law or custom
of the said Island of Mann to the contrary thereof. And we do
nevertheless will, grant, and declare, that any law or custom in
our Island aforesaid, had and used for transferring, alienating,
or -grantmg of their inheritance or possession shaU be and
remain in full force, and in no way weakened by this our
ordinance and constitution of such laws and customs ; but that
any aUenation, grant, or demise may be made agreeable, as well
to the form of the laws in the said Island heretofore had and
used, as by the form of those presents now added, ordained,
and constituted." '•=
James's order was, as we have seen, generally disregarded.
The follo\\'ing is a specimen of entries in the Records at this
period of the enforcement of licences to alienate : —
" Lib. Vast. 1611. Paroch St. Michaell.
Adam CaUister,
Donald Carrett,
Finlo CanneU,
Finlo Quayle, j
' " Rot. Pat." (Manx Soc, vol. ix. pp. 122-5).
- Jur
906 HISTORY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
Note, That whereas that is proved in Court as well by Con-
fession of Thomas Caloe Tenante of a Quarter of Ground, of the
Rent of 14s. 9d. as also by Confession of Sii' Hugh Cannell,
Vicar of KK Michaell, That the sayd Thomas hath sould over
the said Ground to him the aforesaid Sir Hugh, without the
Lycense of the Lieutenante and other Officers of this Isle, con-
trarie to an antient laudable Order sett in Becord, and jnib-
lished, as ajypeareth, in the Exchequer Book for the year 1583.
Therefore the Lieutenante, according to the said Order, caused
the said Sayle to be made voyde, and the Buyer and Seller to
hefyned in three Pounds to the Lords Use."
Note " This Fyne is mitigated by virtue of a Reference from
the Countess of Derby to Twenty Shilhngs."
Memorandum " That upon a further Consideration at this
Court, for that Donald Caloe (notwithstanding a Provisoe
formerlie made by the Commissioners, when Thomas Caloe
compounded for a Lease of the sayd Ground, on the Behalf of
the said Donald That he should have an Offer of the same
Ground before another) is well pleased and contented, that the
foresayd Sir Hugh shall bargaine and buy the sayd Ground,
from his brother Thomas Caloe, and the Lieutenant with the
Officers have consented now that a new Bargaine and Sale be
betwixt them, and therefore jicrmitted the said Sir Hugh Jiis
Name to be entered as foUoiveth : —
xiiijs. ixd.
" Thoynas Ca?oe + Sir Hugh Cannell . . . xiiijs. ixd.
" Entered by Delivery of the Sirawe had from Thomas
Caloe his Heirs, Executors and Assigns, in open Com-t."
(From Seneschal's OfiQce.)
APPENDIX C.
" The Lord's officers then wrought so with all the Manksmen
of the Island to alter their whole tenure, and to take leases for
3 lives (as they do in England), aUedging the tenure by the
straw for that thereby they were but tenants at will, and might
be put out at the pleasure of the lord, but by taking leases for
lives both they, their wives, and children, were sure to enjoy
the same during any of their lives. These leases extended not
only to the lands which they possessed, but to the houses
wherein they dwelt. Now, to make this innovation the more
THE LAND QUESTION 907
plausible, and to seem of less consequence, they at first require
but 12 pence for everj- house as a rent, and 12 pence for every
acre of land, only they must pay a fine besides, which is now
but 4 years rent, so as he that pa^'eth 12d. rent for either house
or land must pay 4s. more for a fine. This little may prove a
much, for both rents and fines may be rais'd, if not racked,
where power hath no conscience. The Maiiks at first muttered,
murmured, and complained in private, repining against this
innovation (of such consequence in future), but knew not how
to help themselves, for some of the wealthier sort, having been
won to consent and lead the way, the rest (not having power
because poor) dared not to deny but to follow their example,
for fear of being made an example." •-
APPENDIX D.
The following are some further customary laws with refer-
ence to inheritance : If a woman marries a man who is seized
of a freehold of inheritance, and survives him, she is entitled to
one moiety of the estate, clum sola et casta vixerit. This was
confirmed by an Act of Tynwald in 1687 (see Statutes, vol. 1.
p. 143). If a man marries an heiress, and survives, he shall be
entitled to one moiety of the estate acquired by descent as long
as he remains a widower, and to a moiety of the land acquired
hy pm-chase, absolutely ; and he is solely entitled to the receipt
of the rents and profits during the coverture ; also that an
heiress so married hath no power to sell or lease her estate,
■without being joined in the act by her husband ; and in like
manner, a husband cannot sell or make a perfect lease of his
estate, without the consent of his wife, so as to prejudice her
right in case of survivorship. And should a man marry a
second wife, having issue by the first, the second wife shall
enjoy after his decease, only one fourth part of his estate of
inheritance during her widowhood ; but if there is no issue
living by the first wife, the second shall be entitled to a moiety
(Parr's MS.) . (For other curious customary laws on this subject
see Statutes, vol. i. pp. 40, 47, 50, 63.)
We may mention, too, that, in 1777, the previous arrange-
ments as to the mutual rights of husband and wife to landed
estates not ha\'ing proved satisfactory, it was decided that a
* Blundell [Manx Soc, vol. xxvii. pp. 50-51).
908 HISTORY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
wife was entitled to a moiety of her husband's purchased lands
absolutely, in case she survived him, and that she might
dispose of this moiety, even in his lifetime, to such of her
children as she shall thmk proper, or to her husband. This
right of dower, however, might be barred by settlement before
marriage, and by joining in any sale or mortgage during
marriage {Statutes, vol. i. p. 333). This was repealed in 1852,
when it was enacted that a widow was to have half of her
husband's net personal estate and a life estate in one moiety
of his purchased lands {Ibid., vol. ii. p. 328).
APPENDIX E.
" As the Act of Settlement did not extend [to the bishop's
barony and] to the baronies of Bangor and Sabal, St. Trinion's,
or the Staff Lands and barony of Maughold, the tenure of the
customary estates in these districts continue still to be undefined
and unguaranteed by any statutory enactment. The writer,
however, believes that it has never been questioned, and cer-
tainly is not now, that the tenants of these estates have an
estate in fee-simple in these lands similar to that possessed by
tenants of lands included in the Act of Settlement.''' These
lands are subject to certain small quit-rents payable according
to the ancient custom, partly m money, and partly in kind, and in
some cases fixed alienation fines have been agreed upon between
the tenants and their ancient lords, f These rents and fines
appear on the Rolls of their respective baronies, which are stiU
kept separate from the Manorial Records of the customary
lands. The freehold mines, minerals and other manorial rights
in these lands are vested (with the exception of the bishop's
barony) in the Crown to the same extent as in the other cus-
tomary lands. The bishop in his barony has the mines and
minerals, &c." I {Ma7ix Lata Tenures., Y)1).14:-15). This view of
the case is confirmed by the fact that the customary " tenants
of the bishop's barony ^ and of the several baronies of Bangor
and Sabal and St. Trinion's possess and enjoy the right of
* Customary freehold.
+ There are no alienation fines in the baronies of Bangor and Sabhal
and St. Triuian's.
\ It is stated that he has lead and iron only, the right of the Crown
to other minerals being resei'ved.
§ The bishop's demesne remains in his own hands, and is let by him
on leases to ordinax^y tenants.
909
alienation without anj' manorial restraint. In the case of the
bishop's barony a composition of an ox or forty shillings was
paid by every tenant to each bishop at his installation in lieu
of the restrainmg power. It is not known whether the lords of
the other baronies possessed this power or how it has been
compounded for {Ibid., p. 356). (For an interesting disser-
tation on the nature of the title of the present holders of the
Maughold barony and "Staff Lands" we refer our readers to
the Manx Laiv Tenures, pp. 15-17.)
VOL. II. 59
BOOK VIII
THE THREE GEE AT INDUSTBIES
911
CHAPTEE I
AGRICULTURE
IT is clear, both from the description of the Manx
land system already given* and from the parti-
culars which follow, that Manx agriculture, till a
comparatively recent period, must have been of a
very primitive kind. The land, for the most part,
lay open for about half the year, and it is not un-
likely, though of this there is no absolute proof, that
joint holdings in scattered strips divided by balks
survived up to the middle of the eighteenth century, f
The method of tillage in vogue was probably that
of three fields, one being under wheat, another
under barley or oats, and the third lying fallow for
one year.t Unfortunately, we have no definite
information with regard to it, nor, indeed, is there
'■''■ See Book I. ch. ii.
f It must be remembered that this system was in existence
in England after that time, it calling forth a remark from Young
that the " Goths and Vandals of open fields farmers must die
out " before any real improvement could take place.
|: At that time the only green crops to give a rotation were
vetches and beans, there being no sown grasses or turnips.
913
914 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Its condition any account of agriculture before 1577, in which
in 1577, '' o '
year we are told, by Governor and Bishop Meryck,
that the island was " rich in flocks . . . and com,*
but more through the industry of man than on
account of the kindliness of the soil."t He also
remarks that it not only " produces sufficient for its
own consumption, but annually exports a great
deal."! Seventy years later it is said to have
yielded "besides corn of all sorts . . . good store of
flax and hemp." t This corn is specified as consist-
ting of " rye, wheat and barley, but chiefly oats, the
ordinary bread-corn of the inhabitants." §
oAhfiSh ^""'^ The fact that oats formed the chief food of the
century. inhabitants is confirmed by another writer, in 1681,
who also comments on the goodness of the barley,
beans and pease. ;| Sacheverell gives the following
account of the soil and its products at the end of
the seventeenth century : " The middle part of the
country is generally barren and full of mountains.
* It is not known whether Manx pasture land increased at
the expense of the arable, as in England in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, or not.
f Cott. MSS. {Manx Soc, vol. iv. p. 95). If we may believe
the survey of 1608 (see pp. 878-9 note I), which declares, as
regards the parish of Lonan, that there was "noe tenant
within that parish because of the Barren Soyle therein," it
would seem that the parish was altogether uncultivated. But
this is contradicted by the fact that numerous lord's rents
would seem to have been paid in that parish in the year referred
to, and so we must assume that the surveyors of 1608, whose
principal duty was to give a list Ov leases, meant to convey
merely that there was no land let on lease m that parish.
.| Blundell (Ibid., vol. xxv. p. 40).
^ Chaloner {Ibid., vol. x. p. 6). || Denton, MS.
AGEICULTUEE 915
The north-west is a poor gravel and sand ; the north-
east has a large tract of meadow called the Curragh,
which was formerly under water, but of late well
drained and greatly improved ; the south, and the
south-east has a reasonable good soil, and produces
moderate crops of corn when well husbanded."* Of
the island generally he remarks that it "affords all
sorts of grain in reasonable plenty, some small
quantity of hemp and flax, a little honey and wax."*
Thirty years later, Waldron gives a less favourable
account of the crops, declaring that the wheat was
so bad, that bread could not be made of it, and that
there was only sufficient barley to make malt of for
home consumption ; he states also that oats was the
chief crop and that potatoes were very plentiful, f
None of these writers say much about the grass
land, but it is probable that, besides mountain land,
there was a large proportion of permanent pasture, t
Its quality, however, seems to have been in-
different. §
The cattle that fed upon this pasture are described The uve-stock.
as being little, low and poor, || which is not sur-
* Manx Soc, vol. i. p. 12. Wc have already seen that at
this time the area under flax and hemp was compulsorily in-
creased by legislation (p. 426).
I Ibid., vol. xi. p. 2.
I We may note that there w^ere deer in Man as well as on the
Calf. Thus, in 1653, " the deareof this Island have been much
neglected" {Lib. Scacc).
§ " Their meadows are either benty or full of rushes ; some
by the sides of rivers much better " (Denton MS.).
" Some tolerable pastures." Sachevcrell (Manx Soc, vol. i.
p. 12). II Blundell {Ibid., vol. xxv. p. 41).
916 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
prizing, seeing that " they feed for the most part in
heathy ground, lying continually in the open fields
both winter and summer, never housed ; neither is
any hay or fodder given them." *
The condition of the cattle was much the same
half a century later, though " the better sort improve
their breed."! The sheep were, in 1648, described
" as fat and their flesh as well tasted " t as English
sheep, but they were generally smaller. Their wool
was very good, though not equal to that of the Cots-
wold or Leicester, I and, " when carefully dressed,"
it made " cloth near a hair colour." §
Many of these sheep were so wild that they could
not be folded for the purpose of taking tithe. |i
There were plenty of goats, and also of swine. Of
the swine those which were domesticated were fairly
large, but there was also " a small mountain kind
called PmTs,"§ which were quite wild and afforded
"admirable meat."§ The horses were very small
and poor.
f^^rX'ire Such being the condition of Manx agriculture
witii.° '^°" ^^ between 1577 and 1700, let us now see what were
the chief drawbacks it had to contend with during
that period, and what efforts were made to overcome
them. The main disadvantages under which the
Manx farmer laboured were the following : first, the
poor quality of the live-stock, especially the horses ;
secondly, the almost complete absence of fences and
'■= Blundell {Manx Soc, vol. xxv. p. 41).
f SachevereU {Ibid., vol. i. p. 12). ; Blundell {Ibid.,ipp. 42-3).
§ SachevereU {Ibid., p. I'd). \\ Statutes, vol. i. p. 43.
AGRICULTUKE 917
trees, whereby the crops and hve-stock were exposed
to the frequent strong winds and the crops were
rendered liable to be damaged by animals entering
upon them ; thirdly, the ignorance of the use of
manures ; fourthly, the want of proper drainage.
Under the first heading we find that the attention of
the insular Legislature was directed mainly to the
improvement of the quality of the horses.
Thus, one of the obhgations laid upon the Great Manx horses.
Enquest in 1577 was that they should present all
those who kept any "stoned Horse"* below the
value of six shillings and eight pence, or who had
any " scabbed horse or mayre." * It was ordered, at
the same time, that such diseased beasts were to be
thrown over the cliffs into the sea and that their
owners were to be heavily fined. Seven years later,
it was ordained by the Tynwald Court that, not only
should no one keep a stallion of less than the above
value, but that no stallion should be less than eleven
hands high, t We may note also that the object of
James, Lord Strange, in offering, in 1628, a prize of
£5 to be run for by Manx horses, was doubtless to
improve the breed. I
But, notwithstanding these efforts, the horses at
the end of the seventeenth century were described
as "poor and small, and very unsightly . . . being
'■'■'• Statutes, vol. i. p. 54.
■[ "No manner of person or persons shall keep a stoned
horse unless he be the height of live quarters of a yard and
worth 6s. 8d. in value, otherwise upon the presentment of the
Great Enquest, the offender is to be fined 3s. 4d." (Parr's MS.).
I Statutes, vol. i. p. 142.
918 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
all of a sooty black colour, and their hair long and
straggling." *
They were, however, capable of enduring " a great
deal of labour and hardship." *
The fences, as we have seen, f were originally for
use in the summer only, but, in 1656, on account of
the lateness of the harvest, it was ordered that the
fences should be kept up till " Allhallow Day,"
instead of being thrown down at Michaelmas, t
Fences. In 1665, a further advance was made by ordering
that the fences were to be kept up in winter as well
as in summer, or, if not, that a herd was to be kept,
so that the land should not remain "common and
as wast all the winter season." § With the same
object, it was also provided that cattle could be put
in the pinfold " as well for the trespass done or
made in the winter season, as in the harvest or
summer time." § Fences, at this time, were to be
5 feet high ; in 1691, they were ordered to be 5 feet
6 inches, besides a trench 1 foot 6 inches deep
and 3 feet broad, and, where trenches could not
"■'' Manx Soc, vol. xviii. (Camden's Britannia), p. 13. The
size of a Manx horse, even in the eighteenth century, may be
inferred from the entry " a substantial horse about 13 hands "
{Lib. Scacc, 1716). f Book I. ch. ii.
I Statutes, vol. i. p. 110. The old customary law was that
" ditches " or fences of four and a half feet high, sufficient " to
defend horse or cow," should be kept up from the 25th of
March to the 29th of September {Ibid., p. 49).
§ Ibid., Tp. 126. The pinfolds were naturally in great request.
In 1422, it was ordered that they were to be made " as they
were wonte to be in old tiine " {Ibid., p. 13), and, in 1665, it
was ordered that they were to be kept in repair, like the chm'ch-
yards, by the tenants of each treen {Ibid., p. 127).
AGEICULTUEE 919
be made, the fences had to be 6 feet high."*
Notwithstanding all this legislation, we find Sache-
verell, at the end of the seventeenth century, regret-
ting that, owing to the ■want of fences on the north
of the island, they could not introduce the culture of
turnips, f Feltham, writing a century later, remarks
that it was necessary to tie the feet of the cattle
with straw ropes to prevent their straying, because
the hedges were " not sufHcient to keep them, being
only earth thrown up in the usual way, without any
fencing or underwood at the top." I
Since then, there has been a continuous improve-
ment in the condition of the fences which still are,
however, for the most part, sod banks topped with
gorse, though thorn fences and stone walls are
gradually becoming more common.
As to trees, Blundell, in 1648, goes so far as to Trees,
say : " I could not observe one tree to be in any
place but what grew in gardens — there is so great
scarcity even of birch, as that the mercers in Man
. . . when they come into England for other com-
modities, they buy up our birch brooms, and of them
they make rods and sell them to parents to correct
their children, and schoolmen to discipline their
schollars." § The scarcity of trees is also mentioned
by a writer in Mercicrius Politicus, in November,
1651, who, when describing the sail of Duckenfield's
fleet along the eastern shore of the island, states
that they were able to observe the insular forces
* Statutes, vol. i. p. 151. f Manx Soc, vol. i. p. 12.
\ Ibid., vol. vi. p. 47. § Ibid., vol. xxv. pp. 46-7.
920 HISTOBY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
mustering because there were " no trees to hide
them";* and, seventy years later, Waldron says
that a man might ride " many miles and see nothing
but a thorn-tree, which is either fenced round, or
some other precaution taken, that so great a rarity
shall receive no prejudice."! Yet the Legislature
evidently did its best to prevent the loss of the few
trees that existed by enacting, in 1629, that any one
who cut down trees, except on his own ground,
should be fined ten shillings ; and, in 1667, that any
one committing the same offence must plant five
or ten trees, according to whether it was the first
or second offence, for each tree cut by him. Fines
and imprisonment on this account were also imposed
by the Acts of 1753, 1758, and 1817. 1 The first
recorded effort to plant trees systematically was
made by Bishop Wilson on his estate at Bishop's
Court, where the extensive plantations still bear
witness to his activity. § But it was not till the
present century [j that planting was carried out on
a large scale, and even now trees are by no means
numerous. Quite recently an arboricultural society
has been formed to promote tree-planting.
'■^ " Manx Rebellion " (Manx Soc, vol. xxvi. p. 65).
f Ibid., vol. xi. p. 41.
I See Statutes, vol. i. pp. 82, 134, 252, 278, and 387. Doubt-
less the reason of such offences being frequent was the difficulty
in obtaining fuel.
§ "Wilson's History {Manx Soc, vol. xviii. p. 106).
II Hainmg's Guide, p. 184. Bullock, p. 244. The Agri-
cultural Society (sec p. 926) at that time distributed young
trees gratuitously to those who prepared and enclosed land for
planting them.
AGEICULTURE 921
The primitive method of manuring the land was Manuring.
by folding the cattle in small sod enclosures,* where
they were kept for about fourteen days. When the
piece of land on which they were penned was suffi-
ciently enriched, the enclosure was thrown down,
and the cattle were then placed in another. * The
people knew nothing of the value of lime as a
manure till about 1642, when they were taught to
use it by Governor Greenhalghe. t Seaweed had
been used for this purpose from an early period, I
but marl, which abounded in the north of the island,
was not applied to the land till towards the end of
the eighteenth century.
The first mention of an effort thoroughly to drain Draining.
the Curragh is in 1648, when, as a preliminary step,
the Great Enquest of Michael Sheading was ordered
to meet the governor and officers "to view and
consider of some convenient remedie and redresse
for the drayninge of the waters from the corragh-
lands."§ The remedy adopted was the digging of a
deep trench, called the Lhen, or Lhane-mooar. This
trench required constant repairs to keep it in order,
* Statutes, vol. i. p. 14; Wilson {Manx Soc, vol. xviii.
p. 103).
f Sacheverell {Manx Soc, vol. i. p. 12). Tradition has it
that the people imitated him in burning stone to make lime,
but, since they did not confine themselves to limestone, they
frequently failed, and so, attributing his success to witchcraft,
they gave up their attempts. Numerous piles of calcined
stones may be found in various parts of the island at the
present day.
I Wilson {Manx Soc, vol. xviii. p. 103).
§ Lib. Scacc.
922 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
and there are frequent references in the Records to
the necessity* of doing so. It is noticeable that,
after the trench was made, the northern side of the
island, which had hitherto been considered the least
fertile part, gradually became the most fertile.
The Curragh, however, was not the only marshy
part of the island which was full of small lakes and
bogs. The works necessary to drain most of these
were ultimately carried out in 1756, t 1763, t and
1776. §
fanning. Let US now cousidcr the profits obtainable from
farming. Before 1660, it is very difficult, owing to
the very few sales of land mentioned in the Eecords,
and to the paucity of evidence with regard to the
money value of the com dues payable by each
quarter-land, to estimate what proportion the lord's
rent and other charges on the land, such as corn
and turf dues, bore to its value. But it may, perhaps,
'■'■'■ One of these, in 1714, ran as follows : " Whereas com-
plaint is made that notwithstanding severall orders formerly
issued forth for the opening the sluices and cleaning the
draines that carry off the water from our Honourable Lords
Land called the Lanemore yet the same is neglected whereby
the said Lands is very much damnified and rendered of less
profit . . . therefore you are hereby required forthwith to
give notice to all persons whose Lands and Trenches adjoin
to the said Lanemore ... to open and cleanse their respec-
tive draines, trenches and sluices " (Lib. Scacc).
•f- Lib. Scacc. | Statutes, vol. i. p. 292.
§ Ibid., p. 301. In 1771, Vicar-General Wilks remarked that
many acres of marshy and mountainous land had been re-
claimed, and it would be inferred from his statement that most
of this had been done since 1765 {Manx Note Book, vol. iii.
p. 179).
AGPJCULTUKE 923
be stated, with some approximation to the truth,
that the average value of a quarter-land (of say eighty
acres), at the beginning of the seventeenth century,
was from £50 to £'60, and that the charges on it
varied from 30s. to £2 annually.*
It will, therefore, be clear that the margin of
profit was not excessive, and that the lord's rent,
which forms more than one-half of the total, was at
least a real rent and not a mere nominal charge, as,
owing to the enhanced value of land, it is at present.
Between the period of the Restoration and that of deprllsfon
the Act of Settlement, (1660-1704), agriculture aiidi704,
languished, one cause of this being, according to
the farmers, that the profits would not suffice to pay
the rent, and the reports of the juries appointed to
enquire into the question seem to show that there
was some truth in this, as far as the inferior farms
which were out of lease were concerned. Thus it
was stated, in 1677, that the annual valuation f of
six farms in the sheading of Glenfaba, which were
unlet, was £2 17s. Id., and that the lord's rent
payable by them was £2 10s. 9d., while, in the
sheadings of Rushen and Michael, the valuation was
•■• Thirty-nine leases taken between 1542 and 1592, but for
the most part between 1582 and 1592, give an average rental
of 8-Jd. per acre, or. averaghig a quarter-land at eighty acres,
56s. 8d. per quarter-land, but these leased lands were pro-
bably the choicest farms in the country,
j The juries stated that they had valued the land " green-
side up," and had computed " the yeerly worth of grasse, hay,
and herbage by wich computation " most of the farms " will
not discharge and satisfy the yeerly rent much less the other
incumbrances " (Lib. Scacc).
after 1704.
924 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
not sufficient to cover the rental.* But another
and more general cause of the depression in agri-
culture was the insecure condition of the tenure.
Under these circumstances we are not surprized to
find that Manxmen paid more attention to their
fisheries than to their land, and that, towards the
end of the century, many of them were tempted to
take part in the profitable, though hazardous, pursuit
hnp/ovement ^^ Smuggling. After the passage of the Act of
Settlement, however, agriculture slowly revived.
The culture of flax was encouraged by the legislation
already referred to in Book ii. chapter ii., as well
as by the purchase and gratuitous distribution of
Dutch flax-seed, by the Government, f and the crops
generally were improved by the extirpation of the
purrs, or wild swine, which had caused consider-
able damage to them.t
No doubt, too, Manx farmers were stimulated to
make improvements by the remarkable success of
Bishop Wilson, § in farming his demesne, especially
when he proved the superiority of his methods by
raising large quantities of grain during the famine
years of 1740 and 1741, when his neighbours' crops
■■• The valuation of the other sheadings has been lost. It is
interesting to note that the juries estimated the "grassing"
of a cow at Is. 4d. per annum. In 1756, this had advanced to
8s. 3d.
f Lih. Scacc, 1706.
I In 1711, the Legislature endeavoured, though in vain, to
obtain the boon of free trade for its agricultural and other
produce from Great Britain in return for an undertaking to put
an end to the smuggling {Statutes, vol. i. p. 187).
§ He was the son of a farmer.
AGEICULTUKE 925
had all but failed. Such improvement as there was,
however, must have been very gradual, since, in
1739, we are informed that the island had not for
many years past produced sufficient corn for the
support of its inhabitants,* and, in 1765, one of the afffcun"""
first objects of the legislation then passed was to afterth"'^
provide the Manx people with wheat, barley, oats, ^®^^'*''"^®°''-
meal, and flour, t It was also enacted that the
prohibition of the exportation of Manx live-stock,
except sheep, to Great Britain, should be done away
with ; that all agricultural implements, flax, and
flax-seed, might be imported from thence duty free, +
and that the bounties on corn meal and flour ex-
ported from Great Britain into the Isle of Man§
should be discontinued. So inert, however, were
the farmers that very little use seems to have been
made of these facilities, though there is no doubt
that the check which smuggling received at this
time 'I caused more attention to be paid to farm-
ing. H And yet a competent authority, writing
at the end of the eighteenth centurj^ describes the
farmers as only cultivating a small portion of their
estates, leaving the rest to be grown over by heath
* Petition of William Quayle to the Crown (Loose Papers.
Knowsley).
t 7 Geo. III. c. 45. By 6 Geo. III. c. 40, a quantity of
wheat, not exceeding 2,500 quarters, was allowed to be im-
ported into the island.
I Commissioners' Report, Appx. (B) No. 44 (5 Geo. III.
c. 43).
§ Ibid., 5 Geo. III. p. 30 (see p. 585).
II Sec p. 597.
If Though they sitill went to the herring-fishing.
VOL. II. 60
926 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
and gorse.* Some advances were, however, being
made. In 1765 and 1776, there was some useful
legislation about boundaries, f About 1770, clover
was introduced, and, ten years later, turnips were
first cultivated. Nevertheless, in 1792, the Duke
of Atholl reported that agriculture was " nearly as
backward as before 1765 . . . excepting near some
of the towns. I But just at this time a rapid im-
provement set in. Stimulated by the increasing
price of corn and the low price of land, enterprizing
Scottish and English farmers bought or rented
farms, and their superior methods of culture were
auhe end^or^ gradually imitated by the natives. § A great impetus,
cenuu-y. ^^O' was givcu, in 1798, to the breeding of a better
class of sheep by the issue of a permission to import
one hundred sheep annually from England, i and,
in 1807, the improvement of live stock generally was
powerfully stimulated by the establishment of a
branch of the Workington Agricultural Society IT in
the island. This was mainly due to the exertions of
John Christian Curwen, who was an ardent agri-
culturist.** Unfortunately the improvement in
■->' Report by J. C. Curwen, quoted by Bullock, p. 243.
Bishop Hildesley writes of the insular beef and mutton being
small, but, when fat, superior to the English (Manx Church
Magazine, vol. i. p. ciii.).
I Statutes, vol. i. pp. 292-3, and 300-2.
I Commissioners' Report, App. (D), No. 28.
§ Jefferey's Guide (1809), pp. 75-6.
|] By Act 38 Geo. III. c. 63. This quantity was increased
to 300 in 1811.
IF Its first meeting was held on the 7th of July, at St. John's.
=•"•= This society also gave prizes for the best cultivated farms.
AGEICULTUEE 927
methods of culture and quality oi' stock was not
accompanied by the introduction of more efificient
agricultural implements. At the beginning of the ^piements
present century the ploughs are described as rudely very Sitive.
constructed, and drawn by four oxen yoked abreast.
They required the services of two men, one to hold
the plough, and another who used a fork to assist
in regulating the depth of the fuiTow, whilst the
harrows had teeth made of wood hardened over the
fire, which were sharpened every morning before
being used. * Such implements were, of course,
inefficient, and so we find that from half to three-
quarters of an acre was considered a good day's
work for a team of four oxen, and from three-
quarters of an acre to an acre for a horse team of
two, three, or four, according to their strength, f
Threshing machines were introduced as early as
1793 ; but for years after that time farm carts were
almost unknown, the usual method of carriage being
on horses' backs, I or by means of sledges formed of
two shafts, connected by five or six cross-bars.
These were somewhat wider at the end which
trailed on the ground than at that which was condition of
fastened to the horse's back.§ It cannot, then, be 181-3. '
wondered at that a competent observer, in 1812,
speaks of Manx agriculture as " a recent art," and
that he remarks that the attention it received " from
'■^- Train, vol. ii. p. 241. f Quayle, pp. 109-10.
I They carried panniers called " creels."
§ Quayle, p. 40. And yet it is said that tillage in 1812 was
effected at a reduced expense, " owing to improved methods '
{Ibid., p. 52). Ii Quayle, p. 20.
928 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
the numerous yeomanry, among whom the soil is
principally divided,"* was still insufficient. He
also criticizes the defective construction and un-
ventilated condition of the farm buildings and
houses, and the want of cleanliness in the dairies ;
and he points out that the system of soiling was
" unknown or unpractised."*
Another failing of the Manx farmers, at this time,
was the neglect of a proper rotation of crops. The
production of corn, owing to the enormous increase
in its price, paid handsomely, + so that three crops of
it were often taken in succession. The principal
corn crop was barley, which was '* in universal use
among the poorer classes for the purpose of bread,"!
it being also in demand for the numerous insular
breweries. One result of this exclusive cultivation of
corn + was that, in 1812, Manx exports of grain
exceeded, for the first time, the imports, and this
continued to be the case up to 1820. After that date
the imports were again in excess of the exports till
about 1835. §
There is no doubt that during the period from
'^'- Quayle, p. 20. The size of the farms varied from ten to one
hundred and fifty acres, there not being more than sixty farms
of sixty acres or above (Ibid., p. 25).
f The average prices at this period (1800-16) were : Hay,
about £S per ton. Barley, 4s. 6d. and wheat 10s. 6d. per
bushel. Turnips £5 per load, but they varied greatly in price.
The price of horses, and horse-keeping, of implements and of
wages in 1812 were double what they were in 1792 {Ibid., p. 52).
I It was estimated, in 1816, that the average production of
good land was from 40 to 50 bushels per acre for oats and
barley and from 25 to 30 bushels per acre for wheat {Bullock,
p. 245). j Appendix A.
AGEICULTURE 929
1808 to 181G Manx farmers wero very prosperous. Prosperous
period from
Trade rapidly increased and so did the numbers of ^^^ ^° ^^^'^^
English families which settled in the island, as well
as of the native population. Moreover, the heavy
taxes which were at this time imposed in England
operated as bounties upon Manx agriculture.* One
result of this prosperity was the cultivation of land
high up in the mountains, and to such an extent had
this process been carried out that, in 1819, a shrewd
observer remarked that it had gone further than
profits would ultimately justify, a statement which
has been since then amply justified.! The excessive
production of corn, as well as the increase of popula-
tion, resulted in the decrease of the exports of live
stock at this period. On the other hand, the imports,
not only of stock, but of grass and clover seeds, after
1800, increased, which affords a proof that there
were some effort to promote improved cultivation.!
Kents, following the increased price of agricultural
produce, were greatly augmented. In 1792, lands
near Douglas, Castletown, and Peel were let at from
15s. to £2 per acre, while, near Ramsey, rents were,
as a rule, below 15s. per acre. The uplands let at Rents
*■ ^ lucreased
about 5s. per acre throughout the island, and the andTlisin^
mountain land at about 2s. § By 1812, all these ^^^"f^"-
- Bullock, p. 249.
I J. M. D. ]\IcCulloch, Western Islands of Scotland, vol. ii.
p. 519. He spoke approvingly of the cultivation of the north
of the island.
\ Appendix A, where the very meagre statistics procurable will
be found.
§ In 1805, J. C. Curwen estimated the number of productive
acres in the island at 100,000, and their average rental at 10s.
930
HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
D-rawbacks to
agricultural
progress stil
existing.
rents were nearly doubled. Then, after the conclu-
sion of the great war in 1815, came a sudden collapse.
The numerous troops which had been stationed in
the island were removed. Many of the large class
of visitors, who had been tempted to reside in it by
the operation of the Act of 1737, by which debts
contracted out of the Isle of Man were not recover-
able there, departed, on its repeal in 1814. Prices
consequently fell suddenly.* This unfortunate state
of things was aggravated by several bad seasons, and
by the free importation of foreign wheat, which,
except for brief intervals in 1819 and 1821, continued
till 1828, when it was prohibited.! But there were
also other and more permanent drawbacks to
agricultural progress. Among them were the still
defective fences, the bad state of the highroads, and
the laziness induced by the pursuit of the herring
fishery, in which much the largest part of the male
population found employment, t To these we may
add the method of the collection of the tithe, and the
attempt to take the tithe of potatoes and other green
crops which had not been demanded for many years. §
Many farmers, especially the smaller ones, were
ruined, and they, with numbers of the labouring
■'■' Also wages.
f By Act 9 Geo. IV. cs. 20 and 60. But the same Act
prohibited the export of malt to the United Kingdom, and of
gromid corn, except wheat meal, wheat flour or oat meal, to
Great Britain, and of ground corn to England.
l Wood (p. 44), writing in 1811, said that four-fifths of the
farming work was done by women.
§ See p. 661.
AGEICULTUEE 931
class, being unable to obtain employment, emigrated Emigration
*=■ 1. J ' tD and reduction
to America, especially between 1825 and 1837.* of thi snmu^'''
This led to the rapid reduction in the number of the '**^*''®^-
smaller estates which were absorbed into the larger
ones.f So marked were the effects of emigration and
of the fall in prices of agricultural produce, that, in
1828, an insular journaHst stated that the former had
"most seriously contributed to drain" it "of its heart's
blood," and that the latter had " reduced the Island
almost to a state of bankruptcy;"! and we learn
that, in 1829, " the farmers were idle, that their lands
were exhausted by improvident tilth § and that
mortgage upon mortgage had accumulated." + More-
over, what the Legislature termed, in 1827, "the
most injurious and unnatural union of the two trades
of fishing and farming" still continued. ^ This consequent
state of things naturally reduced the competi- ianVandit3°^
tion for land, and, therefore, both its value and its
rent fell. During the period between 1816 and 1839
the average value of good land did not exceed £20
* Manks Advertiser.
f Teignmouth, vol. ii. p. 203. \ Manls Advertiser.
§ There is a good deal of discrepancy in the evidence as to
the way in which the land was cultivated, though there is no
doubt that it was much injured by the constant cropping for corn.
According to one account, it was well manured and properlj'
cultivated (Haming's Guide, 1822, p. 183) though it was admitted
that there was great room for improvement, while, according
to others, manure was so scantily supplied that it was not
infrequently carried to the field in a creel instead of a cart
{OsivahVs Guide, 1823), and there were constant complaints of
the neglected state of agriculture and the want of drains
(Letters to the Manks Advertiser, 1830).
rent.
932
HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Chief causes
of the
improvement
of agriculture
after 1839.
per acre * and that of inferior land was as low as £Q
per acre. Yearly rents varied from 6s. to 30s. per
acre, except near Douglas, where a few good fields
were let at about £3 per acre. I In 1823, the gross
rental of the island was computed at from £60,000 to
i70,000, and, in 1835, it was put at i^lOO.OOO, the
mortgages on it being estimated at £40,000 annu-
ally. I After 1839, however, owing to the passage of
the Tithe Commutation Act, which removed the
friction between the landlords and the clergy by
placing the payments from the former to the latter
on a satisfactory basis, a great improvement in agri-
culture, especially in the northern district, is notice-
able. § Drainage was carried out on a large scale, ||
subsoil ploughing' was introduced, and artificial
manures came into use. The re-estabhshment of
the Agricultural Society in 1858 had also a good
effect. 11" The result of these various causes was a
very large increase in the exports of agricultural
* In 1820, the fami of Ballasliamrock, near Douglas, of 100
acres, was sold for jG1,461. In 1817, there were eight farms
near Douglas, the rent of which was under 20s. per acre.
i Quiggin's Guide, p. 124 (edit, of 1831).
+ Oswald's Gnide (1823) and Teignmouth, vol. ii. p. 203.
§ As late as 1845, however, some primitive methods survived,
the farmers even then, in some cases, using horse creels to
carry their manure while they transported their corn in sledges
(Train, vol. ii. pp. 240-7). The following are prices and rents
of farms in the northern district in 1858 : Ballavarran, Jurby,
154 acres, rent J£170, sold for ^£4,400. Ballavoddan, Andreas,
165 acres, sold for j£8,200. Ballasteen, Andreas, 128 acres,
sold for jE5,850. || After 1853, tile draining began.
![ It had failed in 1813 ; it was re-formed in 1842, but only
lasted till 1845.
AGKICULTURE 933
produce, especially of wheat, potatoes,* turnips, hay. Result:
and fat cattle, f At the same time, the stock of prJ,Xc'e°ind
cattle, sheep, horses, and pigs, largely increased, t p''°^i'®''*''>'-
Even the repeal of the corn laws in England, in
1846, does not seem to have produced much effect
on prices which were kept up hy the gold discoveries
in California and Australia. The tenants were as
prosperous as the landlords, though rents had
increased 50 per cent, since 1792. In 1863, the
rents, in the lowlands, varied from £1 to £S per
acre, some lands letting to butchers, near the towns,
especially Douglas, for as much as £'4 per acre.
Eleven years later, when rents reached their highest
point, they were, perhaps, about 10 per cent,
higher than in 1863. This state of things, with the
exception of a few short periods of reaction, § con-
tinued till about 1874, when, with regard both to
crops and rents, a change set in. The cultivation of
wheat, owing to its growing importation from other
countries, became unprofitable, i| while the increased
number of summer visitors rendered it necessary to
produce more milk, butter, and meat for their
consumption, and more oats for the large number of
horses required for their use. To such an extent,
indeed, has the home market for these commodities
- A potato factory was set up in Douglas in 1851.
f Unfortunately there are no reliable statistics to show this
(see Appendix A). ] Appendix B.
§ Man was visited by the cattle plague in 1865, 1870, and
1877.
II The acreage under wheat fell from 7,444 acres, m 1873, to
809 acres in 1896 (Appendix C).
934
HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Shrinkage of
rents since 1874.
Condition of
agriculture at
present.
increased, that, though a much larger part of the
island has been placed under permanent pasture,
grass, and oats,* and, though the stock of cattle and
sheep has increased till it has become an unusually
large one for the area under cultivation,* it has been
necessary to import an annually increasing quantity
of live-stock, poultry, flour, fruit, vegetables, butter,
and eggs.t Rents since 1874 have shrunk, generally,
about 20 per cent., and, in the case of mountain
lands, from 30 to 40 per cent. The agricultural
depression was, perhaps, at its worst from 1879 to
1886, though rents have continued to fall since the
latter date. Within the last few years, however,
prices have slightly improved, and the fall in rents
has been checked. The value of agricultural land
has, especially near the towns, been well maintained, I
though it is not so high as it was 25 years ago. Its
cultivation is favourably commented on by a writer
in the Encyclopcedia Britannica in 1882, and he notes
the improvement of cattle due to the importation of
-■•= Appendix D.
f In the evidence given before the " Commission on Manx
Industries" in 1899, the quantity of imports was estimated as
follows : Butter, 200 to 220 tons ; eggs, from a million to a
million and a quarter; poultry, about 10,000; and an "immense
quantity " of all sorts of fruits and vegetables. The imports of
live stock, except lambs, do not much exceed the exports, but
of them there are a " much larger quantity imported than
exported." The chief exports are barley, turnips, and potatoes.
\ This is shown bj' the prices received for Lady Buchan's
properties in 1890: Castleward (2 miles from Douglas), .£6,115
for 180 acres ; Kirby (1 mile from Douglas), £6,500 for 218 acres ;
Ballahutchin, Marown (d\ mUes from Douglas), £6,100 for 203
acres; Ballanayre (2^ miles from Peel), £8,250 for 155 acres.
AGRICULTURE 935
Ayrshires and shorthorns. Since 1889, the insular
Government has contributed to the improvement of
stock by giving premiums for stalHons and bulls, and,
in 1896, it instituted lectures on dairying, a depart-
ment in which Manx farmers have still much to
learn.* They have, however, not been behindhand in
the introduction of labour-saving machinery, such as
self-binders, &c., but, indeed, this has been forced
upon them by the large emigration of labourers from
the country districts.
On the whole it may fairly be said that, at the
present day, the average condition of agriculture in
the Isle of Man is not much inferior to what it is in
England and Scotland, and that the position of the
Manx farmers, though they generally pay higher
rents f than their compeers in those countries do, is,
except perhaps in the more remote parts of the
island, a more favourable one than that of the
Enghsh and Scottish farmers, t
The present position of Manx farmers and of agri-
culture is referred to by a Commission on "Local
Industries" which reported in 1900. The com-
missioners state that they "have not discovered
any causes prejudicially affecting Manx farmers
which do not equally affect farmers in England,
■■' These have, however, not been continued since then.
f The increased price of labour during the past thirty years
has not affected farmers unfavourably, since it has been more
than compensated for by the introduction of machinery.
I In Appendix E will be found a summary of recent legisla-
tion concerning agriculture.
936 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Scotland, and Ireland " ; * and they continue :
" Indeed, we believe that, owing to the excellent
demand here for all sorts of agricultural produce in
the summer, the position of our farmers, except
those in the more remote districts, is an excep-
tionally favourable one."* They also remark that,
" on the whole, rents are not excessive." f In
relation to the state of cultivation their comment
is that " there is need for better and more thorough
cultivation of the land," | and that, as regards the
crops, "neither Manx wheat nor barley is as good,
on an average, as English; but that "oats, the
largest corn crop, is, on the whole, fully equal to
what is grown on the mainland." § They declare
that the Government premiums for stallions and
bulls have been beneficial in improving the breed
of horses and cattle, but that dairying is "in a very
unsatisfactory condition," § Manx butter being " very
unequal in quality." § Legislation is recommended
to compel the cutting of noxious weeds, which are
very prevalent, [j and to insure adequate attention
being paid " to the deepening, widening, and main-
taining of the main arteries of drainage" || in boggy
districts ; and lectures in connexion with dairying,
market-gardening, arboriculture, and beekeeping
are suggested.
=!= Commission on Local Industries {Manx Blue Booh, 1900,
pp. 1-2).
f Ibid., p. 3. I Ibid., p. 2. § Ibid.
II An Act has since been passed for this purpose.
AGEICULTUEE
937
ArrENDIX A.
EXPORTS.
m
.
<D
*— ^
m
Years.
^
o
M
o
d
^
Ph
K
O
CO
1781 -90 av.*
1791-1810,, +
129
325
12
24
1835 44 „ :
537
283
842
1847
1863
1866
950
1,379
304
9!
<D .
O CO
S °
f4
4,857
11,0001
13,500;
to .
-f CO
eg IJ
-*3
S2
P5
oc
E"
271
88
96
461
178
11
5,044
1,174
10,842
20.000§
20,000§
...
762
...
-5 en
OP ^
2 a
98
IMPORTS.
1781-90 av.
1,078
144
89
1791-1810 „+
128
361
106
...
1,123
188
124
1835-44* „
137
1,744
3
...
55
804
4,352
6,3i3
1864
897
3,643
...
...
3,154
APPENDIX B.
QUANTITY OF LIVE STOCK IN THE ISLAND.
Year.
Cattle.
Sheep and
Lambs.
Pigs.
Horses for
Agi-iculture.
1864
18,538
51,995
1866
18,687
55,954
...
1870
17,403
56,565
- 6,332
5,810
1880
19,720
57,850
2,988
5,357
1890
21,098
70,112
4,897
5,118
1896
21,130
67,119
3,444
5,645
* Comrs'. Beport. + Quayle, Appendices B atid F.
J These figures are from a return ordered by the House of Commons.
S Official estimate. Since 1853 there has been no account kept of the
various exports and imports.
j| Local newspapers and statistical abstract.
938
HISTORY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
APPENDIX C-
(Insular Statistical Abstract.)
ACREAGE UNDER AVHEAT, BARLEY, AND OATS.
Year.
Wheat.
Barley.
Oats.
1873
1880
1890
1896
7,444
4,553
1,723
809
6,821
8,888
7,169
7,452
11,338
12,192
13,644
13,789
ACREAGE UNDER CROPS, PASTURE, ETC.
Year.
Total f
Corn.
Green
Crop.
Grass, &c.
Permanent
Pasture. +
1866
1870
1880
1890
1896
96,862
100,107
96,089
27,266
28,222
25,325
23,738
22,242
12,208
12,688
11,569
11,443
11,263
25,309
32,175
39,813
42,980
38,009
8,357
13.031
19,532
21,604
22,904
APPENDIX D.
The following interesting statistics of the percentage of acre-
age under corn crops and of animals (for agricultural purposes)
per 100 acres in the Isle of Man and in England respectively,
in 1870, were given in the Manx Sun, in March, 1872 : —
Isle of Man. England.
Corn crops 32-6 32-4
Green 14-7 12-3
Grass 37-2 11-4
Permanent Pasture 15'1 41'7
Horses 6-7 4-1
Cattle 20-1 15-5
Sheep 61-9 73-9
* The figures given in this appendix are only approximate.
f Under all kinds of crops, bare fallow and grass.
\ In addition to this, there are about 15,000 acres of mountain pasture.
AGEICULTUEE 939
In 1882, the cattle in the Isle of Man averaged 21-0 '•' per 100
acres, and, in 1896, 22*4, f the average in England being 184 in
1882.
APPENDIX E.
We append a brief summary of the Acts passed diuring late
years which are connected with agriculture.
Land Drainage, 1851. — With a view of providing for the
more eflfectual draining of marshy lands, the Highway Com-
missioners were appointed commissioners of drains,; and
powers were given to have insufficient boundaries replaced by
stone walls and crooked fences by straight ones. Juries had to
view the fences, and estimate the cost of making new ones
{Statutes, vol. ii. pp. 279-82).
In 1852, an Act was passed to prevent injury being done by
cutting and removing the surface sod m turbaries and commons
{Ibid., pp. 307-9). In the same year efforts were made to provide
a more effectual remedy in cases of sheep being woriied by dogs,
it being provided that a deemster might issue a trespass jury
warrant to enquire mtothe damage done to the sheep, and that
the jury could award damages against the owners or harbourers
of dogs {Ibid., pp. 311-13).
In 1857, an Act was past for the more speedy detection of
receivers of stolen sheep ;j {Ibid., pp. 429-30).
For the various disafforestmg Acts see under Commons.
In 1865, the " Cattle Diseases Prevention Act " gave powers
(with a view of preventing the introduction of contagious or
infectious diseases among cattle, horses, sheep, &c.) to the
governor, to take such measures as may appear to be necessary
for preventing the importation of animals, and for preventing
such diseases from spreading {Ibid., vol. iii. pp. 322-8).
By a similar Act, in 1866, these powers were increased,
inspectors appointed, more stringent regulations made about
isolating infected places, &c., and a rate to cover the expenses
thus incurred was authorized. {Ibid. pp. 358-368). This Act
was amended in 1889 and 1892 {Ibid., vol. vi. pp. 109-110
and 309-11).
In 1865, there was also passed an Act called "The District
* Encycloprndia Britannica. + Insular Statistical Abstract.
I Repealed in 1875.
§ Repealed iu 1861 by the " Summary Jurisdiction Act."
940 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Drainage Act," which extended the powers of the Commis-
sioners of Drains {Statutes, vol. iii. pp. 244-9).
In 1875, there was further legislation on the subject of
drainage, when the Acts of 1851 and 1865, with the exception
of the clause refen-ing to boundaries in the former Act, were
repealed. It constituted the Highway Board the managing body
and made regulations with reference to drainage works, &c.,
and their maintenance, provision of drainage districts, &c.
{Ibid., vol. iv. pp. 392-404).
In 1891, an Act was passed for facilitating sales, leases, and
other dispositions of settled lands, and for promoting the
execution of hnprovements thereon {Ibid., vol. vi. pp. 255-83).
In 1895, the " Adulteration (Amendment) Act" extended the
provisions of the Adulteration Acts of 1874 and 1888 to the sale
of seeds, agricultural fertilizers, and feeding stuffs, and renders
liable to penalties every person who (1) kills or dyes, or causes
to be killed or dyed, any seeds ; or (2) sells, or causes to be
sold, any killed seeds or dyed seeds, with intent to defraud.
CHAPTER II
FISHING
T
HE important place which the fishing industry Evidence as to
. , . . the importance
anciently held in the social organization of the ofthefishing
•^ " formerly.
Isle of Man is quaintly reflected in the wording of
the oath, formerly taken by the deemsters, who
promised to execute the laws between the sovereign
and his subjects, and "betwixt party and party, as
indifferently as the herring back bone doth lie in the
midst of the fish." * Every book that has been
written about the island mentions the fact that fish
formed the staple food of the inhabitants ; and the
Statutes and Records abound in evidence of the
great extent to which both the people and their
rulers were dependent on the produce of the sea.
As early as 1291, the Church claimed a tithe of all
fish caught, a contribution which it continued to
exact till the end of the eighteenth century.!
The lord's share, in accordance with customarj^ law,
was one maze (or mease), | out of every five caught
* " Constitution " {Manx Soc, vol. xxxi. p. 189)
f Sodor and Man (A. W. Moore), pp 63 and 241.
I A maze, now usually spelled mease, is 620 fish, made up of
5 long scores with 3 warps and a tally, i.e., 5 times 124.
VOL. II. 61 * on
942 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
by each boat,* and there is evidence that this pay-
ment of fish formed, before the eighteenth century,
a considerable part of his revenue.!
In 1577, an import duty of Is. per ton, or Id. per
maze (mease) was placed on all herrings,! with a
view, according to Train, of excluding Dutch fisher-
men from the Manx markets. §
16W reiTting to ^^ 1610, the Statutes contain a series of enact-
fishery"^'^^ mcnts for the regulation of fishing, with the following
emphatic preamble : "As the Herring Fishery is as
great a Blessing as this poor Island receives, in
enabling the Tennants for the better and speedier
Payment of their Eents, and other Impositions, and
have wherewithal to supply their other Wants and
Occasions, when as all other their Endeavours and
■'• This was called the " Castle Maze," because it was used
for feeding the soldiers of the garrisons. For any further
quantity the lord had to pay 6d. a maze, "provided that the
buyers of the first maze shall have for the same three shillings
and fourpence " (Statutes, vol. i. p. 5).
f Statutes, vol. i. p. 14. Blundell {Manx Soc, vol. xxv.
p. 86). At a later period, though the date, accordmg to the
Commissioners of 1791, has not been ascertained, this duty was
commuted for a inoney payment of 10s. for every Manx boat
that took ten maze, and with a smaller pajiuent when the
quantity was less. Foreign boats, i.e., all boats except EngUsh,
paid double these amounts (Report (1791), p. 11), but in the
Knowsley Muniments, in 1670 (x^), it is recorded that "when
a good fishing doth fall" each boat paid to the lord per 20
maze, 2 maze, or 10s. If 5 maze, one maze, or 5s. If 2^
maze, then half a maze, or 2g. 6d." In 1771, by Act 12
Geo. III., the pajrment was fixed at 10s. per boat, and it was
handed over to the Harbour Commissioners to expend on the
harbours. I Statutes, vol. i. p. 38.
§ Train, vol. ii. p. 287 The amount seems rather small for
this purpose.
FISHING 943
Husbandry would scarce advance any such Advan-
tages and Gains unto them : So it hath been the
incessant care and regard of the Government of
this Isle always, when the Season of such Fishing
falls out ... to make open and publick Proclamation
to the whole Assembly of the Island, to remind them
to be careful in providing their Boats and Netts to
be in Keadiness, whensoever it pleaseth God to send
them that Blessing." * On this occasion it was
enacted that all tenants should provide themselves
with nets, that the fishing should not begin till after
the 16th of July, that none should fish in the day
time or from Saturday morning to Sunday night,
and that none should shoot their nets till the
admiral or vice-admiral had taken in their flags or
given a watchword. The duties of a water-baiHff
in collecting the boats together, in seeing good older
preserved among their crews, and in securing the
lord's share of the fish, were specified,! and provision
was made for divine service being performed before
the fishermen set out to the fishing. |
* Statutes, vol. i. p. 74, and though this law has never been
repealed, the fishmg now begins in May, usually endmg towards
the latter part of October. Before 1877, it continued to the end
of the year off Howth Head, but, in that year, the Howth
fishing became practically exhausted.
f Ihid., vol. i. pp. 73-75. These were the chief regula-
tions, there being a number of others.
\ " That the Vicar or minister of the parish where the
fishing is gotten repair to the harbour every morning and
evening to read them divine service, and to deliver them good
admonition upon paine of every default to forfeit his tythe fish
the ensuing night, which is to be given to the poor at the
admiral's discretion. And if any such person neglect to come
944 EISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Fnrtiier laws The next legislation relating to fishing was in
at later dates. " o o
1687, when a law was passed to compel the fisher-
men, who had gone to Scotland and other places to
fish, instead of near the Isle of Man, to pay the
lord's custom on their return, and to ensure "that
all masters and owners of Boates within this Isle
shall before the first day of July next put their
Boates and netts in good order and readiness to look
after and search for the fishing about all parts of
the Island."* In 1737, it was ordained that no
herrings should be exported till the inhabitants had
been supplied at the rate of Is. 2d. per hundred.!
In 1796, this law was repealed,- and in that year, as
well as in 1794 and in 1817, there was some further
legislation about the herring fishery, it being ordered
that, since damage had resulted from nets having
been cast on different sides of the boat, they should
always be cast from the starboard side ; that tarred
nets, being prejudicial to the fishery, were not to
to the place where such service is to be read, when the
admiral or vice-admu-al sets out his flag (which is the sign or
token they are to observe for that duty) to offer their prayers*
and praises for such blessings, such, upon knowledge thereof,
is to be excluded from the benefit of the fishmg that night." |
* Statutes, vol. i. p. 141,
f Ibid., pp. 216-7. In 1738, the deemsters decided that
every master of a boat following the herring fishing, "upon
requirement of the water-bailiff' or admiral be obliged, together
with two of his crew at least, to take their corporal oathes . . .
that when and as often as they do meet with a scull of herrings
at sea . . . they shall reveal the same to the next boat to
them" {Lib. Scacc).
* See p. 520.
i Eotul. (omitted in Statute Book).
FISHING 945
be used, and that the boats should be numbered on
each side.* In 1873, an Act was passed for regu-
lating the oyster and mussel fisheries and for the
protection of oyster-beds, f It has, however, proved
quite ineffective.
We thus see that the fishermen were subjected to
very strict regulations. On land they were under
the control of the water-bailiff, who, in addition to
the powers already mentioned, had authority to
impanel juries to determine all maritime affairs ; I
while, on sea, they were under the orders of an
admiral and vice-admiral chosen from the fishermen
themselves by the water-bailiff. After the Eevest-
ment, the English market was opened to the Manx
fishermen and fish-curers under certain restrictions ;
and it is with these restrictions and with bounties
given from time to time that the Imperial legislation f^'^^^?'^/ °'
affecting the Manx fishermen has been mainly con- alecung the
cerned. We will, therefore, briefly review its history ^^^°"®^-
in connexion with these matters.
In 1765, the Keys petitioned George III. to grant
them the " liberty and privilege " of curing fish on
the coasts of Great Britain, together with a bounty. §
This request was only partially acceded to in 1767,
when bounties were granted to those who caught
* Statutes, vol. i. pp. 344-5, 348-9, 396-400. Regulations
were also passed in 1817 for the selling of herrings by the
cran, containing 42 gallons wine measure, but this was soon
given up, as it led to cheating.
f Ibid., vol. iv. pp. 804-12. See p. 954.
X Lib. Cancell, 1678.
§ Comrs.' Report, App. (A) No. 17.
946 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
the first mease in the season, to those who fished
the greatest number of nights, and to those who
caught the greatest number of herrings.* In 1771,
these bounties were withdrawn, but, in 1772, with
a view of cheapening the process of curing herrings, t
salt was permitted to be imported free from Great
Britain by the fishermen, on their giving a bond
to use it for curing only. In the same year duties
were imposed on cured herrings, but their export
to the British colonies in America was allowed
free. In 1786, these duties were abolished, and
new bounties were granted, but, by some mistake,
they did not include a bounty on the herrings
cured red, except when exported, though this was
then the most important industry in connexion
with the fishery. I In the autumn of 1791, the
* For particulars as to duties and bounties see Appendix A.
f Train describes the process of curing red herrings as
follows : " Men shovel them up in layers, throwing a quantity
of salt over each layer, and in that situation they are allowed
to remain for several days. They are then spitted on hazel
rods and hung up in the drying houses, where wood fires are
lighted under them, and when they are sufficiently smoked, are
packed for exportation " (vol. ii. p. 294). There was formerly
a considerable trade in them to the Continent. An English
merchant in Leghorn informed Feltham that before the war
(1793) they used to receive their cargoes of Manx red herrings
yearly, and from 2,000 to 3,000 barrels of pickled salmon, each
barrel weighing from 100 to 200 lbs. {Manx Soc, vol. vi.
p. 82). After 1798, when smuggling became less profitable,
this business largely increased and continued to flourish till
about 1860, but it has since then shrunk to very small
dimensions.
I Between 1787 and 1790, on an average, 1,825 barrels of
herrings were cured white, of which 113 barrels were exported.
FISHING 947
Keys complained of this to the commissioners,*
by whom the error was rectified, f The bounties
were increased in 1795, modified in 1800 and 1808,
and continued up to 1812, I when they were dropped
till 1820. In that year a bounty of four shilHngs per
barrel on all herrings was granted. This was paid
till 1833, when all bounties were finally discontinued,
on the passage of an Act to permit "herrings from
the Isle of Man, taken and cured by the inhabitants
thereof " § to be imported into the United Kingdom
duty free.
Let us now give some particulars concerning the ^^^,t!lro'^"he
size and number of the Manx herring-fishing boats bolffi^'^""^
at various times. The earliest date at which we periods.
have any information about their size is in 1610,
when it was ordered that all boats, or " scowtes,"
as they were then called, which went to the herring
fishing, must be of four tons burthen. I| But this regu-
lation must have been disregarded, for, towards the
end of the seventeenth century, the cost of the boats
was only from thirty to forty shillings,^ which, even at
wliile, on an average, 6,881 barrels of herrings cured red were
exported to foreign countries and 3,068 barrels to Great Britain.
(Feltham, Manx Soc, vol. vi. p. 81). The quantity of herrings
cured red for home consumption was also very large.
* Comrs.' Report, App. (B.) No. 84.
f In 1782, when the whole of these bounties were paid for
the first time, their amount was estimated to be £976 14s. 7d.
per annum (Train, vol. ii. p. 296).
I Manks Advertiser. See also Bullock, p. 273. The
bounties on herrings between 1799 and 1803 amounted to
je9,364. § 3 and 4 ^Vm. IV. c. 59.
II Statutes, vol. i. p. 73. II Lib. Scacc. 1677.
948 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
the then vahie of money, could not, we think, have
purchased a four-ton boat ; and, early in the following
century. Bishop Wilson tells us that their average
burthen was only about two tons. * It is not till 1670
that we get any account of the number of the Manx
fishing-boats, which was put at 200. t A century
later, in 1777, there were 415, I their burthen being
then from three to ten tons. § In 1791, the Duke of
AthoU estimated the number of boats employed in
the herring fishery at about 400. || These boats
averaged 26 feet in length of keel and 13 in breadth
of beam, and were about eight tons burthen. Their
average cost, including nets, was J675. IT In 1810,
they had advanced to an average of 16 tons, and
their cost, with equipment, to ^£200.**
These boa,ts usually had one mast, carrying a
square sail which went from top to bottom of it.
There was also the " wherry " rig with two masts
and fore and aft sails. About 1830, the rig was
generally changed to the "dandy" or what is now
"-'= Manx Soc, vol. xviii. p. 104.
f Knowsley Muniments, IIII.
I The various accounts of the numbers of the fishing-boats
are unsatisfactory, as we can never be sure whether or not they
are intended to cover all the boats employed in the fishery
generally or the herring boats only.
i^ V. G. Wilks (Manx Note Book, vol. iii. p. 180).
II Comrs.' Eeport, App. (D) No. 28. In 1787, some fifty
of the Manx fishing-boats had been lost in a terrible storm on
the 21st of September.
H Robertson, p. 117.
** Woods, p. 79. Another writer, in 1812, put their burthen
at from 15 to 40 tons, but this is certainly an exaggeration
(Quayle, p. 145).
FISHING 949
usually called the " yawl " rig. All these classes
of boats went by the generic name of "smack."
In 1840, they were, as a rule, half-deckers, instead
of open boats, and their burthen varied from 12 to
18 tons. Their cost, with nets, was about £250
each, and their equipment had so much improved,
mainly owing to the exertions of Admiral Quilliam,
E.N., * that they were able to do with less numerous
crews than formerly.! In 1864, their burthen varied
between 15 and 25 tons, and their cost, without nets,
was, for an average burthen of (say) 20 tons, about
£250. The nets alone cost £100, or more than
double their price in 1827, and the capital invested
in the herring fishery had increased in the same
proportion. I
The "nickey"§ rig, i.e., two masts with large
rhomboidal sails, which had been first introduced
about 1850 had, by 1876, practically superseded
the "dandy" rig, because it was found that the
boats sailed faster under it. || Since 1876, there
has been a great tendency to increase the size of the
boats, and the average Manx herring boat of the
present day is probably one of the largest, best built,
■'• Usually called " Captain," but he had been an admiral for
some years before his death.
f Quiggin's Gwide (1847), pp. 65-73, and 193-98.
I Eeport of Royal Commission.
§ Mr. Cashen says that about 1850 a number of Cornish
fishermen, whose boats were rigged in this way, came to the
island, and, since Nicholas or Nickey was a common name
among them, it was applied to the rig of their boats.
II Recently, however, some " dandy " rigged boats have again
been built.
950 HISTOEY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
and most seaworthy boat of its class to be found
anywhere.* Its average burthen is about 22 tons,
its dimensions being from 45 to 50 feet on keel, 15
feet beam, and 8J feet depth of hold, and its cost,
with equipment, about £750.
The fishermen. ^.s regards the fishermen themselves, the first
mention of them is in the middle of the seven-
teenth century, when we are told that they are
of two kinds, those who have boats and nets of
their own and those who are hired by the owners
to assist them during the fishing season.! Both
the boat-owners and the hired men,t seem, up to
quite a recent date, to have been, for the most
They were also part, employed in agriculture, except during the
farmers till i ' jt ./ o ' j. o
about 1840. chief fishing months, which were July, August,
and September, § and there are constant com-
plaints of the injury caused to both pursuits by
this practice of dividing attention between them.
The want of division of labour |j between the two
* The Yarmouth and Lowestoft deep-sea herring fishing-
boats and a few of the Scottish boats are somewhat larger.
f Blundell {Manx Soc, vol. xxv. p. 82).
I In 1648, the fish caught were divided into eight parts, the
owner of the nets getting three, the owner of the boat one,
and the remainder being divided among the crew. Blundell
{Manx Soc, vol. xxv. p. 85). In 1840, the fish were divided
into fourteen parts, the owner receiving two, the owner of
the nets six, and the crew six (Quiggin's Guide, 1847, p. 197).
§ In old days the herring fishing did not begin tUl the end
of July or later, even, according to Blundell (in 1648), about
the end of August {Manx Soc, vol. xxv. p. 85), but now it
begins much earlier.
II See evidence of the Duke of AthoU in 1791. He said that
this had "nearly ruined numbers," and that " the mortgages
FISHING 951
industries was very general till about 1840, but
since then the tendency has been for the fishermen
to devote themselves more entirely to the sea, going
to the mackerel fishing off Kinsale from March to
June, to the summer herring fishing off the Manx
coasts from June to September, and to the autumn
herring fishing off Howth and the north-east coast
of Ireland from October to December.
We have no account of the number of men and Theimumbers
1 T • 1 /> 1 • -11 T 1 -.at different
boys employed m the fishmg till tow^ards the end periods.
of the eighteenth century, when it was about 2,500,*
which would mean that about 10,000 people, or
nearly two-fifths of the then population, were,
partially at least, dependent upon the fishing for
a livelihood, f It was calculated that, in 1883, the
2,872 1 men and boys actually employed in the
Manx fisheries had a population of 11,000 con-
nected with them, and that 700 other people
employed as boat-builders, net-makers, &c., had
a further population of 2,000, or 13,000 in all,
which meant that about one-fourth of the insular
population was, either directly or indirectly,
dependent on fishing. § The Manx fishermen are,
as is well known, a remarkably fine race of men.
within the island, incurred mostly by the expence of herring
boats and nets, have increased since 1765 nearly ^£100,000"
(Conirs.' Report, App. (D) No. 28).
■■'• Reckoning the average crew of a boat at seven.
f Manx Note Booh, vol. iii. p. 180.
I These are the figures given in the official catalogue of the
Fisheries Exhibition, but the insular " statistical abstract "
gives them as 2,507 (Appendix B).
§ Official catalogue of the Fisheries Exhibition.
952 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Penodkiai ^^^ Their chief industry, that of the herring fishing, has
herring fishery, unfortunately always been Hable to periodical failures.
The first of these, of which there is any record, was
about 1612 ; in consequence of it the allowance
of herrings to the lord, to which we have already
referred, was considerably reduced. * There was
another failure about 1648, and another about
1687. t So numerous were the herrings caught pre-
viously to this last date, that, though 500 herrings
were sold for a groat (4d.), the annual value
of the herring fishery was estimated at £3,000.1
It was during this failure that Manx fishermen
went, for the first time, to a distance from
home in search of fish, they having hitherto
confined themselves to the home fishing in the
months of August and September. A few years
later, between 1700 and 1710, herrings were again
very scarce. § There was a serious failure in 1827,
but after that year there was a gradual improve-
ment, and, between 1840 and 1864, the fishery was
prosperous on the whole. After 1864 the takes
gradually dwindled till 1883, when there was a
recovery. They then rapidly fell, and, in 1886,
their total value did not exceed, approximately,
£5,500. The years 1887 and 1888 showed a slight
improvement, but since then their value has fallen
■''• Statutes, vol. i. pp. 79-80.
f It was represented to Lord Derby, in 1705, that the fishing
had failed for nearly 30 years (Knowsley Muniments, 1™.)
I Manx Soc, vol. i. pp. 14-15.
§ It was at this time that Bishop Wilson added the petition
in the Manx Litany : " That it may please Thee to restore and
PISHING
953
to the insignificant total of less than i'1,800, in
1897. *
These periodical failures of the herring fishery Reports of
■^ o ^ committeeB on
have been several times investigated by committees, l^g^^ng^ °^
but their recommendations have never been of any
practical use because of the want of success in
obtaining Imperial legislation which alone could
control the Irish and Scottish fishermen as well as
the Manx. The first of these investigations was
in 1827, when it was reported that the diminution
of the number of herrings was due to shooting the
nets before sunset. Further reports, in 1849 and
1873, attributed it to deep-sea trawling over the
banks. Messrs. Buckland and Spencer Walpole
again reported against the shooting of nets
before sunset, but committees of the Tynwald
continue to us the blessings of the sea," which is still read in
the Manx churches. We have accounts of the lord's receipts
from the herring fishing for most of the years between 1702 and
1764 which give a good idea of how it varied : —
1702-4
nU.
1718
£bO
1738
£69
1705
^6
1719
missing
1739-40
£86
1706-9
missing
1720
£4.1
1741
£92
1710
^2
1721-8 missing
1742-5
£452
1711
^34
1729
£45
1746
£114
1712
Ml
1730
£68
1747-8
£222
1713
^£49
1731
£38
1749
£109
1714
.£52
1732
£49
1750
£109
1715
£55
1733
£50
1751
£109
1716
M3
1734
£44
1752-64
£1,525
1717
missing
1735-7 missing
(From Knowslej' Muniments and seneschal's office, Douglas.)
* See Appendices B and C. The best idea of the failure of
the fishery during the last seventeen years will be gathered
from the figures in Appendix C.
954 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Court appointed to consider this question in 1881
and 1887 failed to arrive at any conclusion.
Finally, a Commission, which was appointed in 1896,
recommended, as regards herrings, that instructions
should be given to the fishermen to preserve all
spawn and to replace it in the sea, that Imperial
Acts should be passed to establish a close time
during the spawning season and to prevent nets
being shot before sunset. They also recommended
generally, that the arrangements for the transport
of fresh fish should be improved, that efforts should
be made to establish an industry for curing fish and
utilizing the products from them, and that proper
regulations for supervizing the fisheries in the Irish
Sea and protecting the spawning beds should be
made by a Manx Fishery Board in conjunction
with the Imperial Government.
Fish other go far we have referred to the herring fishery, but
than herrings. "
there were, and are, plenty of other fish round the
Manx coasts besides herrings. Writing at the
beginning of the eighteenth century, Sacheverell
tells us that the sea about the Isle of Man " has
great variety of excellent fish, as halybut, turbut,
ling, cod, &c., and all sorts of shell-fish . . . the
oysters are very large but scarce." * And, in 1777,
in answer to queries from Pennant, the antiquary,
Vicar-General Wilks wrote : " We have many sorts
of fish caught, such as herrings, cod, haddock, ling,
* Manx Soc, vol. i. pp. 14-15. About 1869, a bank of these
was discovered near the Point of AjTe by Jersey fishermen, and
was practically destroyed by them.
FISHING 955
whiting, pollocks, sea carp, mackerel, gurnets, ray,
flounders, congers, and sometimes and but seldom
turbot, soles and John Doreys. ... In the months
of June, July, August, and September we have at
times on our shore * great quantities of sand eels
. . . also some musel (sic) banks along shore,* but
they are seldom come at or used."t In addition to
these we may mention plaice, fluke, and britt. In Jnlljedinthe
1840, there were fifteen vessels and 120 men employed ''°'^ ^'^^°^'' *'^"
in the cod fishery, and eighteen fast sailing vessels,
with 120 men, belonging to the island, were em-
ployed in the transport of fresh fish to Liverpool. I
This trade, owing to the improved means of trans-
port to the inland towns of Great Britain by the
railways, has rapidly grown in importance, while
that in cured fish has decreased. § The transporta-
tion is now entirely conducted by steamers.
In 1849, appeared the first of the reports of the Line^fishers
insular Legislature which reflected the popular trawlers.
opinion in favour of the long-line fisheries and
against the practice of trawhng, as well as against
the use of trammel nets. But, though it was sug-
gested by Messrs. Buckland and Walpole in 1879,
that, as an experiment, trawling should be prohibited
* At Ballaugh.
f From Ballaugh Parish Book (MS.).
I Laughton's Guide (1842), pp. 177-182 ; Train, vol. ii. pp.
301-5; and Quiggin's Guide (1847), pp. 65-73 and 193-8.
§ Ban-els cured averaged : 1787-1790, 11,274 ; 1841, 667,245 ;
1848, 644,368; 1849, 770,698; 1852, 28,845; 1859, 34,357;
1860, 44,120; 1801, 18,112; 1864,34,357. A barrel contains
600 herrings.
956 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
in Castletown Bay,* nothing was done in that
direction till 1894, when a committee of five
members was appointed by the Tynwald Court with
power to make bye-laws regulating the sea fisheries.!
Among these bye-laws was one prohibiting trawlers
from fishing within three miles from the shore. The
question of this prohibition was considered by the
commissioners who reported in 1898, and they came
to the conclusion that, though the evidence concern-
ing the damage done by trawlers was conflicting, it
was desirable to continue it. They also recom-
mended that the trawlers should be compelled to use
nets with a larger mesh, that the use of all trammel,
seine, trawl and drag nets should be prohibited
within the limit referred to, and that a hatchery for
lobsters and flat fish should be established at Port
Erin. I
Value of the jt will have been seen, from what has been said,
fisheries ' '
generally. j^q.^ great the value of the fisheries is to the Isle of
Man. In 1883, their produce was estimated at
£140,384 ; the value of the boats, with their equip-
ment, being placed at £241,806. §
* Insular Blue Book, 1891. They also suggested that con-
servators should be appointed for the preservation of salmon
and trout. We have not entered into the question of river
fisheries because they are of small importance, though the
island contains several excellent trout streams.
f Statutes, vol. vi. pp. 613-17.
:[ For general recommendations see Blue Book (1898)
pp. 12-14.
§ Statistics as to the number of fishing boats, their tonnage,
the number of men and boys employed, the value of the boats
and lines, and of the fish caught, will be found in Appendix B,
but, unfortunately, they are not sufficiently accurate to be of
FISHING 957
APPENDIX A.
PRINCIPAL ACTS OF PARLIAMENT IN CONNEXION WITH MANX
FISHERIES.
7 Geo. III. c. 45, sec. 17 (1767) granted bounties for encou-
ragement of the herring fishery and allowed utensils to be used
in the fisheries to be imported.
11 Geo. III. c. 52 (1771) repealed these bounties.
12 Geo. III. c. 58 (1772) gave permission to export to
Great Britain herrings bond fide caught off the Isle of Man
provided a certificate to that effect was produced and a payment
per barrel (32 gallons) of 3h. 4d. for white herrings and of ls.8d.
per 1,000 red herrings was made. Herrings could be exported
to British colonies free and salt could be loaded by fishermen,
on their giving a bond that such salt should only be used for
curing herrings.
25 Geo. III. c. 34 (1785) prohibited the exportation of
herrings caught off the Isle of Man, unless a proper certificate
was obtained that they were actually caught there.
26 Geo. III. c. 81 abolished the duties imposed by 12 Geo.
III. c. 58, and granted bounties of Is. per barrel on herrings
cured white, and 2s. 8d. per barrel if they were either exported
direct from the island or thi-ough Great Britain to foreign parts.
Cured red herrings received a bounty of Is. 9d. per barrel
only when exported, the Is. bounty on them having been
omitted by mistake.
35 Geo. III. c. 56 (1795) granted an additional bomity of Is.
per barrrel for every barrel of herrings landed in the island.
39 and 40 Geo. III. c. 85 (1799-1800) enacted that the bomity
paid under 35 Geo. III. c. 56 was to be taken out of the sur-
plusage of the Manx customs.
41 Geo. III. c. 91 (1801) put Manx fishermen and fish-curers
on the same terms as to bounties as their compeers in Great
Britain.
value. Some accounts give the number of the herring boats
only, others of all the fishing boats ; sometimes the value of the
catch of herrings only is given, at other times, of aU the fish,
and the accounts of the tonnage are uncertain, while sometimes
the men and boys indirectly, as well as directly, employed in the
fishing are included.
VOL. II. 62
958
HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
48 Geo. III. (1808) granted a bounty of J£3 per barrel to all
vessels employed in the white herring fishery on the coasts of
Great Britain and Ireland.
1 Geo. IV. (1820) abolished this bounty, but extended the
bounty of 4s. per barrel, on all herrings caught, landed, cured
and packed in Great Britain, to the Isle of Man.
3 and 4 William IV. c. 59 (1833) abolished all bounties.
APPENDIX B.
No.
Men and
Value of
Value of
Date.
Fishing
Tonnage.
boys
boats and
Boats.
employed.
geai-.
v'CuUv'l.t •
1777 (a)
415
From 3-10 tons
2,905
1791 (b)
400
3,200
3,600
...
3,000 §
1810 (c)
450
av. 16 tons
...
90,000
...
1840 (d)
230*
From 12-18 tons
l,500t
57,500
72,000
1846 (e)
606
5,145
3,813
83,427
70,000 §
1849 (/)
605
5,586
3,865
76,605
...
1850 (g)
600
• • •
3,800
83,000
80,000 §
1852 (h)
503
5,003
2,805
43,749
1859 U)
574
5,053
2,450
57,220
...
1860 (k)
581
5,149
2,480
60,249
...
1861 (I)
591
5,349
2,480
62,114
...
1864 {vi)
300*
6,600
2,800
65,087
70,000 §
1876 {n)
300*
6,500
2,500
160,000
40,000(15)1
1879 (s)
390
6,723
2,529
...
...
1883 (s)
361
6,298
2,507
241,306 (o)
42,460 (p)t
1887 (s)
370
6,436
2,382
...
11,520(2):
1892 (s)
380
6,817
2,191
...
3,942 (9)t
1896 (s)
356
6,170
2,023
...
6,011(2):
1897
1,758(2):
p. 180.
Report.
App. D,
{a) V. G. Wilks. Manx Note Book, vol.
(6) Duke of AthoU's Evidence. Comrs.
No. 28.
(c) Woods, p. 79.
(d) Quiggin's Guide, 3rd Edition, pp. 65-73 and 193-198.
Also Train, vol. ii. pp. 301-5, and Laughton's Guide (1842) pp.
177-182.
(e) Quiggin's Guide.
* Herring boats only.
§ Of all fish.
Men only.
Value of herrings only.
FISHING
959
( ) Royal Commission."-'-
(g) Capt. John Washington's Report."
(h) Report of Commissioners for British Fisheries. "■'=
{j k t) Report in Imperial Blue Book.
(m) Royal Commission.--
(n) Brown's Guide.
(o) Official Report. Fisheries Exhibition.
(p) Estimate by R. Corrin, Peel. All fish j£140,384 (o).
(q) Estimate obtained by reckoning the Peel catch at three-
fifths of the whole, and adding 5 per cent, for private sales,
(s) Statistical abstract. Manx Blue Book.
PEEL, f (Herring boats
only.)
Date.
No. of
boats.
Tonnage.
Men and
boys
employed.
Cost value
of boats and
gear.
Value of
catch.
~'
£
£
1881
309
7,725
2,163
231,750
11,190
1882
270
6,750
1,890
202,500
12,204
1883
240
6,000
1,680
180.000
23,314
1884
231
5,775
1,617
173,250
10,624
1885
235
5,875
1,645
176,250
8,613
1886
205
5,050
1,420
151,000
3,118
1887
197
4,820
1,358
143,900
6,583
1888
193
4,675
1,321
139,200
7,194
1889
169
4,100
1,138
118,500
3,570
1890
190
4,450
1,270
131,500
3,667
1891
168
3,825
1,101
122,250
3,017
1892
174
3,900
1,128
114,000
2,254
1893
166
3,625
1,057
105,250
3,030
1894
140
2,900
860
83,000
2,894
1895
90
1,850
510
45,500
3,500
1896
60
1,200
300
23,000
3,435
1897
55
975
265
19,250
1,001
There are at present 56 Manx fishmg boats at Port St. Mary,
with 346 men and boys. The value of these boats fully
equipped is ^9,100. The average value of all kuids of fish
landed at Port St. Mary during the last four years is ^2,927.
Between 1852 and 1882 the average value of herrings alone
landed at this port varied from dE35,000 to ^£45,000.^
* Tbese are in Imperial Blue Books.
I Information supplied by the late Robert Corrin. These arc boats
belonging to Peel only.
i Information from Captain Qualtrough (Harbour Master).
CHAPTEK III
MINING
rpHEEE is no doubt that, in proportion to its
-^ area, the metalliferous wealth of the Isle of
Man has been very considerable.
Two of its mines, Laxey and Foxdale, have stood,
for a long series of years, in the first rank in the
British islands for productiveness of zinc and of
silver lead, respectively.
These metals have constituted its principal riches,
but copper pyrites and hematite-iron have also been
raised in marketable quantities, while only very small
amounts of the ores of nickel and antimony have
been found.
It is not surprizing, seeing that metalliferous veins
are conspicuously exposed on the cliffs of the island,
especially at Bradda Head, that there are records of
mines existing in it at an early date.
They are first mentioned in 1246, when King
Harald granted a charter under which the monks
of Furness Abbey obtained the right to work
them.* We learn, some fifty years later, that
* Cott. MSS. Manx Soc, vol. vii. pp. 79-81.
960
MINING 961
John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, had a hcence from
Edward I. to dig for lead in the Calf of Man, to
cover eight towers of his Castle of Cruggleton in
Galloway.* In 1406, " mines of lead and iron "
are included in the grant of the island to Sir
John Stanley by Henry IV. ; f and, in 1422, it was
ordained that the lord's mine should be managed
by his " Lieutennant, Receiver and Comptroller." t
The discovery of workings in which the ore had
been extracted by means of " feather- wedges " §
shows that these mines had been worked before
the discovery of gunpowder, § but there is no
actual record of mining operations till the middle
of the seventeenth century, when Captain Edward
Christian i found that the rocks at " mine-hough"
{i.e. Bradda Head), contained " much silver." IT
The working does not seem to have been persevered
vdth at that time owing to the supposed difficulties
caused by the presence of the sea. After the Res-
toration mining was prosecuted more systematically.
Both lead and copper ores were sought, and the
lord let his rights in the mines, on condition of
* Chalmer's Caledonia (vol. iii. p. 372), quoted by Gumming
{History of the Isle of Man, p. 307).
f " Rot. Lib. Pat." {Manx Soc, vol. vii. p. 236).
I Statutes, vol. i. p. 19.
§ J. F. Berger, M.D., " Mineralogical Account of the Isle o
Man," Trans, of Geological Society, vol. ii. (1814), p. 51.
II See p. 232.
IT Chaloner {Manx Soc, vol. x. p. 8). Blundell at this period
makes the remarkable prediction that " it will be experienced
hereafter that Man is far richer underground than it is above"
{Manx Soc, vol. xxv. p. 49).
962 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
receiving one-fifth of the produce. It was on these
terms that he granted a lease of all the mines in
the island, with leave " to erect a smelting mill.
or more than one for the smelting of the oar,
mynes [sic] and minerals," * and, in the following
year, he, "being by good reasons persuaded that
there is plenty of coales " * in the island, ordered
the governor to search for them. In 1679, there
is a record of a grant made by Charles II. to the
earl " of all mines royal of gold or silver, or holding
gold or silver to such a proportion as according to
the Laws of the Kealm of England doth make the
same a mine Koyal." f In 1699, the lord's fifth
part of the lead and copper ore raised amounted
to 32 tons, 13 cwt. ; and, in 1700, 227J tons of iron
ore were shipped from the mine " att Daunane "
(? Drynane) in Maughold.| John Murrey, a well
known Douglas merchant, had, in 1708, I a lease
of all the Manx lead and copper mines from the
lord, on condition of paying i*3 per ton for all ore
raised by him. In 1709, he paid for about 40 tons,
and, from 1709 to 1713, for about 30 tons yearly.
In 1711, he built a new smelting-house, but three
years later he surrendered his lease, § and we find,
consequently, the following notice issued by the
lord : —
" Forasmuch as our Honourable Lord hath been
■'• Seneschal's Papers.
•f- Office of " Woods and Forests," London.
I Sacheverell, in 1702, merely remarks that iron, lead and
copper have been fomid {Manx Soc, vol. i. p. 14).
j Seneschal's Papers.
MINING 903
pleased for the discovery and finding out mines
within this Island ... to send over an order . . .
that any person who shall find out any veines of
Lead or copper . . . such as shall be thought fitt
for working by the Steward or overseer of the said
workes . . . shall not only have paid down unto
them fourty shillings as a reward but shall have
the preference of working the said mines, 3 pounds
a ton for every ton they shall get, delivering unto
the Steward a fifth part of what oare they shall raise
after the same is cleansed and made merchantable,
provided they begin and prosecute the said work
within three months." *
About this time Bishop Wilson writes as follows
about insular mines : " Mines of coal there are none,
though several attempts have been made to find them.
But of lead, copper, and iron, there are several, and
some of them have been wrought to good advantage,
particularly the lead ; of which ore many hundred tons
have of late been smelted and exported. As for the
copper and iron ores, they are certainly better than
at present they are thought to be, having been often
tried and approved of by men skilled in those
matters. However, either through the ignorance
of the undertakers, or by the unfaithfulness of the
workmen, or some other cause, no great matter
has as yet been made of them." f
From this statement it appears that the metals
were raised in much the same relative proportions
* Lib. Scacc.
t Wilson's History, 1726 {Manx Soc, vol. xviii. pp. 94-5).
964 HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
at that time as at present; that the zinc-blende
associated with the lead ores, which is now a
product of considerable value, was then worth
little or nothing ; and that the attempts made to
work the veins of copper and iron were not
any more successful, commercially, than they have
been since. In 1724, the mines were evidently
being again worked, since the governor reports to
Lord Derby that the " prospect " was best in copper
ore " of which a considerable quantity is weekly
raised," whereas, " Foxdayle hath from the first
been worked with the least success " ; and, he adds,
" I shall be forced to give it up, for the longer we
work it the worser it grows." * This report has
been entirely falsified by results, t The lease from
the Crown, to which we have already referred,
expired in 1736, but was revived on the petition
of John Duke of Atholl in 1780, supported by a
statement by Peter John Heywood, deemster,
"that he is enabled to declare of his own know-
ledge and from what he hath heard, that there
are not any mines of gold or silver in the said
Island ; that the only mines which now are or
ever were wrought in the said Isle, as he hath
heard and believes, are mines of Lead and Copper.
Except he hath heard some mines of iron have
been worked formerly, and that he hath been
■■'■ Knowsley (Loose Papers).
i In 1731, a report to Lord Derby by J. Lend. Foren
mentions the good prospects of a mine called the "Whinuery,"
for the right of working which "a gentleman from London
had offered j£500 " (Loose Papers. Knowsley).
MINING 965
informed by persons experienced in the know-
ledge of mines that there is a proportion of silver
in the Lead mines now working, but so small as
by no means to answer the expence of assaying
and separating." *
According to one authority the mines at Laxey
" were opened and wrought by a mining company
of Cumberland, about the commencement of the
last century," f but we have no definite knowledge
of their having been worked till about 1782. I At
the same time, workings were renewed at Foxdale.
Laxey was, in 1808, being worked from the banks
of the river, and yielded silver-lead, blende, and
copper. The small importance of the results
obtained may be estimated from the facts that only
three miners were employed there in the year
referred to and that they did not extract sufficient
ore to pay for the expense of working. § This need
cause little surprize when we learn that the copper
ore and the blende were " thrown away among the
rubbish." ji The lead glance (galena) is said to have
then been very rich in silver, yielding 180 ounces to
the ton. During the same year, the mine at Bradda
was again closed, " the miners being engaged in the
more profitable employment of the herring fishing." H
Foxdale mines were in the same condition. The
rubbish lying there was " almost wholly of frag-
* Ofl&ce of "Woods and Forests," London.
f Berger, p. 5, quoting from a MS. of Fitz-simmons's.
I By William Elliot {Lib. Scacc).
§ Woods, p. 20. II Ibid., p. 18. IT Ibid., p. 12.
966 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
ments of slate, mixed with pieces of brown blende,
a little lead glance, and some sparry iron-ore,"*
which shows that the granite had not then been
penetrated. Laxey was then being worked by two
levels from the banks of the river, and yielded silver-
lead, blende, and copper, t In 1819, MacCulloch
states that all the mines were abandoned with no
prospect of renewal. He speaks of Laxey, Bradda
and Foxdale as the three principal mines, but
mentions that work had also been carried on at
Ballacorkish and Glenchass.t In 1823, the Foxdale
mines were re-opened by Michael Knott, of Kendal,
who held it from the Duke of Atholl, § and Laxey
mines started again in the same year. In 1825, a
"fine vein of ore" § was discovered at Laxey, and
we are told that the " insular mines are doing
admirably, particularly Foxdale." § Encouraged
by this. Bishop Murray ordered a mine to be
opened in his barony, in Marown, " by following
the direction of that rich vein which has been
wrought to such great advantage at Little Fox-
dale." II No success, however, attended this
venture. In 1828, Michael Knott's interest in
Foxdale was bought over by what would now be
called a syndicate, who divided it into 16 equal
shares, which were afterwards reduced to 14.11
During the third and fourth decades of the cen-
- Woods, p. 13. f Ihid., p. 18.
\ MacCulloch, Western Islands of Scotland, vol. ii. pp. 574-5.
§ Manhs Advertiser. About 20 men were employed at each
mine.
II Manks Advertiser. H Isle of Man Times, 1885.
MINING 967
tury there was a great revival in the Manx mining
industry, and its development from that time v^^as
rapid. In 1830, the Foxdale mines were in a most
flourishing condition, a vein a yard square having
been then recently discovered there, and, in 1831,
their produce during three months only was valued
at £14,000. In 1832, the Laxey £100 shares were
selling for £500. In 1837, an iron mine was
opened in Maughold, which, in 1848, was raising
about 500 tons of ore a month. Gumming remarks,
in this latter year, that the Foxdale mines had
proved the most productive in the island, and he
states that the average amount of silver-lead ore
raised annually there during the previous ten
years had been 2,400 tons, and also that the
Laxey mine, which was being worked by a new
company, was raising 60 tons of lead, 200 tons
of blende mixed with lead, and 5 tons of copper
ore, per month.*
In 1852, the Laxey Mining Company's £80 paid
shares were selling at from £1,000 to £1,100, and, in
1854, they reached £1,200. In this latter year was
erected the great wheel at that mine, which was said
to be then the largest in the world. It was designed
by a Manxman, Kobert Casement.! In 1862, the
- History of the Isle of Man, pp. 308-10. The three mines
referred to were employing over 700 men and boys at this time.
f It is " breast shot," beiag 72 feet 6 inches in diameter and
6 feet broad. The axle came from the Mersey Iron Works,
Liverpool. The arms, of wood, were made in the island, as
were the cast-iron rims (at Gelling's Foundry, in Douglas). It
can pump 250 gallons a minute from a depth of 200 fathoms.
968 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
" Great Laxey Company " was formed. In 1853,
the Foxdale Mining Company was brought under the
Joint Stock Companies' Act, and was afterwards
registered as a hmited company,* We are told that
in 1885, the raisings of lead ore at the Foxdale mines
since 1828 had been, approximately, 125,000 tons,
reaHzing ^1,850,000, the profits being £400,000.1
The great prosperity of these two companies stimu-
lated, between 1850 and 1870, the search for metals
in every part of the island. Numerous new com-
panies were formed and mines established on the
slenderest prospects, and, consequently, with almost
uniform ill-success. In some cases no ore whatever
was obtained; oftenerthe veins jdelded lead, zinc, or
copper, in quantities too small to be marketed. In a
few instances, sufficient ore to be worth selling was
found, but it did not pay for the working expenses.
Of late years even Laxey and Foxdale have not paid
so well as formerly, owing to the reduced price of
metals, but, just recently, metals have again risen in
price, with the result of increased prosperity to the
mines.
We conclude with a brief account of some other
Building stone, economic products of the Isle of Man. The chief
source of building stone is the slate series. This
material is raised in rough slabs along the bedding
or cleavage faces, and is used in this condition for
ordinary walling, but, since it can only be very imper-
fectly squared or " dressed," it has to be supple-
* With 2,800 shares of ^25 each, this, in 1881, being changed
into 14,000 shares of ^5 each. f Isle of Man Times.
MINING 969
merited, in most buildings, by bricks, freestone, or
hewn limestone."*
The carboniferous limestone of the south of the
island affords good building stone, though it is rather
dingy in colour. The durability of this stone is
proved by the excellent state of preservation of Castle
Rushen, which has been principally built of it. The
dark, flaggy, argillaceous limestone, which forms the
uppermost portion of the carboniferous limestone at
Pooylvash, was formerly quarried for steps, tomb-
stones, &c., under the name of "black marble."
The steps of St. Paul's Cathedral, in London, so
often mentioned in local literature as having been
supplied from the Pooylvash quarry, are no longer in
existence.
The Peel sandstone was formerly rather exten-
sively quarried for building purposes, but, since it has
not been found very durable, it is not much worked
at the present day.
The Foxdale granite has also been quarried, but
without much success. The Dhoon granite, how-
ever, being extremely hard and close in texture, has
recently been utilized on a large scale for paving
setts, t
Bricks are made in several parts of the island from Bricks,
boulder-clay, and, in the Peel district, from decom-
posed slate. These operations are, as yet, on a limited
* Since it is somewhat porous, it has been usual, of late years,
to cover houses which are built of it with cement.
f I.e., transported granite boulders (mainly from Scotland)
have been lai"gely used in Manx buildings and walls. Note
particularly Bride Church.
970 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Roofing slate.
Lintel slate.
Lime.
Ochre and
Umber.
scale, and the produce is not of the highest quahty,
though the "Glenfaba" brick has a good reputation.
About the middle of this centuiy very large sums
were expended in opening quarries in the hope of
obtaining roofing slate. The Manx slate rocks
have, however, been so much crushed and "sheared "
that their structure as a whole is unfavourable for
the production of good slate, and heavy losses were
therefore incurred by the adventurers.
A variety of slate was formerly quarried at the
foot of the precipices of Spanish Head which
could be raised in long tough beams with a somewhat
fibrous structure. It was used for Hntels and other
purposes of construction.* A floor and ceiling of
this material may be seen in Castle Eushen.
Quarries on the hill-side south-east of Ballaugh have
also suppHed similar beams. The carboniferous
limestone tract of the south of the island, at the
present day,! furnishes the sole supply of lime. This
valuable product is largely used by Manx farmers. I
Ochre and umber are obtained from decomposed
carboniferous limestone in the south and from a
decomposed vein in the slates of Maughold Head,
along the course of a basaltic dyke. Both these
sources have been worked intermittently. §
* It is mentioned in this connexion in several old accounts of
the island.
f In the past the limestone boulders of the glacial deposits
of the north of the island have been used, and a thin calcareous
band in the Peel sandstones was also quarried.
I bee Ch. I.
§ We append statistics relating to the quantities of lead,
MINING 971
The drift deposits, especially those of the low sand,
grounds, usually contain an abundance of sand,
which is, for the most part, available for building
purposes.
Recent borings in the vicinity of the Point of Ayre s^it.
have demonstrated the existence of large deposits of
salt at a considerable depth below sea-level, which, it
is hoped, may prove of economic value.
A deposit of fuller's earth has just been discovered
in Michael.
silver, copper ore, zinc ore and zinc obtained from Manx
mines. The average annual amount of Lead raised since 1845
has been as follows :— 1845-54, 1,651 tons ; 1855-64, 2,132 tons ;
1865-74, 2,949 tons ; 1875-84, 3,717 tons ; 1885-94, 4,733 tons.
Of Silver, the average annual amount since 1851 has been : —
1851-60, 49,478 oz. ; 1861-70, 129,739 oz. ; 1871-80, 145,702
oz. ; 1881-90, 127,241 oz. ; 1891-5, 120,787 oz. Copjper Ore,
except from 1863-72, when an average of 520 tons was raised,
has only been found in comparatively small quantities. Of Zinc
Ore, the average annual amount since 1863 has been : — 1863-72,
4,704 tons; 1873-82, 8,197 tons; 1883-92, 4,705 tons ; 1893-98,
2,630 tons. Of Ziiic, the average annual amount since 1881
has been :— 1881-90, 2,478 tons; 1891-95, 1,111 tons. The
above particulars have been obtained from the following
sources:— (1) The Geological Sm-vey to 1847; (2) The Re-
cords of the School of Mines to 1852 ; (3) From the Mineral
Statistics of the United Kingdom from 1853 to 1890 and
from 1896 to 1898; (4) The Manx Statistical Abstract from
1891 to 1895. For full particulars about Manx mines, see the
annual reports by Sir W. W. Smj-th from 1857 to 1888, the
Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom, also The Geology
of the Isle of Man, by Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, F.G.S.
SUPPLEMENT
KINGS, OR LORDS, IN MAN,
SCANDINAVIAN SUZERAINTY.-
1079-1095. Goclred I. (6Vouan).f
'? 1095-1096. Lagman.
., ( 1096-1098. ) „ , ^
• 1 1108-1112. } ^°''^^^-
? 1099-1103. ? Sigurd.
1103 or ? 1113 ) „, fj.r^j-. ,
to 1153. ) {Kleimnrj).
Godred II.
1153-1158 and
1164-1187.
1158-1164.1 Somerlcd.§
1187-1226. Reginald I.
1226-1237. Olaf II.
1237-1248. Harald.
1249. Reginald II.
1249-1252. Harald (Godred Don's son).§
1250-1252. Ivar.§
1252-1265. Magnus.
* Frequently iu abeyance.
+ It is so difficult to identify the rulers iu Man before his time that
we have not attempted a list of them.
\ Re}<inald, Godred's brother (? usurper), reigns four days,
§ ? Usurper.
63 973
974 HISTOKY OP THE ISLE OF MAN
SCOTTISH RULB.''=
1266-1284. Alexander III.
1284 ? 1290. Margaret.
SCOTTISH SUZERAINTY.
1313 f 1 Thomas Ban-
? 1318 ? 1333. \ dolph.
ENGLISH RULE.
1290-1293. 7 „ , , T
1296-1298. } ^^"^^'^ ^•
ENGLISH SUZERAINTY.
•? 1290.
1293-? 1296.
? 1298-1310.
1310.
1311.
1312.
Richard de
Burgo.
John Balliol.
Anthony de
Beck.
Henry de Bello
Monte.
Peter de Gave-
ston.
Henry de Bello
Monte.
DIRECT RULE. I
1333-1344. William de Montacute I.
(First Earl of Salisbury).
1344-1392. "William de Montacute II.
(Second Earl of Salisbury).
1392-1399. William le Scroop
(Earl of Wiltshire).
ENGLISH SUZERAINTY.
1399-1405, Henry de Percy
(Earl of Northumberland).
1405-1414.
1414-1432.
The Stanleys.
John I. (Knight).
John II. (Knight).
* Throiij^h governors.
t Doubttiil whether English or Scots in possession between li314 and
1317.
I Absohite ownership, there being, apparently, no suzerain between
1333 and 1399.
SUPPLEMENT 075
1432-1460. Thomas I. (Baron).
1460-1504. Thomas II. (First Earl).
1504-1521. Thomas III. (Second Earl).
1521-1572. Edward (Third Earl).
1572-1593. Hem-y (Fourth Earl).
1593-1594. Fcrdinando (Fifth Earl).
ENGLISH RULE.*
1594-1603. EUzabeth.
1603-1607. James I.
ENGLISH SUZERAINTY.
( Henry (Earl of Northampton).
1607-1610. 1 jjobg^t (Earl of Salisbmry).
The Stanleys (restored).
-^ ( William I. and (Sixth Earl) and
■ ( Elizabeth.
1627-1651. f James I. (Seventh Earl).
ENGLISH RULE.
1651 (November)-1652 (February). The Commonwealth.
ENGLISH SUZERAINTY.
1652-1660. Lord Fairfax.]:
TJie Stanleys (restored).
1660-1672. Charles (Eighth Earl).
1672-1702, WilUam II. (Ninth Earl).
1702-1736. James II. (Tenth Earl).
The Atholls.
1736-1764. James III. (Second Duke).
.^^. i7fir i John III. (Third Duke) and
^'''^"■^'^^•i Charlotte.
* Through Governors. t Actual rule (nominally from 1642).
J Under the Commonwealtb.
HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
1765-1820.
1820-1830.
1830-1837.
1837.
ENGLISH RULE.-'-
George III.
George lY.
William IV.
Victoria.
GOVEKKORS.
Captains or Governora.
1405. Michael Blunclell.
1417. John Letherland.
1422. John Walton.f
1428. Henry Byron.f
1496. Peter Button.
1497. Henry Eadcliffe
(Abbot).
1508. Ralph Eushton.
1511. John Ireland (Knight).
1518. John Ffasakerly.
1521. Thomas Danport.
1527. Henry Stanley.
1532. John Ffleming.
1536. George Stanley.
1545. William Stanley.
1552. Henry Stanley.
1570. Edward Tarbock.
1576. John Harmer.
1580. Richard Sherburne.
John Meryck (also
bishop) .
1592. Cuthbert Gerard.
1593. William Stanley (The
Hon.).
1594. Eandulph Stanley.
Dejnitij-Goveriiors.
1504. John Farker (Abbot).
1505. Ealph Eushton.
1525. Eichard Holt.
1531. Thomas Bradley.
1532. Thomas Shirburne.
1536. Thomas Nores.
1540. Thomas Tyldesley.
1541. John Potter.
1562. Thomas Stanley (Knt.).
Thomas Mortimer.
Thomas Gerard.
Through Governors.
t Lieutcuaut.
SUPPLEMENT
977
Captains or Governon^.
1595. Thomas Gerard (Knt.).
1596. Peter Legh.-
1599. Cuthbert Gerard.
1600. Robert ]\[olynieux.
1609. John Ireland.
1623. Frederick Liege (Knt.).
1626. Edward Hohnewood.
1627. Charles Gerrard (Knt.).
1639. Ffoulks Ilunckes.
1640. .John Greenhalghe.
1651. Philip Musgrave (Knt.).
1651. Piobert Duckenfield
(Colonel).
Depiify-Governors.
1597. Robert INIolynieux.
1621. Edward Fletcher.
1628. Edward Christian.!
1634. Ewan Christian.
1637. Edward Christian
(again).
1639. Radclifle Gerrard.
1652. John Sharpies.
Governors.
1652. :\Iatthew Cadwell.
1656. William Christian.
1659. James Chaloner,
1660. Roger Nowell.t
1664. Isaac Barrow (also
bishop).
1673. Henry Nowell.
1677. Henry Stanley.
1678. Robert Heywood.
1690. Roger Kenyon.
1693. WiUiam Sacheverell.
1696. Nicholas Sankey (Col.).
1701. James Cranstown.
1702. Charles Stanley ^The
Hon.).§
1703. Robert Mawdesley.
1713. Charles Z. Stanley (The
Hon.). II
1652. Samuel Smith.
1660. Richard Stevenson.
1662. Henry Nowell.
1692. WiUiam Sacheverell.
1713. Alexander Home.
* " Captain and Governor."
t "Lieutenant and Captain."
X " Governor, Captain-General, and Commander-in-Chief."
§ " Chief Governor and Commander-in-Chier."
11 " Chief Governor."
978 HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Lieutenant-Governors.^
Governors.
Lit
1718.
Alexander Home.-''
1723.
John Lloyd.
1725.
Thomas Horton.
1736.
James Murray. |
1744.
Patrick Lindesay.|
1751.
Basil Cochrane.!
1761.
John Wood.j
1773.
1775.
1777.
Edward Smith.
1790.
1793-
1 John Murray, Fourth
} Duke of AthoU.
1804.
1830.
Henry Hope.
Richard Dawson.
Alexander Shaw.
Heiiry Murray (Lord).
1805. Cornelius Smelt (Col.).
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS. II
1832. John Eeady (Colonel).
1845. Charles Hope (The Hon.).
1860. Francis Stainsbj'-Conant-Pigott.
1863. Henry Brougham Loch.H
1882. Spencer Walpole.--
1893. Joseph West Eidgeway (Knight) ff
1895. John Major Henniker-Major (Baron). J |
* " Governor and Commander-in-Chief."
t After 1773 "Lieutenant-Governor" is the invariable title of the
Depiity-Governor. The deputy-governors appointed during a brief
vacancy or the governor's absence from the island are not mentioned.
J The title of these governors was " Governor and Commander-in-
Chief."
§ John Wood bore the same title tUl the Revestment, after which he
was styled " Governor-in-Chief and Captain-General." This was also
the title of his two successors.
II After the death of the Duke of AthoU in 1830 there has only been
one governor.
fl Lord Loch {cr. 1895, d. 1900), G.C.B., G.C.M.G., D.C.L., P.C. ;
Commissioner of Woods and Forests, 1882-1884 ; Governor of Victoria,
1884-1889 ; Governor of Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner of
South Africa, 1889-1895.
** Hon. LL.D., Edinburgh ; K.C.B., 1898; Secretary to the General
Post Office, 1893-1899.
t+ K.C.S.I., 1885 ; K.C.B., 1891 ; Under-Secretary for Ireland, 1888-
1893 ; Governor of Ceylon, 1895.
II J.P. and D.L. for Suffolk; formerly a Lord-in-Waiting to the
Queen; M.P. for East Suffolk, 18GG-1870; sits in the House of Lords
as Lord Hartismere.
SUPPLEMENT 979
BISHOPS.
Roolwer.
William.
Hamond.
1134.
Wimund.
John.
Gamaliel.
Reginald.
? 1158.
Christian.
? 1164.
Michael.
Nicholas.
1217.
Reginald.
John.
? 1226.
Sjauon.
1248,
Lawrence.
1248-1253.
Vacant.
1253.
Richard.
1275.
Mark.
? 1305.
Alan (?).*•)
John (?).- \
? 1321.
Gilbert McLellan.
1329.
Bernard de Linton.
1384.
Thomas.
1348.
William Russell.
1374.
Jolm Donkan.j
? 1392.
John Sprotton.
1410.
Richard Payl.- |
1429.
Richard Pully. ■ )
? 1449.
John Grenc.
? 1455.
Thomas Burton.
1458.
Thomas.
1483.
Richard Oldon. I
1487.
Huan Blackleach.§
? 1510.
Hugh Hesketh.
1523.
John Hounden.
1546.
Honry Man.
Thomas Stanley. ||
* Probably the same. | Translated to (?) Down.
I We are indebted to tbe Rev. T. Talbot lor corrections in tbe list of
bisbops between 1483 and 1523. S Wrongly " Hesketb " at p. 217.
II Appointed in 1555, but seemingly not consecrated tiU 1557 or 155b
(see Sodor aiul Man, p. 138).
980 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
1568-1570. Vacant.
1570. John Salesbury.
1573-1576. Vacant.
1576. John Meryck (also governor).
1599. George Lloyd =•= (Georg. Sodoren).f
1604. John Phillips (Jo. Sodor and de Man).
1633. William Foster.
1635. Richard Parre (Pti. Sod. and Man).
1644-1661. Vacant.
1661. Samuel Rutter (Sa. Sod'', and Man).
1663. Isaac Barrow | (Isaac Sod. and Man).
1671. Henry Bridgman (Henric. Sodorens).
1682. John Lake § (Jo. Sodor).
1684. Baptista Levinz (Baptista Sodorensis).
1693-1698. Vacant.
1698. Thomas Wilson (Tho. Sodor and Man).||
1755. ]\Iark Hildesley (Mark).
1773. Richard Richmond (R.).
1780. George Mason (G.).
1784. Claudius Crigan (C).
1813-1814. Vacant.
1814. George Murray IF (G.).
1827. William Ward (W.).
1838. James Bowstead "'•"••' (James).
1840. Henry Pepys ft (H.)
1841. Thomas Vowler Short || (Thomas V.).
1847. Walter Augustus Shirley (W. A.).
1847. Robert John Eden (Lord Auckland) (R. J.).
1854. Horatio Powys (Horace, or Horatio).
1877. Rowley Hill (R.).
1887. John Wareing Bardsley (John W.).§§
1892. Norman Dumenil John Straton (N.).
* Translated to Chester. f Usual signature, in brackets.
I Translated to St. Asaph. § Translated to Bristol.
II After 1698 the bishops always signed either " Sodor and Man" or
" Sodor and Mann."
H Translated to Rochester. ** Translated to Lichfield,
tt Translated to Worcester. JJ Translated to St. Asaph.
§§ Translated to Carlisle.
SUPPLEMENT 981
PRINCIPAL AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THE
TEXT.
Add. Chart.-— Additional Charters (O).
,, MSS.— Additional Manuscripts (0).
Ann. Four Masters— Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland
toy the Four Masters. Edited and translated by John
O'Donovan (1848-18.51).
Annals of Loch Ce.f Edited and translated by W. M.
Hennessey (1871).
Ann. Ult.— Annals of Ulster.f— Edited and translated by
W. M. Hennessey (1887).
Antiquitates Manniae— The Rev. J. G. Cumming [XV.j].
Atholl Case (Pamphlet, 1788)— Case of John, Duke
of Atholl (1788), and Mr. Hargrave's opinion
thereon.
Blundell— A History of the Isle of Man. William
Blundell (1648-1656) [XXY. and XXVII.].
Browne's Isle of Man Directory (1882).
Browne, Willis— A Survey of the Cathedral of Man
(1727) [XVIII.].
Bullock—" History of the Isle of Man, with a Com-
parative View of the Past and Present State of
Society and Manners," &c. H. A. Bullock (1816). §
[Burnt] Nials Saga : the Story of Burnt Njal, or Life
in Iceland at the end of the Tenth Century,
from the Icelandic. By G. W. Dasent (1861).
Camden's (and Gitoson's) Britannia (Edition of 1695)
[XVIII.].
* The authorities most frequently quoted are given in the text in
the abbreviated form only.
(O) Quoted and translated by Dr. Oliver in volumes iv., vii., or ix
of the Manx Societ3''s publications. This is indicated in the text bj'
the number of the volume of these publications being given. When
the number is not given the reference has been taken from the original
document.
t Rolls Series.
J The numbers of the volumes of the series issued by the Manx
Society are indicated here by Roman capitals in square brackets.
§ When no edition is mentioned it is to be understood to be the lirst.
Cron. Man.
Chronicon Manniae
982 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Chaloner— A Short Treatise of the Isle of Man. James
Chaloner (1656) [X.] .
Chart. Furn.— Chartulary of Furness (0).
„ Lane— Charters of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Chetham Soc— The Chetham Society's PuMications.
Vols. Ixi., Ixvi., Ixvii., Ixx.
-^, . , _,, ( The Chronicle of Man and the
S?5°''iS!: ^^^~ J Sndreys, &C., with a transla-
tion and notes by Munch, Erring-
ton, and Goss [XXII. and XXIII.]
Chronicon Scotorum.t Translated and edited by W. M.
Hennessey (1866).
Church Notes— Church Notes, Diocese of Sodor and
Man. William Harrison [XXIX.].
Close Rolls (0).
Comrs ' Report- . ( ^^port of the Commis-
comrs. Report ,-A ^^^^^^^ ^f Enquiry for
Commissioners' Report- 1 t^e Isle of Man. 1792.
Commons Question : Isle of Man Disafforesting Com-
mission. Declaration of the Boundaries of
the Forest unenclosed, or which ought to Ibe
enclosed. Printed toy Order of the Commis-
sioners. 1861.
Constitution— The Constitution of the Isle of Man.
(Part 3 of Commissioners' Eeport of 1792.) Edited by
Richard Sherwood (1882) [XXXI.].
Cott. MSS.— Cottonian Manuscripts (0).
Cruttwell— The Works of Bishop Wilson, with his
Life. K. Cruttwell (1797).
Currency of the Isle of Man, The. Charles Clay, M.D.
[XVII.].
Customary Laws— The Antient Customary Laws of
the Isle of Man. MS. (Rolls Office).
Denton's MS.— Denton's Manuscript.!
Dertoy §— History and Antiquities of the Isle of Man.
James Stanley (c 1648) [III.] .
* Various abbreviations made use of in the text,
f Rolls Series.
+ Per Mr. G. W. Wood.
§ The Manx Society's title is, " Legislation by Three of the Thirteen
Stanleys," &c.
SUPPLEMENT 983
Diet. Nat. Biog.— Dictionary of National Biography,
The.
Dugdale— Monasticon Anglicanum. Sir William Dug-
dale and Roger Dodsworth. (Edition of 1846) [XVIII.].
Ecclesiastical Records— The Episcopal and Archi-
deaconal Records (Record Office). MS.
English Village Community, The. Dr. F. S. Seebohm,
LL.D., F.S.A. (4th edit., 1890).
Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, The. Vol. i. (Edited by
John Stuart and G. Earnett, 1878.)
Eyrl3yggia Saga— Chapters l-ll, Vigfusson's translation (in
Landndmaboc) .
Foedera— Rymer's Foedera (0).
Feltham— Feltham's Tour through the Isle of Man (in
1797 and 1798) [VI.].
Fisheries — (For authorities quoted see pp. 958-959).
Gell— An At)stract of the Laws, Customs, and Ordi-
nances of the Isle of Man.* Edited, with Notes,
by James Gell, Esq., Attorney-General of the Isle of
Man (1867) [XII.].
Haining's Guide— A Historical Sketch, &c., of the
Isle of Man. Samuel Haining (1822).
Halliday— The Scandinavian Kingdom of DulDlin. C.
HaUiday (2nd edit., 1884).
Harl. MSS.— Harleian Manuscripts (0),
Hildesley's Memoirs— The Memoirs of Mark Hildes-
ley, D.D., &c. The Rev. Weedon Butler (1799).
Inquiry al30ut Intacks. :\r. A. Mills (1813).
Ireland and the Anglo-Celtic Church. G. T. Stokes
(1886).
Ireland and the Anglo-Norman Church. G. T. Stokes
(1889).
Isle of Man Charities (1831).
Isle of Man Times, The.]
* This valuable book does not contain " Parr's Abstract " (see
below), which has never been published, but consists of copious notes
on " The Supposed True Chronicle of the Isle of Man," which deal
fully with the sovereignty of the island and other important questions
rclathig to Manx history. f Newspaper.
984 HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Isle of Man, The : Its History, Physical, Ecclesias-
tical, Civil, and Legendary. The Rev. J. G. Gum-
ming, M.A., F.G.S. (1848).
Jeffereys— A Descriptive and Historical Account of
the Isle of Man. Nathaniel Jeffereys (1809).
Ketole— The Life of the Right Reverend Father in
God, Thomas Wilson, D.D., &c. The Rev. John
Keble, M.A. (1863).
Kermode, Manks Crosses— A Catalogue of the Manks
Crosses with the Runic Inscriptions, &c. P. M.
C. Kermode, RS.A. Scot. (2nd edit., 1892).
Keys' Journals— The Journals of the House of Keys
(MS.).
Knowsley Muniments and Loose Papers (MS.).
Lady of Latham— The Lady of Latham. Madame Guizot
de Witt (1869).
Landnamal)6c— The LandnamalDoc (unpubhshed) Vig-
fUSSOn's translation (Oxford, Clarendon Press).
Land of Home Rule— The Land of Home Rule : An
Essay on the History and Constitution of the
Isle of Man. Spencer Walpole (1892).
Lansdowne MSS. (0).
Lit). Assed.— Lil^ri Assedationis " (MS.).
„ Cancell.— „ Cancellarii f (MS.).
„ Irrot.— „ Irrotulamentorum t (MS).
„ Jurat.— „ Juramentorumf (MS.).
„ Monast.— „ Monasteriorum - (MS.).
„ Placit.— „ Placitorum i (MS.).
„ Scacc— „ Scaccariif (MS.).
„ Vast.— „ Vastarum ■■■ (MS.). / ^
Lingard, History of England— The History of Eng-
land, &c. John Lingard, D.D. (6th edit., 1854).
Manks Advertiser, The.f
Manks Mercury, The.+'
Manx Law Tenures— Manx Law Tenures. Being a
Short Treatise on the Law relating to Real
Estate in the Isle of Man. Richai-d Sherwood, Esq.,
late Deemster (1899).
* See pp. 901-2. t See p. 791. { Newspaper.
u
o
o
( >
6
i
SUPPLEMENT 985
Manx Names— The Surnames and Place-Namesof the
Isle of Man. A. W. Moore, M.A. (1891).
Manx Note Book, The (1885-1887).
Manx RelDellion— Illiam Dhone and the Manx RelDel-
lion [XXVI.] .
Manx Sun, The.='^
Mona's Herald, The."
Monumenta de Insula Manniae, or a Collection of the
National Documents relating to the Isle of Man.
Translated and edited by J. R. Oliver, M.D. (3 vols.). f
Neale— Ecclesiological Notes. J. M. N. (1848).
O'Curry— Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish,
3 vols. (1873).
Pamphlet (1783)— Cursory Remarks on a Bill, signed
t)y part of the Legislature of the Isle of Mann,
in 1781, &c.
„ (1824)— Petition to the House of Commons of
the House of Keys of the Isle of Man. Pre-
sented May, 1824. "With observations.
„ (1825j— A Short History of the Transactions in
the Isle of Man on which the Keys founded
their late Petition to the House of Commons, &c.
Pari. Papers (1804). Report from the Committee on
the Isle of Man Port Petition (May 5, 1804).
„ „ (1805) No. 79, Papers presented to the
House of Commons respecting the Isle
of Man (Atholl Case).
„ „ (1851)— Harl30urs (Isle of Man). No. 651.
„ „ (1853). Customs Reform, Isle of Man.
Copies of Treasury Minutes and of Cor-
respondence. Ordered to be printed August
19, 1853.
„ „ (1859), No. 216. Copies of any Corres-
pondence between the Secretary of
State for the Home Department, the
Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man,
the House of Keys, and the Office of
Woods, &c., as to the Forests in the
Isle of Man. Dated August 12, 1859.
* Newspaper. I Manx Society, vols, iv., vii., ix. See (0).
986 HISTOKY OF THE ISLE OF MAN
Pari. Papers (1864)— Papers relating to the Isle of
Man. Ordered to be printed July 28, 1864.
No. 553.
„ „ (1866). Isle of Man (Financial Measures).
Keturn to an Order of the House of Commons,
dated March 15, 1866. No. 115.
Parr's MS.— An At)stract of the Laws, Customs, and
Ordinances of the Isle of Man. Deemster John
Parr (1693-1713^.
Pipe Rolls (O).
Prehistoric Times. Sir John Lubbock (1865).
Prendergast— The Cromwellian Settlement of Ire-
land (2nd edit., 1870).
PuTblic General Statutes. (Legal Reports.)
Quayle— A General View of the Agriculture of the
Isle of Man. Thomas Quayle (1812).
Rhys, Celtic Britain (2nd edit., 1884).
Rhys— Ethnology of the British Isles. Reprint from
Rhind Lectures on Archaeology in the Scottish Review
(1890-1891).
Rhys, HilDlsert Lectures— Lectures on the Origin and
Growth of Religion as illustrated toy Celtic
Heathendom (1886).
Rising Sun, The. '^
Robertson— A Tour through the Isle of Man. David
Robertson (1794).
Rosser— The History of Wesleyan Methodism in the
Isle of Man. James Rosser (1849).
Rot. Hib.— Rotuli Hiberniae (0).
„ Litt. Glaus.- „ Literarum Clausarum (O).
„ Litt. Pat.— „ Literarum Patentium (0).
„ Orig. in Curia „ Originales in Curia Scac-
Scacc— carii (0).
,, Pari.— „ Parliamentorum (0).
„ Pat.— „ Patentium (0).
„ Pat. Hib.— „ Patentium Hiberniae (0).
„ Scot.— „ Scotise (0).
* Newspaper.
SUPPLEMENT 987
Sacheverell— " An Account of the Isle of Man," its
Inhabitants, Lang'Uage, Soil, &c. William Sache-
verell (1703) [I.].
Sale of the Island : Copies of the Contracts and
Agreements iDetween the Lords Commissioners
of H.M.'s Treasury and His Grace, John, Duke
of Atholl, respecting' the Sale and Conveyance
of the Isle of Man. Ordered by the House of Com-
mons to be printed, May 18, 1829. No. 252.
Seacome— The History of the House of Stanley. John
Seacomc (Edition of 1821).
Short's History of the Church of England. Intro-
duction—Sketch of the History of the Church
of England, &c. By Thomas Vowler Short, D.D. (9th
edit., 1875).
Six Centuries of Work and Wages. Thorold Rogers
(1884).
Skene— Celtic Scotland : A History of Ancient Altoan.
By W. F. Skene, D.C.L., LL.D. (2nd edit., vol. i., 1886 ;
vol. ii., 1887; vol. iii., 1890).
Sodor and Man— Diocese of Sodor and Man, The
(S.r.C.K.). A. W. Moore (1893).
Statutes— The Statutes of the Isle of Man. (Gill's
Edition.) Vols. i. to vi.
Statutes at Large, The.
S. P. Jac. I.— State Papers, James I. (C).
S. P. Car. I.— State Papers, Charles I. (C).
S. P. Dom. Jac. I.— State Papers, Domestic, James I. (C)
S. P. Dom. Ser. Car. I.— State Papers, Domestic Ser-
vice, Charles (C).
S. P. Dom. Interreg.— State Papers, Domestic, during
the Interregnum (C).
S. P. O.— State Paper OfBce (O).
S. P. O. Scot.— State Paper Office, Scotland (C).
S. P. Dom. Corr.— State Papers, Domestic Correspon-
dence (C).
Stowell— The Life of the Right Reverend Father in
God, Thomas Wilson, D.D., Ac. The Rev. Hugh
StoweU (1819).
(C) Quoted for the most part from the Chetham Society's publica-
tions. The proximate source of information is given in tne text.
See (O).
988 HISTOEY OF THE ISLE OP MAN
Talbot, The Rev. T. : Letters in the Manx Sun. '^
Teignmouth— Sketches of the Coast and Islands of
Scotland and the Isle of Man. Lord Teignmouth
(1836).
Theiner's Vetera Monumenta — Theiner's Vetera
Monumenta Hi"bernorum et Scotorum (G).
Titles and Powers of Governors of the Island, The.
Sir J. Gell (1877). Isle of Man Times reprint, 1885.
Townley— A Journal kept in the Isle of Man, &c.
Richard Townley (1791).
Train— An Historical and Statistical Account of the
Isle of Man. Joseph Train, 2 vols. (1845).
Vat. Arch.— Vatican Archives (G).
Waldron— A Description of the Isle of Man, <tc.
George Waldron (1731) [XL].
War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, The. Translation
by J. H. Todd f (1867).
Ward— Isle of Mann and Diocese of Sodor and
Mann, &c. The Rev. W. Perceval Ward (1837).
Western Islands of Scotland, A Description of the.
John Macculloch, M.D. (1819) [Vol. ii. Isle of Man].
Wilson— The History of the Isle of Man. By the Right
Reverend Thomas Wilson, D.D., Lord Bishop of Sodor
and Man (Edition of 1797) [XVIIL] .
Woods— An Account of the Past and Present State
of the Isle of Man. George Woods (1811).
Worsaae— An Account of the Danes and Norwegians
in England, Scotland, and Ireland. J. J. A.
Worsaae (1852).
Yn Lioar Manninagh (The isle of Man Natural History and
Antiquarian Society's Magazine).
* Newspaper.
(G) Quoted and translated by Goss in vol. xxiii. of the Manx
Society's publications. See (0).
t Kolls Series.
INDEX
A
Abbey lands, The, 871-2 ; under Act of Settlement, 889
„ of Rushen. See Rushen Abbey
„ tenants, Complaint of the, 514-16 ; became immediate tenants
of the Crown in 1826, 895
Abbot. See under Rushen, &c.
Academic school. The, 470-1, 510-11
Acreage under crops, pasture, A'c, 938
of forest, 900
Act of Settlement. See Settlement
Acts, Imperial, of 1726 and 1765, for purchase of Sovereignty, 384,
390 ; affecting Manx trade, 417-8 ; against smuggling, 388-9,
435, 475; of 1767, repealing duties imposed by Tynwald, &c.,
598, 601, 617-18; of 1853, practically ensure freedom of trade,
622 ; connected with fisheries, 957-8
Acts, Local, relating to Nonconformists, 679-80; the promulgation
of, 825-6
Administrators, The rule of the, 224
Admiral and vice-admiral of the fishermen, 945
Admiralty Court. See Water-bailiff's Court
Advocates, First appearance of, 794 ; form a large portion of the
Keys, 819
Agitation against granting the 4th Duke's claim, 539; against the
Keys, 816-19
Agriculture, Bad effect of joint grazing system on, 55 ; early, very
primitive, 913 ; condition of, in 1577, and at end of seventeenth
century, 914-15, 923 ; drawbacks to, 916-17, 924, 930 ; profits of,
922-4 ; legislation affecting, 924-5 ; progress of, after 1704, and
at end of eighteenth century, 924-6 ; primitive implements used
in, 927 ; condition of, early in the nineteenth century, 927-9 ;
effect on, of emigration and of union of fishing with, 931 ; im-
provement of, after 1839, 932-3 ; reaction in, after 1874, 933 ;
change to larger proportion of permanent pasture, 933-4 ;
64 989
990 INDEX
present condition of, 934 ; report of commissioners on, 935-6 ;
Acts relating to, 939-40. See also Corn, Draining, Farmers,
Farming, Live-stock, Manuring, Eents, Trees
Alan, Lord of Galloway, 113, 120, 121, 123
„ (bishop), 979
Alexander II. (King of Scotland) attempts conquest of Hebrides, 131-2
,, III. (King of Scotland) succeeds in conquering Hebrides,
132-3 ; asserts rights over Man, 181 ; rule of, established with
difficulty, 182 ; appoints bailiffs, 183 ; death of, 184 ; 974
Alienation, without lord's consent, stopped, 877 ; but restored in
1609, 879, 905-6 ; declared illegal, 881 ; now permissible with-
out licence, 892 ; specimen of a licence for, 905-6 ; allowed to
baronies without restraint, 908-9
Alienation fines. Trouble about, 886 ; gifts and mortgages treated as,
889
Aliens, Position of, generally, 297-300, and in respect to trade, 304
Al-]ymfj, The, compared with the Tynwald, 149-52
Anastasius IV., Pope, The Bull of, 168
Anthropological statistics, 18-27
Appeals from spiritual court. See York,
to Privy Council, 800.
Apprentices, Kegulations concerning, 397
Arbory, The parish of, 74
„ The church of, 203
Archdeacon, Non-residence of the, 480 ; oath of the, 832 ; powers and
privileges of the, 844-5 ; official of the, 848, 801-2 ; registrar of
the, 849 ; court of the, 801
Archdeacon of Man tries an ecclesiastical case, 201-2
Ardonan, 75
Armorial bearings, of Man, 13G-8 ; of Sodor and Man, 179
Arms, Controversy about assessment for, in 1715, 452-6, 459-60 ;
purchase of, in 1748, 456
Armstrong, Sir Thomas, 255
Asbjorn, 88
Ashburnham, Lady Harriet (Henrietta Bridget), 384
Atholl, Thomas, Earl of, 121
,, regime and the Church, 504
Atholls. See Murray
Attorney-General, Duties of the, 743, 799 ; oath of the, 832-3
Auckland, Lord (bishop). Evidence of, about Church, 670; 980
Aufrica (I.), daughter of Godred II., 116
,, (II.), claims to be heiress of Magnus, 186; grants her right
to Sir Simon de Montacute, 187
Authorities, The principal, referred to in the text, 981-8
Ayre beach. The, 153
INDEX 991
Ayre, The Point of, 25, IIG
„ The Sheading of, 25
B
Baetan Mac Cairill, The exploits of, 80-1
Bailiffs appointed by Alexander III., 183
Balla, The, 47, 52
Ballachurry, Fort at, 248
Ballads and carols, 20
Ballaugh church register, 355
Balliol, John, receives Man from Edward I., 186 ; enters into an
alliance with Norway and France, 187 ; defeated by Edward,
188; 974
Bangor and Sabhal, Abbeys of, 1G6, 198 ; dissolved and in private
hands, 351 ; came to Crown, 895
Bangor and Sabhal, Abbots of, 344
., ,, Barony of, 871, 895 ; Act of Settlement does not
extend to, 908-9. See Alienation.
Banks: Taubman, Quayle and Kelly's, 587, 589 ; Wulff and Forbes',
Holmes', Dumbell's, of Mona, Isle of Man, 589 ; Manx, 728
Banks, Statistics relating to, 733
Bankruptcy Procedure Act, 836-8
Bannockburn, The battle of, 191
Baptists, The, 725, 733
Bardsley, John Wareing (bishop), 724, 980
Barid Mac Ottir, 90
Baronies, Act of Settlement does not extend to the, 908; have power
of alienation without manorial restraint, 908-9
Baronies, The courts of the, 755-6
Barons (Spiritual), Increase in the power of the, 198-9 ; do fealty to
Sir John Stanley II., 212, who curbs them, 342-5 ; legal decisions
against them, 348-9 ; holdings of the, 871-2
Bartlett, Captain, of the Elizahetli, 248, 251
Barrow, Isaac (governor and bishop), 401 ; on state of Church,
clergy, and people, 463-5 ; obtains Royal Bounty, 468 ; provides
for education, 470-2 ; account of, 482-3 ; 977, 980
Barrows, or Tumuli, The, 32-3, 38-9, 156
Beade's, or Bees', St., Abbey of, 166; dissolved and in private
hands, 351, 895
Beade's, or Bees', St., Barony of, 872, 875, 908-9. See Alienation
,, ,, Prior of, 344
Beck, Anthony de. See De Beck
Beer, Price of, 313 ; regulations respecting, 422-3
Bello Monte. See De Bello Monte
992 INDEX
" Benevolences," 324, 337-8, 882
Bible, The Manx, 653-G
Bill of Eights, The, 793
Bills, Method of introducing, discussing, and passing, 838-41
,, Private, System of dealing with, 828 ; advantages of, 829
Birch, Colonel, 267, 271
Births, Statistics relating to, 707
Bishop, Barony of the, 177, 872, 895, 908-9, does homage for it,
344, Act of Settlement does not extend to, 908-9 (see Aliena-
tion) ; court of the, 862-3 ; non-residence of the, 480 ; oath of
the, 832 ; powers and privileges of the, 171, 843-4 ; revenues of
the, 169-71, 201, 364-5, 518, 725, 892, 909
Bishop's Court, 14, rebuilt by Bishop Wilson, 514
Bishops, Names and signatures of the, 64, 179, 979-80
Bishopric, The advowson of the, 176
Blaekleach, Huan (bishop), 217 (Hesketh in error), 979
Blood wipes, or wites, 732
Blundell, Michael, 738, 976
,, William, Description of the Manx people by, 281-4
Boon, or carriage, services, 318-19, 322, 534, 537 ; to be paid under
Act of Settlement, 890
Bounties, 591, 948-7
Bounty, The Royal, 468
Bowring, Sir John, 619
Bowstead, James (bishop), 980
Bradda Head, Mine at, 961, 966
Bradley, Thomas (deputy-governor), 976
Bradshaw, Captain, of the 7th Earl's navy, 248
Bread, Price of, 313.
" Breast" Laws abolished, 792
Breweries, 593-4
Brewing pans, 315
Brian Boroimhe (Boru), 93, 95
Bridges, 448
Bridget, or Brigit, St., 68
„ The nunnery of, 69, 166
Bridgman, Henry (bishop), 483, 980
Briw, or Brehon, Jurisdiction of the, 62
Bronze Age Men, Traces of the, 37-41
Brown, The Piev. Thomas Edward, 19
Bruce, Eobert (King of Scotland), 13 ; designs of, on Man, 189 ;
captures Castle Rushen, 190-1 ; grants island to Thomas
Randolph, 191 ; death of, 193-4
Building stone, 968-9
Buildings, Public, Condition of the, 601-2
INDEX 993
Bull of Pope Gregory IX. (1231), 169, 171, 178-80
Burgo, Richard de. See De Burgo
Burton, Thomas (bishop), 979
Bymaken, Beemaken, or Bowraaken, The Priory of, 202-3; dissolved
and vested in the Crown, 351
Byi-on, Henry (governor), 213, 764, 976
C
Cadwell, Matthew (governor), 273, 977
Cadwaller, a Welsh prince, raids Man, 108
Cffisar, John, 382
Caine, Hall, 19
Calixtus IV., Pope, Bull of, in 1458, 347
Camps. See Militia
Cannell, Sir Hugh, 367-8
Canoe, The, at Ballakaighin, 41
Canterbury, Connexion of Diocese of Man with, 164, 168
Captain. Sec Governor.
of the parish. The, 328, 330-2, 405, 456, 637-8
„ of the town. The, 330, 410, 746 ; office of, abolished, 800
Carlisle, Diocese of Man attached to, 686
Carols and Ballads, 20
Carret, William, voices dissatisfaction of people about tithes, 237
Carriage services. Sec Boon
Castle Kushen, 13 ; meeting at, 239 ; description of, in 164S, 247,
and, in 1681, 450; 7th Earl's court at, 253; militia fail to
capture, 267; surrendered by the Countess of Derby, 270,
279-80 ; condemned as a prison, 702
Castletown, 300-1, 409, 568, 701
„ Grammar School of, 471
,, customs at, 314
Castles, Fabrics of the, neglected, 334
Cathedral of St. German's, The, 14-16; building of, began, 172;
chapter of, 13, 172-3, 886 ; condition of, 478 ; history of, 479
Cavalry raised, 244-6
Cearbhall, King of Dublin, 89
Celts, Military organization of the, 62-3
Celtic Church. See Church
„ communities. Primitive, 48-9
,, language in Man. See Language
„ secular history of Man a blank, 80-1
,, The term, 44
Cetill Finn. See Ketill Finn.
Chaloner, James (governor), appointed a commissioner by Lord
994 INDEX
Fairfax, 272-3 ; an account of, and his history of Man, 274-5 ;
removes Illiam Dhone from his offices of receiver and steward,
275 ; imprisoned by Lieutenant Hathorne, but released by order
of Parliament, 276-7 ; appoints a commission to enquire into
plot against himself, 277-8 ; presides at proclamation of Charles
II. (of England), 278; death of, 279; 977
Chancery Court, The, 750, 802, 836-7, 891
Chapter. See Cathedral
Chapter Court, 862
Chapter quests, Four men in each parish substituted for the, 367-9
Characteristics of the people. See People
Charles (8th Earl). See Stanley
,, II. (of England), proclaimed King, 278
Charlotte de la Tremoille. See Stanley, Charlotte
Christian (bishop), 979
Chi-istian, Edward, or Edmond (deputy-governor) ; early career of,
232-3 ; gets into trouble and is removed from governorship,
233-4 ; appointed to command Manx militia, 235 ; said to have
encouraged militia to revolt, 236 ; endeavours to arouse people
but is arrested by the 7th Earl, 241 ; trial and sentence of, 242-3,
259-63, 277 ; starts mining, 961 ; 977
Christian, Ewan (deputy-governor), 234, 977
,, George and Ewan, 275, 381
,, John (deemster), summoned to London by Parliament,
271 ; suspended from his office, 278
Christian, Philip, The school of, 472, 696
,, William (llUam Dhone, governor and receiver), birth and
early career of, 266 ; makes terms with Colonel Duckenfield,
268-9 ; falsely charged with imprisoning countess, 270 ; sum-
moned to London by Parliament, 271 ; removed fi'om his offices
by Chaloner, 275 ; arrest, trial, sentence, and death of, 376-380 ;
Privy Council's decision on case of, 380-1 ; attempt to vindicate
proceedings against, 381-2 ; 977
Christian, William (of Knockrushen), arrested and imprisoned, 242;
opinions, trial, and acquittal of, 250-2
Christian, daughter of Ferkkar, Olaf II. 's second wife, 119
Christianity, Conversion of the Manx to, 63-80 ; of the Celto-
Scandinavians of Man to, 163
Chronicon MannUc, Description of the, 96, 156
Church, Tokens of the Celtic, in Man and its organization, 64-5, 69,
79-80 ; the Scandinavian, 164-76 ; changes in, during the
Scandinavian period, 177 ; possessions of, increased by royal
grants, 177, 179-80; between 1266 and 1405 grows in power and
revenue, 176-7, 199 ; dues of, 200 ; revenues of, how divided,
200-1 ; free from English legal restrictions, 202 ; possessions of
INDEX 995
confirmed by 2nd Earl of Derby, 217 ; power of, contrasted with
that of State, in 1405, 341, and, though curbed by the first two
Stanleys, 341-5, not greatly diminished between 1405 and 16fi0,
349 ; first dispute of, with State, 345-6 ; further disputes, 357-0 ;
receives increased privileges in 1505, 349 ; without a bishop
between 1(544 and 1660, 365-6 ; condition of, between 1651 and
1660, 370-2, and between 1660 and 1698, 461-4 ; power of, 474 ;
" constitutions " of, 488-9, and 859-61 ; Keys seeks redress for
grievances of, 498 ; symptoms of better relations of, with State
speedily checked, 498-501 ; struggle of, with State came to an
end in 1736, 504 ; services of, 507-9 ; dues of, 514, progress
of, after 1814 and since 1866, 669-70, 723-5 ; relations of, with
Wesleyans, 726. See also Clergy, Ecclesiastical Constitutions,
Discipline, Education, Tithes, Wilson
Church Act (of, 1880), 866
„ building, 513-14, 670-1, 724
,, Courts. See Ecclesiastical Courts
,, Discipline. See Discipline
,, Registers, Neglect of the, 480
„ Services, 506-8, 855
,, Sustentation Fund, 724-5
,, wardens. Duties of, 369-70, 851
Churches, Fabrics of the, 361-2, 479-80
Cinerary urns, 33, 38-40
Circles, The stone, 37-9
Civil List. See Salaries
Clark of the Ships, The, 308, 321
Claves Mannice et Claves Legis, 161
Clay, Decision about, 890
Clergy, The, Share of tithes of, 201 ; exactions of, 219, 350 ; agree-
ment of, with the laity, in 1532, 350; state of, in 1634, 860-1,
and in 1663, 468-4 ; Waldron's opinion about, 505-6 ; obliged to
visit schools, 511 ; character, condition, and conduct of, 360-1,
367, 516-17, 667-9 ; powers and privileges of, 845-6, fees of
846-7, 857-8 ; duties of, 847-8 ; incomes of, 361, 367, 468-70,
517-18, 668-9, 724-5
Clergymen, Difficult to get suitable, 504-5
Clerk of the llolls, Duties of the, 742, 798 ; oath of the, 832-3
,, to the Council, 799
Clerks. See Parish Clerks
Climate, Description of the, 26
Clontarf, The battle of, 94-5
Coaches established, 588
Coast, The erosion of the, 24-5, 80
Cochrane, Basil (governor), 978
996 INDEX
College, or University, A Manx, 253, 366
Columba, St., The Church of, 71-5
„ The village of, 203
Coinages, The Manx, 414-17
Commercial system, The, of England, 502-3
Commission concerning exactions of clergy, in 1532, 219, 350
„ for settling Church affairs, in 1660, 462-3
„ of 1791, The, 534 ; answers of, to the 4th Duke's allega-
tions, 534-6 ; remarks of, on secrecy in passing laws, 536 ;
recommendations of, for stopping smuggling, 599-600; report
of, on system of managing customs, 602-3 ; result of reforms
suggested by, 603
Commission on Local Industries, 712-14, 935-6
,, appointed by the 7th Earl, 375
Committee on failure of herring fishery, 953-4
Committees of the Tynwald Court, 830-1
Commoners Trustees appointed, 900
Common Law Courts, The, 750-2 ; procedure of, regulated, 801,
836-8
Common Law Division, The 837-8
Commons, The House of, grants further compensation to the 4th
Duke of Atholl, 540
Commons, The question of the, 893-4, 896-901
Commonwealth of England, The, 270-2, 975
Communal system of cultivation. The, 285
Commutation of tithes See Tithes
Companies and their capital, 728
Comptroller, The, 307, 333, 741-2, 797 ; oath of, 832-3
Compurgation, 856-7, 860-1
Comyn, John, has licence to dig for lead, 961
Conchan, The village of, 701
Condition of the People. See People
Congregationalists, 680, 733
Connexion of Diocese of Sodor and Man with Canterbury, York, and
Dublin, 164, 168, 347, 354
Consistory Court, The, 862
Constitution (The Civil), The early Irish and Manx, 60-2 ; the
Scandinavian, 149-154; between 1405 and 1765, 737-794;
adherence to, in 1652, 273-4 ; changes of, before the fifteenth
century, 199, 737-8, at the Kevestment, 774-5, since the Kevest-
ment, 794-841 See also Lords, Governor, Officers, Courts,
Tynwald, Council, Keys
Constitution (The Ecclesiastical), 842-67 ; now practically obsolete,
843 ; Bishop Short on, 864-5. See also Bishop, Archdeacon,
Clergy, Courts
INDEX 997
Constitutions, The, of Bishop Wilson, 859-61
Convocation, Bishop Wilson's charge at, 490 ; question about, 492 ;
order of, about potato tithe, 515 ; 860, 866
Corbes, corpse, or death-bed, presents. Decision concei'ning, 348, 350,
514
Corn, Kestriction on export of, 308 ; dearth of, 309 ; prices of, 285-8,
400, 557-62 ; riots about, at Douglas and I'eel, 558, 560 ; acreage
under, 938 ; exports and imports of, 937
Coroner, The functions of the, 153, 746, 800
Cosnahan, Hugh, 643
,, John, 532-3
Cottages, 873 ; arrangements concerning, under Act of Settlement,
889-891
Cotters, Nature of the tenure of the, 874-5
Cotton factory established, 591-2
Council, The, in Scandinavian times, 153 ; orders payment of Church
assessment, 371 ; makes John Murrey's penny legal tender, 414 ;
before the Revestment, 743-4, 760-2 ; after it, 815-16 ; ceases to
sit in Court of General Gaol Delivery, 816, 827 ; issues ordinance
about alienation without consent of Keys, 877. See also Executive
and Legislative Council
Courts, The procedure in the, 757-8. Sec also under name of each Court
Cranstall, Lough, 24
Cranstown, James (governor), 977
Crigan, Claudius (bishop), 656, 658, 980
Crime, Statistics relating to, 702-3
Criminal Code, The, 792-3, 802; (spiritual), 852-4
Crofters oppose settlement of commons question, 950
Cromwell, Oliver, Instructions of, about expedition to Man, 267
Crook, John, 675
Crosses, The, 11-13, 156
Crown, Agent, or Receiver, 797-8
„ Lands, 873
„ The English, Rule of, resumed, 223-4, 390 ; rents of, 649-50 ;
purchases Atholls' manorial rights, &c., 543-4, 872, 895 ; position
of, as regards enclosures, 897-8 ; tithes of Religious Houses
vested in, 351 ; rent charge of, on Abbey tithes, 352
Cubbon, Sir Mark, K.C.B., 20, 643
Culdees, The, 76-78
" Cup " Marks, 38, 40
Curghey, Ewan, 382
Curragh, Lakes in the, 23-4 ; the, 99, 921-2
Currency of promissory notes or cards, 587
Curwen, John Christian, M.P., 19,533 ; opposes further compensation
to 4th Duke, 540 ; on agriculture, 925-6
998 INDEX
Customary payments in money or kind, 878
Customer. See Water BailiS
Customs of the Vikings, The, 146
duties, 308, 321-2, 441-3, 457-9, 645, 731 ; leased, 434-5 ;
Imperial Acts affecting, 617-23 ; cost of collection of, 717, ratified
by Lord and Council without Keys, 774^5, Keys protest against
this, 775-8 ; temporary control over, by Tynwald Court, 814-15
Customs duties, Receipts from, 311-12, 321-2, 424-5, 456-7, 715-16,
730
Customs duties, Ai-rangement of, 730-1
,, ,, Management of, and reforms in, 602-3, 619-22
„ ,, GaiTison, 319-20, 322, 324, 882
„ „ Herring, 320, 322, 953
„ „ Land, 317, 882, 889
D
David, King of Scotland, threatens Man, 108
" Dandy," or Yawl, rig. See Fishery
Danes, or Dubhgaill, 84 ; fewer, in Man than Norwegians, 84-5
Danport, Thomas (governor), 976
Dawson, Richard (lieutenant governor), 978
Death rate, 573, 707
De Athy, Keeper of Man, 193
,, Beck, Anthony, owns Man, 187-9 ; 974
,, Bello Monte, Henry, receives Man from Edward H., 189-80 ;
974
,, Burgo, Richard (Earl of Ulster), surrenders Man to Edward I.,
185; 974
,, Courcy, John, 116-17
,, Gaveston. See Gaveston
,, Lacy, Hugh and Walter, 116
,, Leiburn, Robert, 189
,, Linton, Bernard (bishop), 979
,, Mandeville, Richard, ravages Man, 192-4
,, Montacute. See Montacute
,, Percy. See Percy
„ Tyldesley, Thomas, 212
Debt, Law as to imprisonment for, 339-40, 413, 801
„ Insular, 714-15, 717, 729; local, 732
Debtors, Foreign, 575, 801
Deemster, Meaning of the word, 152
Deemsters, Declaration of the, to Sir John Stanley, 152, 342 ; lived
on their own estates, 324 ; deem the law about the barons, 344 ;
about appeals from spiritual courts, 346, 348-9, 357-8 ; position
INDEX 999
and duties of the, 744-5, 799 ; courts of the, 756-7, 836-8 ; cease
to attend the Chancery Court, 802 ; oath of the, 834, 941
Demesne, The bishop's, 872 ; the lord's, 872, 874
Denton on the condition of the people, 407
Derby, Earls of. See Stanley
Derby Fort (on St. Michael's Island), 247-8
Derbyhaven, Customs at, 314
Diarmid, King of Dublin, 95-6
Diocesan registrar, The, 849
Synod of 1229, The, 172 ; of 1291, 199 ; of 1350, 200
Diocese of Sodor and Man. See Sodor and Man.
Disafforesting Act, The, 872, 899
Discipline, The, 355-7, 368, 472-4, 488-90; before and after 1698,
compared, 489 ; opposition to, 490-2 ; begins to fail, 503, 505 ;
Waldron's evidence about, 505-6, 519 ; falls into contempt,
657-9 ; laws relating to, 852-4
Dissolution of lleligious Houses. See Keligious Houses
Doctrinal questions, No evidence about, at Reformation, 352 ; in
Bishop Wilson's time, 518-19
Donald, son of Teige, rules Man, 105 ; 973
Donckan, Mactoryn, uliaK Duncan Matkory or De Mackoury, 186,
191-2
Donkan, John (bishop), 979
Douglas, 301, 409-10, 556-8, 564-7, 688-91, 698-701
,, Customs at, 314
Fort of, 247
,, Grammar school of, 510-11, 673
Nunnery and Priory of, 69, 166, 564-7 ; dissolved, 351, 872
„ Priors of, 344
„ Riots at, 417, 558, 560
Dress of the ancient Irish, 57-8
Drink, 303-4, 369, 404-6, 490, 579-82, 703-4 ; effect of smuggling on,
406
Drontheim, or Nidaros, Metropolitan see of Man, 167-9, 176
Drynane Mine, 962
Dubhgaill, or Danes, 84
Dublin, Connexion of Man with, 89-91 ; of Diocese of Sodor and Man
with, 168
Du Chaillu's estimate of the Northmen, 148-9
Duckenfield, Colonel (governor). Expedition of, against Man, 267-9 ;
Castle Rushen surrendered to, by Countess of Derby, 270, 279-80;
thanked by Parliament for his services, 271 ; acts as governor,
272-3 ; 977
Duties. See Customs
Dutton, Peter (governor), 976
1000 INDEX
E
Eachmarcach, King of Dublin, 95-6
Ecclesiastical (or Spiritual) Barons. See Barons
,, Constitution. See Constitution
„ Constitutions of Bishop Wilson, 859-61
„ Courts, 861-2; Bishop Wilson's opinion of the, 863;
had more extensive powers than in England, 863-4 ; Bishop
Short on the ; changes in, since his time, 865-6
Ecclesiastical history almost a blank from 1429 to 1499, 347
,, jurisdiction over soldiers and household, 493, 497
„ laws, 852-61
,, power under Godred Crovan's dynasty, 176
Ecclesiastics, Children of, not legitimized till 1610, 353
Ecgfrid may have laid Man waste, 81
Eden, E. J. See Auckland.
Education, 368 ; Bishop Barrow's, Wilson's, and Hildesley's care for,
470-2, 510-12, 671-2, 860 ; between 1755 and 1866, 671-4 ; after
1866, 692-6
Edward I. (King of England), possesses Man, 181, 184 ; demands a
pledge from people, 185 ; grants Man to John Balliol, 186 ; hears
Aufrica's claim, 187 ; suppresses Balliol's revolt, 187-8 ; probably
grants Man to Be Beck, 188 ; 974
Edward II. (King of England), Connexion of, with Man, 188-90, 193;
974
Edward III. (King of England), Connexion of, with Man, 193-4, 198
Edwin's (of Northumbria) supposed conquest of Man, 81
Elby, 159
Election of bishops. The system of, 173
Elizabeth (Queen of England), Connexion of, with Man, 223, 229,
230; 975
Embargoes on importation of corn, 558-62
Emigration, 550-1, 553, 555, 931
Enquest, The Great, 305-6, 315-16, 405, 753-4, 897-8
The Second, 754
Enquests, in 1429, 346
„ The development of the, 790
Episcopal Registrar, The, 849
Erosion of the coast, The, 24-5, 80
Estates, Different classes of, 872-3 ; nature of the Manx, under the
Act of Settlement, 891-2. Sec Alienation
Eudo, or Ivo, Abbot of Furness, 165
Exactions of the clergy. See Clergy.
Executive Council, The, 153, 743-4, 815-16
Exchequer, The Court of, 750, 836-7
INDEX 1001
Expenditure, 323-G, 443-4, GIO, GlC-17, C48, 717 ; local, 732
Exports and Imports, The chief, 310-11, 314, 424-5, 590, 729, 937
„ „ Duties on, 424-5, 457-9
„ ,, Revenue from, 45G-7, 730
,, ,, Duty on, abolished, 425
F
Factories established, 591-3
Fairfax, Lord, receives grant of Man, 254, 272 ; appoints com-
missioners, 272 ; courts held in name of, 273 ; character of the
rule of, 279 ; military establishment of, 334-5 ; Church manage-
ment of, 3G7-8 ; 975
Fairs, 313-14 ; agitation respecting free, 421-2
Famine and Pestilence (1734-1745), 399-404
Farker, John (abbot and deputy-governor), 349, 970
Farmers, Demands of, in IGOl, 810, 878; ordered to pay Church
assessment, 371 ; present position of, 935-6
Farming, Profits of, 885, 887, 922-4
Farms abandoned, 885
Fauna, 27
Fences, 918-19
Feneibles, The Manx, 18, 27, G40-3
" Fencing " of the Courts, The, 151, 159-60 ; the form of, 750-1
Ffasakerley, John (governor), 976
Ffleming, John (governor), 976
Finn-gaill, or Norwegians, The, 84
Fingall, 97
Fiscal laws, Proposal to assimilate the Manx and English, 432
Fishermen, Objection of the, to harbour dues, 718-19 ; also farmers,
950-1 ; numbers of, at different periods, 951, 958-9
Fishery, Salmon and trout, 222 ; importance of the, 941-2 ; insular
laws relating to the herring, 942-5; Imperial legislation on,
945-6, 957-8 ; bounties granted to, 946-7 ; numbers, size, value
and rigs of boats employed in, 947-50, 958-9, of men and boys
employed in, 951 ; periodical failures of, 952-5 ; of other fish
than herrings, 954-5
Fishing by line rersua trawling, The question of, 955-6
,, industry. Value of the, 956, 958-9
Fish tithe, 516, 659-60
Flax mills established, 592-3
Fletcher, Edward (deputy-governor) 232, 977
Flint weapons, 33, 37-9
Flora, 27
1002 INDEX
Folklore, The evidence of, confirms that of anthropology and
archaeology, 42-3
Food of the Ancient Irish, 57
,, Prices of. See Prices
Forbes, Edward (naturalist), 19
Forestalling and Regranting, Ordinances against, 313, 586
Forest, The, 872, 893 ; acreage of, 900
Fortifications, The want of, 643-4
Forts and fortified camps, 33-4, a description of, in 1648, 247
,, at Ramsey, 247, at St. Michael's Isle, 247-8, at Ballachurry,
248
Foster, William (bishop), 980
Foxdale mine, 960, 964-6, 968
Franchise, Acts relating to the, 822-3
Freemen, Share of the, in the Scandinavian political system, 153
Free schools, The, in the towns, 368
French, The, capture Man, 196
Friars Minor (Franciscans) The, 202-3
Fuller's earth, 971
Furness Abbey, receives lands at Rushen, 164-5, also near St.
Trianian's, and mines, 166 ; churches of St. Michael and St.
Maughold appropriated to, 204-5 ; dissolved, 351
Furness, Abbot of, 165, 344
G
Gallgaidhel, The, 87
Gamaliel (bishop), 979
Gaol. Sec Prison
Garff, The Sheading of, 153
Garrison soldiers. The lord's, increased, 246; extra levies for the
support of, 326-7 ; uniform of, 332 ; regulations concerning,
332-2 ; strict discipline of, 333-4 ; numbers and cost of, 334-5 ;
jurisdiction over, 358-9, 493-4, 498-9 ; replaced by the Crown's
troops, 638, 640, 648
Gaveston, Peter de, receives Man from Edward II., 189 ; 974
Gawne, William, and others. Commission appointed by Chaloner to
try, 277-8
General Gaol Delivery, The Court of, tries Illiam Dhone, 378 ; Keys
and Council cease to be members of, 542, 816, 826-8
Gentiles, The, 75
Geology, 1-8
George III. and IV. (King), 976
Gerard, Sir Charles (governor), 232, 977
Cuthbert (governor), 976, 977
INDEX 1003
Gerard, Sir Thomas (or Garrett) (governor), 223-4, 228-9, 977
,, Thomas (deputy-governor), 976
Gerrard, Eadclift'e (deputy-governor), 977
German's, St., Cathedral of. See Cathedral
Giant's quoiting stones. The, 33
Gillescrist, 125-6
Gilli rules Man as Sigurd's deputy, 94
Glovers, The complaint of the, 314
Godred Raghnall's son, King of Dublin, 90
,, or Godfrey, Mac Eaghnall, King of Man and Ireland, 9;'5-7
,, (I.), Crovan, conquers Man, 96-99 ; reign of, 102-5, 152, 155,
164, 106, 973
Godred, Mae Harald, King of Man, 93-4, 102
,, II., Olaf's son (King of Man) puts his father's murderers to
death and becomes King of Dublin and Man, 110; divides the
isles with Somerled, 111 ; is defeated by him, 112 ; regains his
kingdom, 113 ; death of, 114 ; grants lands to the Church,
104-5 ; 973
Godred Mac Sytric, 96-7
„ Don, Reginald I.'s son, 120, 123-4
„ Son of Magnus (of Man), 183-4
Gorree, or Orry, Traditional king of Man, 92, 103, 152
Gospatrick, 125-6
Governor, The necessity for a, 273-4 ; titles of the, 740 ; position and
powers of the, 740-1, 795-6
Governor and oificers. Decision of, about barons' jurisdiction, 349 ;
state their case against the clergy, 501-3
Governors, List of, 976-8
Grammar School, The, in Castletown, 471 ; in Douglas, 510-11, 673 ;
in Peel, 511-12
Granite, 909
Great Enquest, The. See Enquest
Great Stanley, The. See Stanley, James
Green crop tithe, 515, 661-2
Greenhalghe, John (governor), fails to suppress tumult, 236 ;
appointed to command militia, 246 ; death of, 265 ; introduces
use of lime, 921 ; 977
Gregory IX., Bull of Pope, 169-71, 178-80
Grene, John (bishop), 979
Grievances of the people, in 1643, 239 ; earl tries to satisfy the, 244 ;
in 1723, 782
1004 INDEX
H
Hafursfjord, The battle of, 8G
Hakon IV., King of Norway, 123-5, 127-8, 130-4
Halidon Hill, The battle of, 194
Hamond (bishop), 979
Harald, Godred Crovan's son, 104 ; his three sons, 109-10
„ " King of Man " (1040), 95
„ Haarfager, King of Norway, 86-8
,, Olaf's II. 's son. King of Man, 125; goes to Norway, 126;
knighted by Henry III. and dies, 127 ; grants mines to Furness
Abbey, 1G6 ; 973
Harald, Godred Don's son, usurps throne of Man and summoned to
Norway, 128 ; Henry III. ceases to protect, 131 ; 973
Harbour Commissioners appointed, 445; Revenue of, increased, 608,
628-9, 721-2 ; obtain borrowing powers, 628
Harbour Dues imposed, 444-5 ; abolished, 628 ; re-imposed, 721
,, Works. See Works
Harbours, 444-6, 601-2, 624-32, 718-22 ; £2,300 granted to, in 1844,
608 ; further grant, G28. See Port Erin breakwater
Harmer, John (governor), 976
Hathorne, Lieutenant, imprisons Chaloner, 276 ; commission to try,
277-8
Hawley, M'Issacke, 789
Haysnap, Roger, 212
Health, 302-3, 411-12, 570-3, 705-7
Henniker-Major, John Major, Lord (govei'nor), 978
Henry III. (King of England), 119, 124, 127-8, 130-2, 182-3
,, IV. (King of England) grants Man to Henry de Percy and Sir
John Stanley I., 197
Henry VIII. (King of England), dissolves the Religious Houses, 351
Herring Customs, 320, 323, 953
,, Fishery. See Fishery
Hesketh, Huan, 217 (correctly Huan Blackleach)
Hugh (bishop), 979
Heywood, Robert (governor), 977
High-bailiff of Douglas, 560
High-bailitfs, The duties of the, 800 ; courts of the, 801. See Licensing
Board
High Court of Justice, 837
Highways, 446-8, 632-6, 722-3
Hildesley, Mark (bishop) on Church services in Bishop Wilson's time,
509 ; account of, 652 ; work of, in procuring translations of the
Bible, &c., 653-5; orders of, about clergy, 667; care of, for
education, 671-2; 980
INDEX 1005
Hill, Rowley (bishop), 724, 980
Hills, Characteristics and altitudes of the, 8-9
Historic monuments and buildings, 11-16
Holme. See Sodor
Holmewood, Edward (governor), 977
Holt, Richard (deputy-governor), 976
Hope, Charles, The Hon. (deputy-governor), 978
Hope, Henry (lieutenant-governor), 978
Hoper, Richard, 878-9
Home, Alexander (governor and deputy-governor), 797 ; letter of, to
Keys, 835-6, 977-8
Horrobin (archdeacon). Case of, 493-5
Horsemen of the militia. See Militia
Horses, 916-18
Horton, Thomas (governor), 499, 784, 978
Hounden, .John (bishop), 979
Household officers. See officers
Houses, of the^ Ancient^ Irish, 156-7 ; of the country people, in
1648, 282 ; of the townspeople, 283-4 ; of the people, 563, 571-2
Hunckes, Ffoulkes (governor), 977
Huntercombe, Walter de, custodian of Man, 185 ; surrenders it to
Balliol, 186
Hvitingsey, treaty of, 117
Iceland, early social and political institutions of Man found in, 139
Icelandic settlers. Condition of the first, 139-40 ; principles of the
actions of the, 140-1 ; general rules of conduct of the, 141-2 ;
homes of the, 142-3 ; dress of the, 143-4 ; occupations of the,
144r-5 ; amusements of the, 145 ; Viking customs of the, 145-6 ;
war vessels of the 146-7. See also under Northmen
Import duties on herrings, 942
Imports and Exports, The chief, 310-11, 314, 424-5,590, 729 ; revenue
from, 456-7, 730
Imprisonment for debt, Law as to, 339-40, 413, 801
Impropriate Fund, The, 465-8, 504
Incomes of the Clergy. See Clergy
Increase of Papal influence, 165, 170-1
Industries, 315-17, 426-8, 590-6, 711-15
Industry, The House of, 556-7
Inge (King of Norway), 117
Ingemund, deputy of Magnus in the Sudreys, 110-11
Inheritance to lands, settled, 881 ; customary laws respecting, 907-8
Inis Patrick, or Peel Island, 75, 85. See also St. Patrick's Island
65
1006 INDEX
Inis, and Inse, Piclit, 36
Ind-Gall, The, 93
Intacks, 873 ; arrangements as to, under Act of Settlement, 889-91 ;
licences to enclose, 896-8
Interest, Legal rate of, 312, 419-20
lona, also called I or Hy, 71
,, Great influence of the Church of, 74
Ireland, Sir John (governor) 224, 976
„ John (governor) 769, 879, 977
Irish, The ancient. Houses of, 56-7 ; food and dress of, 57-8 ;
weapons of, 59
Irish Church, Isolation of the, 78
Iron Age, Few remains of the, 41-2
Isle of Man, The, Position and physical characteristics of, 8-10 ; Non-
Aryan people in, 42-3 ; various names of, 45-6 ; armorial bear-
ings of, 136-8; Icelandic settlers in, 139-47. See Icelandic
settlers ; French capture of, 196 ; spoiled by Eobert, Earl of Fife
and Archembald Douglas, 196 ; sale of, 386-91 ; disposal of AthoUs'
remaining rights in, 543-4, 872
Ivar, Godred II.'s son, 116
,, The knight, assassinates Reginald II., 127 ; a leader at the first
battle of Eonaldsway, 129 ; probably rules Man, 130 ; Henry
III. withdraws his protection from, 131 ; 973
James I. (King of England), rules Man, 224-5; places Man under
administrators and settles it upon the 6th Earl and his countess,
225 ; 975
James I., 7th Earl. See Stanley, James I.
,, 10th Earl. Sec Stanley, James II.
John (King of England), protects Reginald I., 116-17; pillages Man
and Reginald submits to him, 118
John( King of the Isles), is defeated at Eonaldsway, 128-9
,, Lord of Isla, 202
„ (bishop), 979
Joint Stock undertakings increase, 590
,, Tenants of the treens, 52, 876
Judicature, The, 747-60, 800-3, 836-8
„ Act of 1883, Effect of the, 802-3 ; changes made by the,
836-8
Judicature, Ecclesiastical Transfer Act of 1884, Changes made by the,
836-8, 866
Juries, 348, 753-4, 802 ; to enquire into offences against the spiritual
laws, 355
INDEX 1007
Jurisdiction over soldiers and household. See Ecclesiastical Juris-
diction
Jury, Trial by, established, 213-14
K
Keeill, Marooney, 75 ; Eonan, 75
Keeills, The, 11, 65, 76-9
Keise, "chosen" suggested derivation of "Keys," 160-1
Kelly, John, and the Manx Bible, 655
Kelp, Manufacture of, 591
Kenyon, Roger (governor), 977
Kcrroo-v alley, The, 47
Ketill Finn rules the Sudreys, 86 ; connexion of, with Harald Haar-
fager, 88 ; descendants of, 89
Keys, The House of, or F«-7virtrc-(TS-i^eerf, Earliest information about,
152-3 ; origin of the number of, 162 ; appointed to enquire into
grievances of people, 235; form part of jury to find out abuses,
(fee, 241; endorse the 7th earl's orders, 244; indenture with, on
the question of sanctuary, 342 ; declaration of, on question of
appeals, 357-8 ; order payment of Church Assessment (cess),
371 ; at Illhnii Dhune'x trial, 377-9 ; action of, about sale of
island, 389-90 ; controversy of, with governor, about arms,
452-6, 459-60 ; appeal of Bishop Wilson to, 492 ; grievances of
in 1723, 498 ; protest of, against suspension of spiritual laws,
&c., 500-2, opposition of, to the 4th Duke of Atholl, 532, 535,
537-41 ; promise to make proposed new laws public, 536 ; expelled
from Court of General Gaol Delivery, 541-2, 802 ; try to maintain
price of corn, 559 ; Deemster Parr's statement about, 752
judicial functions of, 758-9 ; position of, between 1418 and 1601,
763-6, between 1601 and 1651, 768-72, and between 1660 and
1697, 774-5 ; decision about election of, in 1580, 767-8 ; state-
ments of Chaloner, Blundell, Bishop Wilson, and Waldron about,
772-3, 786 ; foundation of claim of, to elect their own members,
773-4 ; disputes of, with 10th earl and officers, 775-86 ; under
the Atholls to the Kevestment, 786-7 ; mode of election of, quali-
fications, powers, and privileges of, 788-9, 823-5 ; part of, in the
negotiations of 1865-6, 806-12 ; become a close corporation after
Kevestment, 816; agitation and charges against, 816-19 ; promise
reform, 819 ; in 1853 agree to principle of popular representation,
feeling against, revives, 820 ; Governor Loch's action respecting
election of, 821 ; Bill for election of passed, 821-2 ; further Acts
connected with, 822-3 ; judicial position of, lost, 827-8 ; letter
from Governor Home to, 835-6 ; oath of, 836 ; action of, about
1008 INDEX
tenure, 884-6 ; grievances of, about land, 894-5 ; accept offer
of Crown about enclosures, 899
" Keys," Meaning of the word, 160-1
King Gorree, or Orry, 92, 103, 152
,, Orry's grave (tumulus), 33
„ William's College, 672
Kingdom of Man and the Isles divided, with Somerled, 111-12, between
Reginald I. and Olaf II., 120 ; ceded to Scotland, 176
Kings, or Lords, in Man, List of, 973-6
Labour, Hours of, fixed, 396
Labourer, The, Social status of, 290-1 ; safeguards for personal liberty
of, 291-2, for wages of, 292, for food of, 292-3; position of,
284-6, 392-9, 550-6, 688, 697, 874
Labourers, Stringent regulations about, 293, 297-8
Lace, Case of John, 884-5
Lagman, Godred Crovan's son, 104-5 ; 973
Lake, John (bishop), 470, 483-4, 980
Land, re-allotted annually, 875-6 ; method of inheritance to, settled,
881 ; claim to, limited to 21 years, 877, 881 ; grievances in con-
nexion with, in 1719, 894-5 ; method of conveying, 900-3 ; law
relating to, 903-4 ; value of, 931-2. See also Land System
Landlord's "preference," 896
Landndmahoc , the Doomsday book of Iceland, 139
Landowners, The, Policy of, 558-60; object to |enclosures, 893-4,
896-9 ; present title of, 895-6
Land System of the Celts, 49-56 ; Manx compared with, 51-3 ; proof
of origin of, in tribal occupation, 53-4; effect of, on agricul-
ture, 56
Land System of the Northmen, 154-5
Land Tenure. See Tenure
Lands, Inheritance to, settled, 881
Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, 97
Language, The Manx, 13-14, 46 ; in Scandinavian times, 157 ; religious
books in, 572
Largs, the battle of, 133-4
Latham House, The sieges of, 249-50, 252
Lauon, Olaf II. 's first wife, 118
Lawman, The, or Law-speaker, 150-1
Lawrence (bishop), 079
Laws, The ancient, reduced to writing, 214 ; improvements in, 789-94
Laws, The spiritual. See Spiritual
Laxey mine, 960, 965-8
INDEX 1009
Leases, Practice of taking, began, 878-9 ; Lord Strange tries to
arrange, in lieu of straw tenure, 880-1 ; advantage of, and
inducements to take, 881-3 ; tenants deceived concerning, 883-4 ;
Earl Charles's actions with regard to, 881-5
Legal system of the Northmen, 149-54
Legh, Peter (governor), 977
Legislative Council, The, 761-3, 815-16
Government, The, 759-89
Legislation, No new, till seventeenth century, 702; amount of, during
the past and present compared, 825. See also Bills
Le Scroop, Sir William. See Scroop
Letherland, John (governor), 212, 976
Levinz, Baptista (bishop), 353, 472-3, 475, 484-5, 930
Lewis, The Island of, 116
Lhen, Lhane, or Lhane Mooar, 25, 34, 921-2
Libraries, 406, 472, 512
Licence, No one allowed to leave the island without a, 295 ; beer,
wine, and spirit, 303-4, 580-1
Licence System, The, 583-5 ; abolished, 620
Licensing Board and Court, The, 581, 704-5
Liege, Sir Frederick (governor), 977
Lieutenant. See Governor
Lime, 970
Limestone, 969
Limited Liability Act, 590
Lindesay, Patrick (governor), 978
Literature, Original (Manx), 20-1; translated, 21-3; in Scandinavian
times, 157
Liverpool, Diocese of. Attempt to attach Man to, 656
Live Stock, 400, 915-16, 917-18, 934-5 ; exports and imports of, 937
Llewellyn, of Wales, 130
Lloyd, George (bishop), 980
John (governor), 498, 978
Loan arrangements, 717
Local Rates, 716, 732. See also Taxation
Loch, Henry Brougham, Lord (governor), Negotiations of, with the
English Government in 1865, 610-11, 806; in 1866, 806-12;
financial administration of, 714-15; insists on the Keys being an
elected body, 821 ; 978
Lockman, The, 746, 800
Lonan, St., 08
Long Jury, The. See Juries
Lords of the Isle, Position of the, 738-9 ; powers and privileges of,
305, 320, 739-40, 871-2 ; share of fish of, 941-2 ; receipts of, in
money from fishing, 953
1010 INDEX
Lough Craustall, 24
Mollo, 23
Loughlin, guardian of Man for Harald, 125
Loyalty of the Manx people, 390
Lunatic Asylum Board, Difficulty in selecting, 830-1
Lunatics, The, 576-8
M
Maccus MacHarald, " Lord of the Isles," 92-3
MacLellan, Gilbert (bishop), 979
Macmaras, 106
MacRagnall, 90-1
Mactory, Matkory or Mackoury, 186, 191-2
Madudhan, King of Ulster, 91
Maelseachlainn, King of Leland, 91, 93
Magnus, King of Man, 13 ; arrives in Man, 128 ; received as king,
130-1 ; conquered by the Scots, 133-6 ; his death, 136 ; grants
lands and privileges to the Church, 177 ; 973
Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, 87, 104-7, 131-2, 168
Majores, The, of Man, submit to Alexander IIL, 182
Makaskel, Gilbert (governor), 189-90
Malar Lough (Lough Mollo), 23
Malcolm, King of Scotland, 97, 103
Malew, The parish of, 75
„ The Church of, 202
Man granted to Lord Fairfax, 254
Man, Henry (bishop), 979
Man and the Isles, The Kingdom of, 111-12, 120; ceded to Scot-
land, 176
Man, Isle of. See Isle of Man
Manck souldiers, Description of, 256
Mandeville. See De Mandeville
Mannanan MacLir, 43
Manorial Court, The, 752-3, 800; rolls of, 877; description of the
books of, 901-2
Manufactures, Laws concerning, 315-16; efforts to promote and ensure
good quahty of, 317, 426-8, 591-3, 711
Manuring, 921
Manx Fencibles. See Fencibles
language. See Language.
people. See People
surnames. See Surnames
translation of the Bible, &c., 653-5
vessels. Statistics relating to, 727
INDEX 1011
Margaret, " The Maid of Norway," 184
Maria, "Queen of Man," 185-7
Mark (bishop), 184; does homage to Edward I., 188; synod of, at
Braddan, 109-200, 355; account of, 204-5; 979
Markets, Agitation respecting free, 421-2
Marooney, Keeill, 75
St., 75
Marown, The parish of, 75
Marriages, Regulations about, 657 ; statistics relating to, 707
Mason, George (bishop), G55-G, 980
Maughold, or Mace Cuill, St., 67-8; staff of, 872
,, Barons Lands. Hee St. Bees
,, Iron Mine, 967
Mawdesley, Robert (governor), 977
Meat, Regulations about sale of, 419
Meayll, or Mull, circle, The, 38
Meetings at Castle Rushen and at Peel, in 1643, 239-41
IMerchant Strangers, See Strangers
Meryck, John (governor and bishop), Statement of, concerning 4th
earl, 222; on religion of people, 353; decides question of juris-
diction over garrison soldiers, 358-9; account of, 362; and the
Keys, 766, 768; on agriculture, 914; 976, 980
Methodism, Wesleyan, established, 674-5 ; meets with opposition,
675-6 ; but increases, 677, relations between, and Church, 678-9 ;
recent history of, 725-6, statistics relating to, 733
Methodists, New Connexion, 733
Primitive, 680, 725, 733
Mevanian Islands, The, 81
Michael (bishop), 979
The Sheading of, 153
Michael's Isle, St., 129, 183 ; fort at, 247
Middle, The Sheading of, 153
Military duty neglected, 452-3
,, organization, of the Celts, 62-3, of the Northmen, 153-4 ; in
the seventeenth century, 327-335, 339 ; at a later date, 449-56,
636-44
Militia, The, encouraged to revolt by Edward Christian, 236; increased
by the 7th earl, 244 ; placed in camps, 245-6, 451-2 ; equipment
of, 246, 263 ; capture forts except Rushen and Peel, 267; oath of,
331 ; neglect of, 636-7 ; practically cease to exist, 637-8
Militia, The Horse, 244-5, 331-2, 454, 638
Mills, The lord's. Corn must be ground at, 320, 873 ; arrangements
concerning, under Act of Settlement, 889-90
Mills, Fulling, Order of Tynwald about, 317
Minerals, Right of the Crown to, 899
1012 INDEX
Mines, reserved to the lord by Act of Settlement, 891 ; at Laxey and
Foxdale, 960, 964-8; at Bradda Head, 960-1, 965-6; granted to
Furness Abbey, 960; included in grant to Stanleys, 961; grant
of, to 8th earl from Crown, 962; renewal of grant of, in 1736,
964 ; reward for finding, 962-3 ; Bishop Wilson on, 963
Mining, in the seventeenth century and at present compared, 963-4 ;
profits of, 968 ; Crown rents from, 642-50 ; statistics relating to,
971
Mirescogh Lake, The, 23
„ Monastery, The, 166
Mischief Act, The, 388-9, 597, 804-5
Moar, The, 844, 597, 746, 800
Molua, Molipa, Malius, and Moluoc, St., 75
Molynieux, Kobert (governor and deputy-governor), 977
Monks, The ascendancy of the (1266-1405), 208
Monoliths, or Menhirs, 33
Montacute, Sir Simon de, 187
Sir William de (I.), 187; king of Man, 194; death of,
195-6; 974
Montacute, Sir William de (II.), sells the island, 196; 974
Monuments and buildings. Historic, 11-16
,, Prehistoric, 11
Moor, Hugh, Evidence of, against William Christian, 377
Bloore, The Kev. Philip, 517 ; work of, on the Manx Bible, 655
„ Sir G., 532-3
Mortimer, Thomas (deputy-governor), 976
Mountains, The heights and description of, 8-9
Mull. See Meayll
Murchadh, King of Dublin, 96
,, King of Leinster, 104
,, King of Ireland, 110
O'Brien, King of Ireland, 104-5, 106-7
Murlin, .Tohn, 674-5
Murray, James (second Duke of Atholl), 384-5, 975
John (third Duke of Atholl), 385-6, 529 ; negotiations of, for
the sale of his legal rights, 386-91 ; 975
Murray, Charlotte (third Duchess of Atholl), 385, 975
,, John (fourth Duke of Atholl), is made governor, 528, 537;
effect of Eevesting Act on, 529, tries to amend it, 531-2, but
fails, 533 ; first steps of, to obtain his rights, 529-30 ; quarrel
between, and the Tynwald Court, 530-31 ; allegations of, before
the commissioners and their answers, 534-6 ; Walpole's opinion
on claims of, 536-7 : position of, after 1793, 537-8 ; applies for
further compensation in 1801, 538-9, and succeeds in obtaining
it, 549 ; renders himself popular to the people by his attitude to
INDEX 1013
the Keys, but finally alienates all sections, 541 ; estimate of cha
racter of, 542-3 ; sells his remaining rights in the island, 543-4 ;
character of rule of, 544-5 ; addresses to and from, 546-9 ; action
of, about the corn riots, 5(51-2 ; objects to promissory notes and
cards, 587 ; grants licences to enclose commons, 561-2 ; 978
Murray, George, The Hon. (bishop), 656; action of, about tithes and
commutation, 660-3 ; reforms clergy, 668 ; opens a mine in
Marown, 966; 980
Murray, Henry, Lord (lieutenant-governor), 642, 978
,, James (governor), 978
Murrey, John, Coinage of, 414 ; has lease of mines, 962
Musgrave, Sir Philip (governor), 265, 977
N
Names of the Isle of Man, 45-6
Navy of Earl James, The exploits of the, 248-9
Neolithic Man, Tokens of, 32 ; physical characteristics of, 35-6
Nevill's Cross, the battle of, 195
Newspapers, The local, 596
Nicholas (bishop), 979
" Nickey " rig. See Fishery
Nidaros, or Drontheim, Metropolitan see of Man, 167-9 ; jurisdiction
of, retained, 176
Ninian, St., 66-7
Non-Aryan people in Man, 42-8
Nonconformists, none in the seventeenth century except Quakers,
474 ; Acts relating to, 079-80 ; number of, 680 ; statistics re-
lating to, 733. See also Methodists
Nonconformity, 674-81, 725-6
Non-residence of the clergy. Act against, 480
Nor^r, or Orkneys and Shetlands, 167
Nores, Thomas (deputy-governor), 976
Norris, Robert, Evidence of, 377
Northampton and Salisbury, Earls of, 224-5, 975
Northmen, The, settle in Man, 85-6 ; trade of, 147-8 ; Du Chaillu's
estimate of, 148-9 ; legal system of, 149-54 ; military and naval
organization of, 153-4 ; land system of, 154-5. See also under
Icelandic settlers
Norway, Civil War in, 110, 117, 122-3; suzerainty of, over the
Sudreys comes to an end, 134 ; treaty of, with Scotland, 136
Norwegians, or Finn-gaill, The, 84 ; preponderate over the Danes, 84-5
Nowell, Roger (governor), 279, 977
,, Henry (deputy-governor), 378, 977
1014 INDEX
Oaths of the Officers, 831-5
Ochre, 970
Officers, The Household, Primary duties of, 743; oaths of, 831-5.
See under Clerk of the Rolls, &c.
Officers of the Militia, Titles and duties of the, 380-2
,, Half -pay, 575
„ The Spiritual, shared in Civil Government, 8G4. See Bishop,
&e.
Olaf Cuaran, 91
,, I. (Kleining), Godred Crovan's son, 104; reign of, 107-9; murder
of, 109 ; introduces English system in Church and State, 164,
167 ; grants lands to Church, 165, 168
„ Godred's son, King of Dublin, 90-1, 973
,, n., Godred II. 's son, 114; rules in the Hebrides, 115-16; im-
prisoned, 117; released, 118; failure of plot against, 120; rule
over Man, &c., 120-5; and the Pope, 170; 973
Olaf Tryggvasson, king of Norway, 94
„ the White, 86, 91
Oldon, Richard (bishop), 979
Orkney dynasty, The, 94-6
Orkneys and Shetlands, The, 167
Orry, or Gorree, traditional king of Man, 92, 103, 152
Other, or Otter, 106
Packet boat established, 426
Palaeolithic man. No trace of, 31
Pdll, Viscount of Skye, 120
Parish clerks, The duties of, 849-50 ; fees of, 850
Parishes, The, 17, and their names, 23 ; each of, to maintain poor,
203
Parishes, Four men from the, form part of a jury, 241 ; endorse the
7th earl's orders, 244
Parliament, the English, Ships of, attack Man, 249 ; grants Man to
Fairfax, 254, 271-2; brief rule of, 270-2; orders Chaloner's
release, 276-7
Parochial Horse, The. See Militia, Horse
,, Libraries, 512
„ Organization by Bishop Wilson, 510
Parre, Richard (bishop), 360-1, 980
Particles, 345-6
Passenger tax, The, 721
INDEX 1015
Patrick, St., 65 ; said to have converted the Manx, G7-70
„ Church of, 15, 172
„ Island of (Peel Island), 13-15, 85, 106, 122, 125, 172,
178-9
Patrick, St., Island of, Kound tower on the, 15, 80
Paul Jones descends on Man, 636-7
Pay], Richard (bishop), 979. See Pully
Peel Castle, 13-14 ; meeting at, 239-41 ; description of, in 1648, 247 ;
commanded by Sir Thomas Armstrong, 255 ; militia fail to cap-
ture, 207 ; fortifications of, 4.'50-l
Peel Castle, Constable of, a traitor, 383
Island. See St. Patrick's Island
(Town), 301, 410, 568, 595, 701
,, Grammar School at, 511-12
Eiot at, in 1821, 560, 568
,, Visitation at, 345
Sir Robert, The fiscal reforms of, 619-20
Pepys, Henry (bishop), 980
Percy, Henry de (Duke of Northumberland), receives Man from
Henry IV. and is deprived of it, 197 ; 974
Periods, General character of the (1266-1405), 181-2, 198; (1660-
1765), 375 ; (1793-1826), 544-5; (1826-66), 345-6
Phillips, John (bishop and archdeacon), raises question of jurisdiction
over garrison soldiers, 359; account of, 3G2-4; translation of the
Prayer-Book into Manx by, 21, 363; dispute of, with Governor
Ireland, 769 ; 980
Phingola, wife of Godred II., 114
Picts, or Cruithni, 34-5
Pigott, Stainsby-Conant, Francis (lieutenant-governor), 978
Pitt, William, and the 4th Duke's claim, 538
Pius II. (Pope), Rescript of, 347
Place-names and surnames, An analysis of, shows preponderance of
Celtic element, 47-8 ; also presence of Vikings and preponderance
of Norwegians over Danes, 83-5
Police, 568-70 ; expenditure on, 716
Political system. The Irish and Manx Celtic, 60-2
Poor Relief, 408-9, 688-92 ; the machinery of, inadequate, 556
Pope, The power of the, in Man, 165, 170, 201-2
Population, 302-3, 412-13, 573-5, 646-7, 708
Port Erin, 701
,, ,, breakwater, 631-2, 720-1
Port St. Mary, 701
Position and physical characteristics of the Isle of Man, 8-10
Post office, 614-16, 716
1016 INDEX
Potato tithe, 515
,, crop, Failure of the, in 1847, 554
Potter, John (deputy-governor), 976
Poverty, Increase of, in 1641, 282-3 ; in 1706, 407
Powys, Hon. Horatio (bishop), 980
Prayer-Book, Translations of the, 21, 363, 654-5
Prayers, Special, issued by Bishop Wilson, 520
Preaching, Bishop Wilson's remarks on, 508-9
Prehistoric monuments, 11
Presbyterians, 680, 733
Prescriptions against paying tithes, 476-7, 516
Presentments. See Discipline
Prices, 286-8, 313, 399-400, 557-8, 562, 696-8
Primitive Celtic communities. Social conditions in, 48-9
Methodists, 800, 725, 733
Printing, 595-6
Priors of Douglas, 344
Priory of Douglas, dissolved and vested in Crown, 351 ; 872
Prison, 701-2
Private Bills. See Bills
,, Legislation, Advantages enjoyed by Man with regard to,
828-9
Privy Council, Decision of, in favour of Bishop Wilson, 497 ; case of
governor and officers to be laid before, 501-3 ; and the 4th duke's
claim, 538 ; now the immediate Court of Appeal, 800
Procedure, of Law Courts as to summonses, &c., 758 ; in Tynwald
Court, 829-30; as to introduction, discussion and passing of
Bills, 838-41
Proctors, The duties of the, 849
Progress before and after 1866, 685-8, 723
Promissory notes and cards, 587
Public Debt. See Debt
,, Works. See Works
Pully, Eichard (bishop), 345-6, 979
Puritan influences in the Church, 359-60
Q
Quakers, The, are persecuted, 474-5 ; favourably treated by Bishop
Wilson, 475
Quarries, Arrangement about, under Act of Settlement, 891
Quarter-lands, The, 47, 873
Querns destroyed, 320-1
Quilliam, Admiral, 643, 949
Quine, The Rev. John, 19
INDEX 1017
R
Eadcliffe, Dr. Charles Bland (physician), 19
,, Henry (abbot and governor), 976
,, Samuel, 382
Ragnall (king of part of Northumbria), 90
Railways, 700 ; statistics relating to, 727
Ramsey, 301-2, 313, 410, 567, 701
Fort at, 248
,, Duties at, 314
Randolph, Thomas (Earl of Moray), Grant of Man to, 191; sets out
for Man, 193
Ranks, Gradations of, among the Irish Celts, 59
Ready, Colonel John (lieutenant-governor), 978
Rebellion, The, of 1275, 183-4; of 1651, 265-70
Receiver, or Receiver- General, The, 742, 798-9 ; oath of, 832-4
Records, Various names of the, 791
Reformation in Man, Slowness of the, 352-4 ; made no difference to
disputes between Church and State, 357
Reginald Haraldson, kills Olaf I., 109
,, Godred II. 's brother, 113 ; usurper, 973
,, Somerled's son, 113
,, son of Eachmarcat, 113
„ I., Godred II. 's son, 114-15; connexion of, with John de
Courcy, 116 ; does homage to England, Norway, and the Pope,
116-19; struggle of, with Olaf II., 117-18, 120-2; 973
Reginald II., Olaf II.'s son, 127, 973
,, I. (bishop), 169, 170, 977
„ II. (bishop), 118, 174-5, 977
Registers, Church, Neglect of the, 480
Religious Houses, The, Share of the tithes of, 200-1 ; dissolution of,
350-1 ; influence of, 351
Religious publications, 512
,, views of the people, in 1688, 475-6
Reneurling, Meeting of Tynwald at, 213
Rents, Farm, 929-30, 931-2, 934
,, House, 558
,, Lord's, 310, 317-18, 439, 874, 878, 880, 889, 895
, , and duties (Crown properties) , 649-50
Restoration, easily accomplished, 375 ; changes at the, 461
Revenue, The surplus, question, 601-14, 806-12
Totals of, 322-3, 438-41, 648, 713-15, 729-30
,, Sources of the lord's, 317-18
,, from exports and imports, 456-7, 601
Statements of, d'C, 605-6, 648, 729-30
,, Act concerning, in 1854, 609-10
1018 INDEX
Revestment, The, Changes caused by, 527-9, 794-5, 800, 803-5
Richard (bishop), 979
Richmond, Richard (bishop), 655; intolerant pastoral of, 675-6; 980
Ridgeway, Sir Joseph West (lieutenant-governor), 978
Riots, in 1507, 217-18 ; in 1422, 345 ; in 1839, 417 ; in 1812, 558 ; in
1821, 560; in 1825, 661-2; in 1724, 893-4
Rivaulx Abbey acquires land at Mirescogh, 165-6
Robbery, Convictions for, 503
Rolls of the Manorial Court, The, 877, 890 ; method of entry on, 902-3
Roman Catholics, 680-1, 726
Ronaldsway, Battles at, 128-30, 183-4 ; second Earl of Derby lands
there, 217-18
Ronaldsway, Meeting at, in 1651, 265-6
Ronan, Keeill, 75
Roolwer (bishop), 163, 979
Round Tower, The, on St. Patrick's Island, 15, 80
Royal Bounty. See Bounty
Runner, The, 746
Runes, The, 157
" Run-rig " divisions, The, 50-1
Rupert, Prince, raises the siege of Latham House, 250
Rushen, or Ruisen, St., 36, 69
,, Abbey, 14, 198; foundation of, 164-5; plundered, 192; dis-
solved and vested in Crown, 351
Rushen, Abbot of, 25, 344, 349
Rushen, Lands of, 871
The Sheading of, 153
Rushton, Ralph (governor and deputy-governor), 976
Russell, William (bishop), Synod of, 200, 206, 355 ; account of, 205-6 ;
979
Rutherford, John, 676-7
Rutter, Samuel (bishop and archdeacon), 20, 462, 480-2, 980
S
Sabbath, Bills for enforcing strict observation of the, 369
Sabhal, Abbey and Abbot of. See Bangor and Sabhal
Sacheverell (governor and deputy-governor), on the condition of the
people, 407-8 ; on needs of clergy, 469-70 ; on Manx Church,
476; 977
Saint (St.). See under name of each saint
Salaries, of household officers, &c., 321-2, 323-4, 334-5, 443, 651,717
,, Question of control over, 810-14
,, of soldiers, 449
Sale, of the island. The, 386-91 ; of AthoU's remaining rights, 543-4,
872
INDEX 1019
Salesbury, John (bishop), 980
Salisbury and Northampton, Earls of, 224-5, 975
Salmon and trout fishery, Regulation of, 222
Salt, 971
Sanctuary, Right of, done away with, 342-3
Sandstone, 969
Sankey, Colonel Nicholas (governor), 977
Santwat, The battle of, 105-6
Scacafel (Skyehill), The battle of, 98
Scandinavian Church in Man. See Church
,, history falls into two epochs, 82
Schools. See Education
Scotland, Treaty between, and Norway, 136
Scottish rule in Man begins, 182
Scots, possibly possess Man from 1313 to 1317, and probably from
1318 to 1333, 193 ; exact a tax on farm rents, 194 ; rule of,
practically ended after 1346, 196
Scroop, Sir William le, buys Man ; is beheaded, 196 ; 974
See of Sodor and Man. See Sodor and Man
Seneschal, The, 797-8
Services, Church, regulated by Bishop Wilson, 506-9 ; special, issued
by him, 520-1
Setting quests. The, 890
Settlement, The, of the Northmen in Man, 85-6
,, The Act of, in 1704, 490, 888-91 ; re-enacted in 1777,
891 ; tenure established by, described, 891-2 ; did not extend to
the baronies, 908
Sharpies, John (deputy-governor), 976
Shaw, Alexander (lieutenant-governor), 978
Sheading, Explanation of the word, 153-4
Sheading Court. See Manorial Court
Sheadings, The six, 47, 153-4
Sherburne, Richard (governor), 976
Shipbuilding, 594-5, 711
Shirburne, Thomas (deputy-governor), 976
Shirley, Walter Augustus (bishop), 980
Short, Thomas Vowler (bishop), encourages education, 673-4;
account of the Manx Church by, 670, 864-5 ; 980
Shrewsbury, The battle of, 197
Sigurd, Magnus Barefoot's son, 107
Sigurd, Earl of the Orkneys and Shetlands, 93-5; (? King of Man),
973
Sitric, King of Northumbria and Dublin, 90, 92
Slate, Roofing and lintel, 970
Smelt, Colonel Cornelius (lieutenant-governor), 978
1020 INDEX
Smith, Captain Samuel (deputy-governor), 273, 977
,, Edward (governor), 978
Smoke-penny, The, 205
Snsefell, Height of, 9
Social conditions in primitive Celtic communities, 48-9]
„ and political conditions in Man during Scandinavian Period,
139-60
,, conditions of the labourer, 290-1. Sec Labourer
and Economic History (1405-1660), 281-340; (1660-1765),
392-460: (1765-1866), 550-651; (1866-1900), 685-733
Sodor, Meaning of, 167 ; title of, discussed, 178-9
,, and Man, Origin of the diocese of, 166-9 ; proofs of continu-
ance of, to the fifteenth century, 169; possessions of, in 1231,
171, 178-80 ; armorial bearings of the See of, 179 ; connexion of,
with Canterbury, 164, 168 ; placed under York, 347, 354 ; vacant
from 1644 to 1660, 365 ; attempt to attach, to English dioceses,
686
Soldiers. See Garrison soldiers and Militia
Somerled divides the Isles with Godred, 111 probably rules Man,
112; 973
Somerledian Islands, The, 124
South Barrule, or Var^a Fjall, 154
Spiritual Barons. See Barons
,, Courts, Appeal from (.sec York) complaints of the arbitrary
proceedings of, 502-4 ; jurisdiction of, over soldiers. See Garrison
soldiers
Spiritual laws, said to be abolished by 33 Hen. VIII., 499 ; revision of,
desired, 10th earl's action with reference to, 500 ; concerning
powers of clergy and their dues, 843-51, 857-9 ; on criminal
matters, 851-7 ; Bishop Wilson's, 859-61. See also Discipline
Sprotton, John (bishop), 979
Staff of Government, The, 581, 747
„ „ Division, 836-7
Staff Lands, The, 80, 872, 908-9
Stanley, Sir John (I.) and William ordered to seize Man by Henry
IV., who grants it to the former, 197, 211-12, 341-2 ; 974
Stanley, Sir John (II.), 212-14 ; visits Man and his proceedings there,
212-13 ; estimate of, 24 ; curbs power of spiritual barons, 342 ;
confirms charter of Magnus, 345 ; his action of, in 1430, 764 ; 974
Stanley, Thomas (I.) (1st baron), 214-15, 975
„ „ (II.) (1st Earl of Derby), 215-17, 975
(III.) (2nd Earl of Derby), 217-28 ; changes title from
King to Lord, of Mann, 218 ; confers privileges on Church, 349 ;
975
Stanley, Edward (3rd Earl of Derby), 218-22, 975
INDEX 1021
Stanley, Henry (4th Earl of Derby), 222-3 ; visits the island, 222 ; 975
Ferdinando (5th Earl of Derby), 223; dispute between his
daughters and the 6th Earl, 223-5 ; order of, about alienation,
877; 975
Stanley, William (6th Earl of Derby) and Elizabeth, his wife (joint
rule), 225-7; receives grants of tithes, 351-2; his and Alice's
(widow of Ferdinando) letter to the officers, 228-9 ; 975
Stanley, James (I.) (Lord Strange, afterwards 7th Earl of Derby), 226 ;
birth and early career of, 231 ; marriage of, 232 ; efforts of, for royal
cause, 234-5, 249-56 ; goes to Man, 235, 237 ; principles of govern-
ment of, 238-40; proceedings of, at the Peel meeting, 210-2;
evidence as to unpopularity of, 250-1, 825 ; work of, in Man,
between 1644 and 1650, 252-3 ; declines to surrender Man, 253-4 ;
trial, execution, and death of, 256-7 ; character of, 257-8 ;
remarks of, on trade, 311 ; encourages manufactures, 317 ;
Church government of, 365-6 ; design of, for a college, 366 ;
relations of, with the Keys, 770-2, 776-86 ; views and actions of,
with regard to the tenure of land, 880-1, 884-5, 906-7 ; offers
prizes for horses, 917 ; 975
Stanley, Charlotte (De la Tremoille, the 7th carl's wife), appointed
deputy for her husband, 263-4; said to have made conditions
with the Parliament, 266 ; Manx oiler to take oath of fidelity to,
267-8 ; surrenders Castle Eushen, 270, 279-80 ; 975
Stanley, Charles (8th Earl of Derby) ; appoints commissioners, 375 ;
proceedings of, against IZiiani D/iOHc, 381-2; character of, 383;
instructions given by, about the defence of the island, 449-50 ;
reorganizes Church, 461-2 ; relations of, with the Keys, 774-5 ;
action of, about the tenure, 884-6
Stanley, William (II.) (9th Earl of Derby), 383-4 ; memorandum of, on
manufactures, &c., 427; writes about smuggling, 431; attitude
of, to the tenure question, etc., 775-6, 887 ; 975
Stanley, James (II.) (10th Earl of Derby), 384 ; quarrels with the Keys
776-86 ; grants Act of Settlement, 888 ; 975
Stanley, Henry, 976, 977 ; Charles The Hon., 977 Charles Z., The
Hon., 406, 977 ; George. 976 ; Randulf, 229, 976 ; William, 976
(governors)
Stanley, Thomas, Sir (deputy-governor), 976
„ Thomas (bishop), 979
Stanleys, Eights of, under Henry IV. 's grant, 871
State, Power of, contrasted with Church, in 1405, 341
Steam communication, 588, 710
Stevenson, John (H.K.), 779-82
Eichard (deputy-governor), 977.
Stock. See Live stock
66
1022 INDEX
Stowell, The Rev. Hugh, 669
Strangers, Methods of bargaining with, 306-7 ; regulations about,
307-8 ; how received in the seventeenth century, 335-7
Strangford Lough, The battle of, 116
Straton, Norman Dumenil John (bishop), establishes a sustentation
fund, 724-5 ; 980
Straw tenure. See Tenure
Sudreys, The, 86, 111 ; naval empire of, 147 ; suzerainty of Norway
over, comes to an end, 134
Sulby Kiver, The diversion of the, 25-6
Summary, Court (Church), 861
Sumner-General, Question of appointment of, 359, 501 ; duties of,
848-9
Sumners, The duties of, 849 ; fees of, 850
Sunday Schools, 669-70
Sundays and Saints' Days, Observance of, 503
Surnames, The peculiar Manx, 227-8
Surplus Revenue. See Revenue
Symon (bishop), 14-15, 171-3, 175-6, 199, 979
Synods, Symon's and Russell's, 172, 199-200, 206
Tarbock, Edward (governor), 976
Tariff, The effect of the increase of the English, 418
Taverns Act, The, of 1857, 581
Taxation, 194, 205, 323-6, 348, 350, 441-3, 452, 454, 617-24, 716,
721-2, 733 ; description of the British Government's system of,
622-3
Temperance Societies, 580, 582
Tenants, Address of, to the 4th Duke of Atholl, 546-7 ; began to
consider land their own, 877 ; deceived concerning leases, 883-4 ;
difficulty of obtaining, 887 ; arrangement with, under Act of
Settlement, 888-91 ; immediate, of the Crown, after 1826, 895
Tenure, Land, of the Celts, 53-4 ; of the Northmen, 154-5 ; on
arrival of Stanleys and afterwards, 199, 874-5 ; uncertainty of
(1660-1704), 884-8 ; nature of, under Act of Settlement, 888-92
Tenure, Land, of the Straw, 875-6 ; how validity of, ensured, 876-7 ;
blow struck at, in 1593, 877 ; Lord Strange's description of and
attitude with regard to, 880, 906-7 ; composition for reverting to,
883
Theological school. The, 724
'Wiouias (bishop), 979
Thorfinn, Earl of the Orkneys and Shetlands, 95-6
,, son of Oter, 110
1
INDEX 1023
Tithe Commutation Act, The, 665-6, 932
Tithes, Division of the, 200-1 ; dissatisfaction at paying, 235-7,
476-7 ; leased for king's benefit, then granted to 6th Earl,
351-2 ; attitude of people concerning, 300 ; complaint of abbey
tenants about, 515 ; trouble about collecting, 660-1 ; failure of
first attempt to commute, 662-5, and success of second attempt,
665-6
Tithes, Fish, 516, 659-60, 941
,, Green-crop, 515, 661-2
Topography of the island, 8-10
Towns, The, 300-2, 409-13, 563-8, 698-701 (.<^ee also under Douglas,
&c.) ; method of governing, 410-11; filthy condition of, 411.
See also Population.
Townsmen, The, in 1648, described, 238-4
Trade, 304-14, 413-26, 582-90, 708-11 ; of the Northmen, 147-8 ;
arbitrary regulations concerning external, 304-5 ; internal 309 ;
amount of, trifling, 311; conducted by barter before 1643, 312;
Imperial and local Acts affecting, 417-21; unwise policy con-
cerning, 420-2 ; foreign, 423-4 ; free, effort to obtain, 432-3 ;
advantages and disadvantages to, from English connexion,
582-6 ; way in which local authorities dealt with, 586 ; revival
of, checked, 587-8 ; causes rendering, more profitable, 589 ; Act
of 1853 ensures freedom of, 622; great increase of, recently,
708-10; legislation, 710-11
Tramways, 709-10 ; statistics relating to, 727
Trawling versus line fishing. The question of, 955-6
Treasurer, The, of the Isle of Man, 799
Treasure Trove, Law concerning, 222
Treaty between Scotland and Norway, 136
Treen, The, 47, 51, 371, 876-7
Trees, 919-20
Trial by battle abolished, 213
,, ,, jury established, 213
Tribesmen (Celtic), Relation of the, to their chief and each other, 54-5
Trinian, St., The Church of, 66 ; the Barony of, 871, 895, 908-9
Tryggvi, The Jarl, 88
Turlogh O'Brien, 97
Tyldesley, Thomas (deputy-governor), 976
Tynwald, The battle of, 122
,, The Manx, compared with the Al-]Hng, 151-2
„ Hill, The, at St. John's 160, at Rcneurling, 213
,, Court, The, Decision of, in 1418, 212; meets at Rcneur-
ling, 213, 344 ; on appeals to York, 485, 491 ; attacks the 4th
Duke of Atholl, 530-1 ; carries out suggestions of the commis-
sioners of 1791, 536 ; gains a share of the control over surplus
1024 INDEX
revenue, 611-12, 806-12; formerly identical with Court of
General Gaol Delivery, 747-8 ; procedure of, 760, 829-30 ;
changes in jurisdiction of, owing to Mischief Act, 803-5 ; rights
of ,'805 ; gains control over Harbour Board, 813 ; connexion of,
with salaries of officials, 813-14, with customs duties, 814-15 ;
executive committees of, 830; confirms Bishop Wilson's Con-
stitutions, 860
Tyrel, Sir Hew, 196
U
Umber, 970
Urns. See Cinerary urns
Uspak-Hakon's expedition and death, 123-4
Vagrants, Stringent regulations about, 293
Var'So-jjall, or South Barrule, 154
Vessels, Manx, Statistics relating to, 727
Vicars-general, ordered to empanel juries, 355 ; charges against and
trial of, with Bishop Wilson, 492-6 ; powers and privileges and
appointment of, 844-5 ; duties of, 861-3
Viecars of Pencion and of Thirds, 348
Victoria, Queen, 976
Viking Period, Eeview of the, 99-100
Vikings, The, 82-3, 145; First appearance of, 82-3, 145; presence
of, shown by place-names, 83-4 ; first attack of on, and settle-
ment in, Man, 85-7 ; war-vessels of, 146-7, 157-9. See also under
Icelandic Settlers
Villeins, Nature of the service of, 874-5
Visitors, The summer, 575-6, 712
Volunteers, The, 637, 639-40
W
Wages, 285-6, 288-90, 392-9, 551-5, 697-8 ; laws relating to, 392-9
Waldeboef , John de, 187
Waldron, on smuggling, 433-4 ; on the discipline and the clergy,
505-6, 519
Walker, William, The Eev., 517
Walpole, Sir Spencer (lieutenant-governor), on the 4th duke's claims,
538-9 ; financial administration of, 715 ; loans and customs duties
arrangements of, 717, 730-1 ; promise of, about salaries, 814 ;
on Private Legislation and procedure in Tynwald Court,
829-30; 978
INDEX 1025
Walton, John (governor), 212-13, 976
War vessels of the Vikings, 146-7, 157-9
Ward, William (bishop), 655 ; eiTorts of, in Church building and in
founding King William's College, 671-2 ; 980
Wardfell, The battle of, 192
Watch hills, The, 62, 328
Watch and Ward, 34, 63 ; maintained by the Stanleys, 327-9 ;
enforced as late as 1815, 229 ; 453
Water-bailiff, or Customer, The, duties of, 306-7, 321, 742-3, 799, 943,
945 ; Court of, 757, 837 ; oath of, 834-5
Weights and Measures, Uniformity of, established, 214, 305, 312,
419, 590, 710
Wesley, The Eev. John, visits Man, 677-8 ; opinion of, about the
Manx preachers, 678
Wesleyans. See Methodism
" Wherry " rig. See Fishery
Whithorne, The Priory of, 166 ; dissolved, 351 ; The Prior of, 344
Wilkes, Colonel, 643
William (King of Scotland), 115, 118
(bishop), 979
IV., 976
Wills, or Willers, Court, The, 367
,, Laws relating to, 854-5
Wilson, Thomas (bishop), helps people during famine, 401-2 ; influence
of, on his contemporaries, 486 ; early career of, 487 ; adminis-
tration of the discipline by, 488; charges against, and his
vicars-general, 492-3 ; trial, imprisonment, and release of, 495-6 ;
Privy Council's decision in favour of, 497 ; admonishes the
clergy, 505; on baptism, catechizing, confirmation and com-
munion, 507-8 ; on observance of Sunday and Saints' days,
508 ; on preaching, 508-9 ; parochial organization of, 510 ;
educational zeal of, 512-14; enforces Church dues, 514; attitude
of, on doctrinal questions and free-thinking, 518-19 ; issues
special services and prayers, 520-1 ; character and death
of, 521-3 ; Ecclesiastical Constitutions of, 859-61 ; opinion of
about spiritual courts, 863 ; helps to arrange Act of Settlement,
887-8 ; plants trees, 924 ; success of, in farming, 924-5 ; on
mines, 963 ; 980
Wilson, Dr., Petition of, to the Crown, 403 ; on smuggling, 437
Wimund (bishop), 173-4, 979
Women, Laws relating to, 214, 294
Woods, John (governor), 978
" Woods, Forests and Land Revenues," The department of, 798,
899-900
Works, Public, 601-2, 709-10, 714-15, 722
1026 INDEX
Y
Yarding, 290-3, 394 ; abolished, 550
York, See of Sodor and Man put under, in 1458, 347, and in 1542, 354
„ Appeals to, 349, 354, 357-8, 492-3 ; decision of Tj-nwald
Court about, 485, 491 ; question of, unsettled, 497
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