Firstly my apologies if this message is considered too long but I would hope that more information is better than less.
I am trying to find ANY information that would confirm that Captain Dickson (also probably spelt Dixon)lived his later years on the Isle of Man. There is no doubt that he did so as he is mentioned in a letter written by William Gracie in 1856 "all well at Carronhill & in the Isle of Man" and twice by William's son James in 1892 "In his old age which he passed in the Isle of Man he became very religious" and "Of Captain Dickson I remember personally but little, I was sent to the island to recover from whooping cough and can just recollect him and the piles of coppers he as church warden collected on Sundays--and which were counted and distributed on Monday."
Unfortunately I have NO idea where he lived on the Isle of Man and can only hazard a guess that it would have been in the 1840s to 1850s.
GENERATION NUMBER 1
1. Captain DICKSON
"The Captain" was born about (est) 1771. Pure conjecture.
"The Captain" served in the BARBARA, between 1796 and 1798. {1} Captain Dickson (A. Dixon) is shown as an addition to the entry for the vessel in Lloyds Register of 1797 as are the owners. The owners name is not clear but it does look like "Chamly". The figures 14-6 also appear in the additional line.
In the 1798 edition of Lloyds Register he is again shown as A. Dixon and the owners are clearly "Chamley" the figures 2-12 12-4 appear under the owners name. Although there are a number of ships named BARBARA in all volumes of Lloyds that were consulted this vessel is not mentioned again after the 1798 edition.
"The Captain" was involved in a sea battle February 17, 1798. {2} On the 17th February, 1798,the BARBARA, Captain Dickson, belonging to Messrs.Edmund Chamly & Co.,was taken, by boarding, after a hard fought engagement of sixteen hours, by the ZEMLY corvette cutter, of 14 guns and 170 men. Two men were killed, and ten wounded on board the BARBARA amongst the latter being the captain, wounded in seven places. At the time the British and the French were at war. The BARBARA was so much disabled, that it was with the greatest difficulty she was got into Guadaloupe, the action having been fought within twelve leagues of Martinique. The ZEMLY had two long 18-pounders on her forecastle.
"The Captain" died about (est) 1850.
"The Captain" had the following children:
2.+ i. Mary DICKSON
He was a mariner all his life and was 79 when he died having become a church warden on the Isle of Man.
GENERATION NUMBER 2
2. Mary DICKSON
Mary and William GRACIE (the son of James GRACIE ) were married December 1, 1831 at Liverpool, England in Holy Trinity Church. {4}
Mary and William had the following children:
3. i. James GRACIE was born September 5, 1832 at Liverpool, England. {5, 6} James was christened October 3, 1832 at Liverpool, England. {7} James died August 21, 1906 at Leichardt, NSW. {8}
4. ii. Isabella GRACIE Isabella was christened November 25, 1834 at Liverpool, England. {9}
5. iii. Georgina Jane GRACIE Gegorgina was christened February 9, 1837 at Liverpool,England. {9}
6. iv. William Henry GRACIE William was christened September 28, 1838 at Liverpool, England. {9}
CITATIONS
1 Lloyds. Lloyds Register. {1} 1797 and 1798.
2 Gomer Williams. History of the Liverpool Privateers. (William Heinemann; 1857, 1966). {2} page 363 (?).
4 LDS. Vital Records Index. {4} UK.
5 NSW Registrar of BDM. Birth Certificate. {5} #53/1869 - (E Gracie). NSW Registrar of BDM.
6 Document: The James GRACIE Letters
7 IGI Records. {6} Ba: P020273 So:093877 to 81.
8 MELTON (Gracie), Suzanne. Gracie Family History. {7}
9 IGI Records. {6} Ba: P020273 So:093877 to 81. IGI Records.