This is our ninth Annual General Meeting and I am happy to report that the society continues to flourish.
I want to thank the committee for all the valuable work they have each performed during the past year. I also thank the members for their support. We have had some changes during the past year and no doubt more will follow but this year we have had to make one big change, and it is this ..., we are, unfortunately not able to do any personal research for individual members in future. Priscilla Lewthwaite has born the brunt of this work and we are all very grateful to her for the time and labour she has given, but she just cannot carry on. The truth is that we have become too successful, too many members hoping that one of the few can help. What will happen in future is that each new member will be sent a welcoming letter and other information by the membership secretary. They will be told of other members who are possibly following the same lines as them and then they will be able to correspond with them. This will mean that member will speak to member and we trust everyone will so do perhaps finding lost relatives on the way.
We now have a library with books and journals from other societies in the Ward Library in Peel. We are grateful to the Peel Commissioners for providing this facility. This year we held Our Day in Peel and an enjoyable and interesting time was had by all. We are still looking for a room near the Museum which we can have to enable us to meet members there when they visit the Island, but I recently made enquiries about a room, not in the mainshopping or office area of the town and found that the sort of room we need was costing a well known charity £6,500 a year to rent, without light or heat. There is no chance of us being able to pay such a rent. The secretary had asked the Director of the Museum if there would be any hope of us having some accommodation in the new building when it is completed but this is not possible. We shall keep looking. We now have our name in the telephone directory. The secretary and I have agreed that our numbers can be used. The amount of publications grows slowly. This year we have added Maughold, Lonan and Lezayre to the M.I.s and the 1851 census of Lezayre and the 1881 census of Kirk Michael. we have also produced a book on the Fishing Fleets of 1871 and 1881.
This, the Journal remains the main line of contact between us all, and in future we hope it will be published in February, May, August and November. Our gratitude to the Tourist Board for the valuable help they give us. Finally it has been agreed that the Annual General Meeting will be held in future in September when the weather is more acceptable. My three year term of office has now ended and I hand over to Rex Kissack whose capable hands I inherited it from. Good wishes to you all for 1988 .... we hope to see many of you over here during the year. IRIS LYLE
One of the most important items of any Family History Society is of course the journal, which is our only contact with over 100 members at the society. But another important aspect to be considered, are the members letters which must be answered and I have this year replied to over 150. Many of our members researching and writing about their ancestors, need help with further details of occupations, farms and villages.
During this year my husband has taken photographs of gravestones, cottages and farms for members as well as hunting out many articles ranging from boat building to information on the village of Ballaugh. I have sent out welcome letters to over 90 new members, but unfortunately since July have not been able to offer free research for people to get them started. This had become very time consuming and was taking up many hours a week. I think it is disappointing that the society can no longer offer this service, but with the amount of new members and queries from existing members I feel it would need support from more people who can do research at the Manx Museum. My thanks to the many members who have taken the trouble to send me photographs of their ancestors and their homes on the Island, these have all been mounted in an album and will be on display at our annual exhibition.
May I conclude by saying to any prospective researcher who may wish to come forward and take up the position of research correspondent for the society, they will find it very enjoyable and a rewarding occupation and it has only been lack of spare time which has made me relinquish my position. All that remains is for me to thank all members who have helped me in the past. P.M. LEWTHWAITE
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Peter Lace, 30 Western Avenue, Peterborough, Cambs. PEI 4HZ writes:- I am enclosing this 17th century appeal to the then Governor of the IOM James Chaloner by Donald Lace of Cranstall.
To the Right Worshipfull James Chaloner, Esquire and Governor of
the Isle of Man.
"The humble petition of Donald Lace (1658)".
Humbly showings that your petitioner delivered your Worship a
petition the matter of 3 weeks ago concerning a parcell of that land
which is overburdened and overlaid with all kinds of burden, which
lyeth upon the good qualitie of land as tho' it were as good as the
best. Likewise showings that the said land is not worth the fourth
part of the Lord's rent which lyeth upon it, beinge that most parte
of it is gone away with the sea.
Your petitioner hopes your worship will take this into consideration and grant him his lawfull request ....... Your petitioner as by dutie bound shall over pray for your Worship's good health and happiness to continue. (Endorsed by Chaloner lst April 1658)
"Deemster Christian - I desire you to give forth your token for a Jurie to be equallie chosen for yr view of this presumed losse and waste and their verdict you to receive and the same to certifie to me" - James Chaloner.
(Report of the Jury) We whose names are subscribed being by the
Honourable Governors authority to Mr.Deemster Christian, appointed
Jurors to view some lands of Donald Lace's at Cranstall, part whereof
is taken away by the sea and the other part blown over with sande;
say, as followeth: That remains of the said land, the uttermost we
can value or esteeme it to be yearley worth with the green side, is
12s 6d annually. Note that Mr. Deemster Christian was in the place
when the jury was sworne and the land viewed. Jurors names:- William
More
William Quarke William Comaish
Jo Christian
Jo Corkill
Charles Quale
(Endorsed) "This business is adjourned till the next Sheadings Court
to be houlden at Peele 16th April 1658 - James Chaloner".
(But it was not dealt with till October).
"At Peele Towne 25th October 1658".
Beinge well satisfied of the damage sustayned by Donald Lace, of
Cranstall in Kirk Bride, in his tenement in regard a great parte of
this same is wasted by the sea and that the worthing thereof cannot
be prevented. It is therefore thought fit that 5s 9d be abated off
the rent of the said tenement and the same be allowed for the ensuing
year of 1659, and that it be deducted out of the Rentalls booke that
it come not forth in charge for the future. (signed) James Chaloner
Richard Tyldesley
John Christian Hugh Moore
William Christian
William Qualtrough
On the last day of my holiday I found the clue that linked my
grandmother to her cousin, William Kelly, Ironmongers, of Peel.
My neighbour in the library told me that he had heard a lady in the
street at Peel exclaiming that she belonged to 'Kelly's Tin Pots'. I
should be so very pleased to make her acquaintance if she should read
this. I enclose a brief 'tree'. [IMAGE of tree here]
Frances Stewart, writes:- Many thanks for publishing my article
"First Generation Australians of Manx Descent in your last magazine.
I realise it was a lengthy story but could I draw it to your
attention that there was a slight error, so perhaps you could correct
it and print a small addition from information I've since
received.
Correction: Page 120 last paragraph 4th line, should have read.
"Her sister Mary Ann's death certificate says that the family came to
Queensland in 1864. Family sources say that the Pye's made the
arduous trip from Sydney to Queensland by dray".
Addition: Roland Pye was the name of the child who fell into the tub
of boiling water. He died on 16 July 1897. Page 122
I enjoy reading your magazine immensely, keep up the good work.- 11
-
Val Lawrence from Australia writes:-
Philip Fargher mentioned on page 127 of the last Journal, son is
still living in Melbourne .... he is around 78.
From Turmut in New South Wales (about an hours drive south of
Canberra) I have found in the local pioneers cemetry..., sacred to
the memory of MARGARET GELLING the beloved wife of THOMAS GELLING and
daughter of PHILLIP KELLY of the Parish of Marown, Isle of Man, who
departed this life on January 7th 1866, aged 59 years.
Also THOMAS GELLING, husband of the above who departed this life on
June 4th 1866, aged 59 years".
Also "In loving memory of Arthur William QUIRK youngest beloved son
of P J & M A QUIRK, died at Bombowlee 9.4.1911 aged 8. Deeply
mourned. MARGARET ANN QUIRK died 15.ll.1923 aged 63 years. Patrick
James QUIRK died 6.7.1924 aged 65 years.
Rest in peace.
[see vol9n4 pp112/7]
(Winner of the 1987 Family History society Award) It is easy to differentiate the Williams and keep track of them. Documents usually distinguish them as the Elder and Junior. The Elder was a younger son of the Father, and was left by him the Clerkship of Lezayre, which he held till 1630 when it passed to John Standish. He was also left 'the Close of Knock Semerke', and the reversion of another holding. In 1610 he 'voluntarily yielded up to William the Younger his interest in his ground', (which seems to be Intack no 211). But the next year the setting Quest 'avouched it lyeth in him' and restored his name. (Indeed the name was still standing in the Liber Assed. among the holders of no 338, rent 2d, as late as 1702! Probably it was a turbary.) There are no signs that he had heirs, or even a wife. we should have expected that relinquishing the Clerkship indicated his death in 1630. There were no burial records for Lezayre in these years, snd as we shall see indications that he could have lived on long after 1630. (For example, in 1 lntack no 216 passes to John Casement, the entry being corrupt, but seeming to read 'by virtue of a bill of sale....William Standish his own hand....and shown in court'.)
On the other hand, we have exact knowledge of both the birth and death dates of William Jr. In 1606 he declared his age in a Chancellry case (Lib. scacc. 1604 p.35) .as '18 years or thereabout'. He died in 1660. His name is entered for his grandfather's intacks in 1604, and for Abbeyland in 1610. He lived at Ellanbane. He served as Coroner for the Ayres and as MHK, and played a part in events of the Civil War as they affected the Island. He married first Mary Quayle, and later Margery Radcliffe. He had one son, John and a daughter Joney. Remarkably, the Liber Assed. continues his name for all his holdings until 1683, the year of the death of the widow of his son John, who himself had died in 1672. In fact all the Standish entries stand in the name of a William, except for the continuation of the name of John for a cottage through 1604 until the 1630s. In 1683 all William jr's holdings pass under the name of "his grandchild, Christian Standish and William Christian her husband".
The identification of the Johns is not so clear-cut, one of course was the last of the Standish males, dying in 1672, having been Clerk of Lezayre since 1630, and having succeeded his father both in Ellanbane and the Keys. His wife was Mary Garrett, and besides his legitimate issue of two daughters, Christian and Katherine, he had an illegitimate son Ewan in Ireland. But the name of John appears earlier, often in cases of minor land or tithes disputes, as well as in four more prominent preserved in the Libri Cancellari. These last add up to a clear picture of two brothers Standish, the elder being William, the other John. In the earliest of these deeds (1618), John describes himself as a son of John Standish of Island Bane, and is giving his brother William a quittance for the receipt of 'all goods moveable and immoveable due to me by the death of my father and mother', (Lib.Canc. 1642, no. 8). Next in 1627, (LC nos. 43.44) we find two identical bills of sale of a piece of land in Ballaugh, called Christian's Close, the first in the name of William and the other John Standish. More important is the third (LC1630, no 21). This is an award by Lord Strange's Commission - a special group appointed by the Derby regime in a vain attempt to regularise the leaseholding of Manx land, and incidentally to forward their feudal claims against the Manx assertion that their quarterlands were freehold. John had been pressing his case for a larger share of the estate of John their father, of which he claimed to be a joint executor with his brother William. The land was Close Moar in Sulby (which sounds as if it might be the Close Knocksemerke of John the Father's Will). The Commission found that the land was held, not jointly as John claimed, but by William only. But, having respect to the poverty of John, his wife and small children, (I) John was to be confirmed in the full ownership of 'the cottage and croft in which he now dwells, with one cow'; (2) John was to be granted the occupancy of half Close Moar, paying half the succession fee, and half the Lord's rent (4/3), on condition that if ever he wished to let or sell any of it, his brother William Should have first option on it; and (3) he was to make over to William the proper 'title to fields called Earygartney, 'which he hath, lately awarded by a jury from the said William Standish'.
The fourth of these deeds (LC 1642, no 7) reads like a sequel to this award. John and his wife Margaret Carran sell the half close and the adjoining croft (Arreygurney) to 'their loving brother William Standish'. It is with this deed that the first (i.e. 1618) document is filed.
And so it seems that here we have rounded off the profile of the Manx Standishes.
We should have liked to have known more of John the younger brother and his small children, who if they survived at all, were probably girls. The puzzle of 'Johns two sons' seems solved. William was the successor in the Father's holdings, and so the elder; the younger was John. Thus we have accounted for a Huan, a Gilbert, two Johns and two Williams.
But what of the most important name of all? There is just no Myles anywhere. The drama of the Manx Standishes turns out to be indeed Hamlet without the Prince.
But the facts are so. Nowhere in Manx archives does the name of Myles Standish occur, not even in places where it should have occured, for all that one could hardly expect many signs of someone who would have left the Island as a teenager.
Indeed there is no record of anyone born in the Island in those two centuries bearing the name of Myles or anything like it. It would have been quite out of character for Standishes, so restricted and conventional in their choice of fore-names, to have christened a son Myles - or for that matter a daughter Rose or Barbara. Then too, if Myles were indeed of Manx birth, why did not his own family and descendants never carry a tradition to that effect? Why was it assumed in America right up to 1912 that Myles was of Lancashire origin, and for that reason gave the name of Duxbury to a new settlement? And why did no one in the Isle of Man before William Cubbon claim a Manx origin for Myles himself, even when such a tradition had existed in respect of his wives? (See A W Moore: Manx Worthies, 1901, p.205). Even the claims of the Will, are they really to be taken seriously? Myles seems to have been an aloof and self important person - could he have done his job otherwise? His enemies called him Captain Shrimp, for his squat build, his reddish hair, flushed complexion and temper of low flash-point. Were his claims idle empty pretentiousness, indicative of his stance as an English land-owning aristocrat? They certainly proved empty and baseless in law.
But for all that, his son Alexander believed them enough to start to press them.
And in making them, Myles showed himself well-informed about the family circumstances, although the Atlantic did lie between them. Nor should the words of a dying man be lightly passed over. Weight must also be given to the curious fact that Margaret Standish's 1529 rentals said nothing about the Isle of Man. In adding those words Myles showed a concern for and a knowledge of more than just the Lancashire lands.
The Manx claim could not be made simply through descent in the Ormskirk branch. Only someone descended from Huan of the Computus could claim the Manx property. (Indeed, by a strange coincidence, no one could have united the claims before Myles, since it was not until 1606, on the death of Thomas' son, Hugh of Ormskirk that Huan's line took over the succession.)
So what sort of a case could conceivably be made for a Manx Myles?
It would have been Porteus' discovery in 1912 of Margaret Standish's rentals that prompted a serious interest in Myles' Will. After all there was now a real historic heritage behind it. It would be the contact between Porteus and William Cubbon, triggered off by the anomaly of the addition of the Isle of Man, that alerted the Manx scholar to look for Myles in the Manx family. But Cubbon seems to have known nothing of the Father's will - it was G V C Young who brought it to light in 1984 - so that when Cubbon read to the I O M Natural History and Antiquarian Society in December 1919, the paper he described as the first serious statement of a claim for a Manx birth-place for Myles, his speculative family tree was erroneous, suggesting that Myles might have been a son of Gilbert. Now, with the Father's will to read alongside Myles' own, it can be seen at once that Myles must have been the eldest son of John the Son. Such a one alone could have described himself as 'my great-grandfather being a second or younger brother of the House of Standish of Standish', as Huan of the Computus might generally have been described. But all our records imply that the undisputed heir of John the Father was William Jr. Just where all John's intacks should have been entered in the Liber vast. under the name of Myles, it is William's that is written in 1604.
But should that surprise us? Did not Myles say that his lawful inheritance had been surruptiously detained from him. The Standish family had sufficient influence, I am sure, if they so wished, to cover up any surruptuous detention. But it is strange that there is no sign in any legal court records of any protest from Myles, either at the time or later, especially if he was to marry wives of the family name from Lezayre.
Again, Myles is the man who isn't there.
Still, the parallel between the circumstances of Myles' will and the circumstances of William's succession is so remarkable as to demand some investigation of the possibility that William was not John the Father's lawful heir, but that there was an elder brother who had been conveniently passed over, and indeed it is to be noted that the American date of Myles' birth is 1584, whereas William's is 1586.
It will be recalled that the Father's Will spoke simply of John the son having 'two sons', yet naming neither, so it would not be impossible that there was an older son. But this hypothesis would be untenable if we have rightly read the story of the two brothers as unfolding in the four Chancery documents. For on that showing both of John's two sons are to be found living out their lives in 17th century Lezayre, whereas if one were somehow Myles, he would have been living a much more lively existence, many miles away. Also, in Lezayre William is so obviously the elder of the two. so we must test the hypothesis by asking: Was the William of the pair indeed William jnr? or could he conceivably have been William the Elder? And could the younger son of the Lib.Canc. cases have been the 'base-boy'?
To turn again to the Father's Will of 1602, it is remarkable that the old man gives more attention to providing for his base-boy than to anything else. He bequeathed him a heiffer and 8 sheep 'to be in my brother's keeping (I.e. Gilbert) till the said boy comes to years of discretion, and if the said boy die before the said years, then the said goods be returned to the executors'. He also left his brother Gilbert 'the croft he is living in for his natural life', and adds 'and if my base-boy do survive the said Gilbert, then the said boy shall have the foresaid croft, being of the annual rent of 6d'. The Will fails to give a name to the base-boy. Could it have been John? There is an interesting legacy in the Will of Margaret Standish (married to Philip Garrett) dated 1633. She was a daughter of John the Father. Her bequests were to a brother William, sisters Katherine and Jonie, as well as her own children and grandchildren.
The last item is for 'John Standish'. In this one instance she does not mention any relationship. Did delicacy prevent it? He would have been her half-brother, and more likely to have been remembered than the alternate John, her younger nephew, whose elder brother William jnr, would in that case be overlooked. There is certainly a case for thinking that here we have located the name of the base-boy and it shows that William the Elder must have been alive in 1633. If this is so, then the William-John relationship of the four chancelry deeds could be read as referring not to John the sons two sons, but to the two sons of John the Father in the generation before. These could equally call themselves sons of John Standish of Island Bane. Indeed with more justification, for if John the son predeceased his father, it is hard to see how he could ever have been so referred to. This (1618) document seems to be the earliest extant specific linking of the place Ellanbane with the Standish name, and on this hypothesis would argue that it had been their chief residence as early as the floruit of the great Standish, and go some way to substantiating Cubbon's claim that Ellanbane had been the seat of Huan of the Computus. On this hypothesis too, the circumstances of the deeds read the more convincingly.
The 1618 document, being a quittance from John to William for having received his inheritance, is dated the very year of Gilbert's death, when the base-boy would inherit his croft. The 1630 award of Lord Strange's Commissioners turns on John's poverty, and the refusal of the Commissioners to regard him as a joint-executor with William. This too accords better with the circumstances of an illegitimate son. Then too, the complicated award by which John surrenders to William his title to the fields of Earygartney, while he is allowed to retain 'the cottage, croft (and cow!)' has echoes of the Fathers Will.
Yet not every detail chimes in with this hypothesis. The John of the quittance speaks of what is due to him 'from his father and mother', a phrase we would not have expected from an illegitimate. It is not a case of 'no possible, probable shadow of doubt.
But if the hypothesis is true, it means that the John Standish who lived his life out in Lezayre in the early 17th century was not the other of 'John's two sons' after all, and so there could have been an elder brother to William lost to view.
It is extremely unlikely that he was known then as Myles, though he might have been.
It is even possible that he was called John - the family had a penchant for calling the first born son so. We need not be overconcerned with his name. The first time he was called Myles on record was when he and Rose stepped onto the deck of the Speedwell in 1619. Myles might be a name he picked up in those Netherland years of soldiering in an international force. After all the name is Latin for soldier, and Latin may have been more used in such a multilingual ambient. He was certainly the Soldier par excellence for the pilgrims, and he carried Caesar's commentaries with him to the New World. It might have been Michael, which in Manx is Mail or Mael (pronounced Mile).
So that, always on this hypothesis, we have not Myles himself, but what we might term a Myles-shaped blank, born the year he was allegedly born, for whom a scenario can be created quite credibly. He leaves the Island at 16, perhaps through an opening provided by the Derbys in Sir Francis Vere's international brigade of the Netherlands wars. He is still underage for inheriting when his grandfather dies in 1602. He is happy in his military career, and feels no incentive to return home to a small inheritance of bucolic intacks. On reaching his majority in 1605, unaware that the next year Hugh of Ormskirk's death would vastly expand his expectations, in fact probably not realising the situation till some time later, he acquiesces in William's de facto succession. With William the Elder as Parish clerk the books could be written to taste, and ultimately even the Abbeyland farm was put to William in 1610.
But scenarios are one thing, historical fact another. History is not to be built out of holes in genealogical tables. The foregoing is the best possible case that can be made from records as we have them for Cubbon's thesis that Myles Standish was born at Ellanbane, Isle of Man. But it would be false to say the fact is proven.
We can read the facts in such a way as to be quite consistent with that thesis. We can see that the configuration of the Manx Standishes is consistent with there having been-born a son in 1586 in circumstances which accord completely with the claims of Myles' will. But it is an argument ex silentio, and as such, however strong the likelihood, it must still await positive corroboration before the Myles of history can be identified with the Myles-shaped gap of genealogy.
REX KISSACK
The Adjudicator saw the value of the study as a contribution to the on-going debate on the origins of Myles Standish, and the strength of the case for associating him with Ellanbane in Lezayre, but it was a weakness that the study limited its research into evidences of the presence and composition of the Standish family to Lezayre, pre-eminent as that parish is in their story. Had every parish been reviewed the argument would have had the more weight. As it was, even in Lezayre a Philip Standish had been missed, featuring in 1626 in a complaint against the grandson-in-law of Gilbert Standish. Might he not have been the base-boy?
It was illustrative of how inconclusive still is the mystery of Myles, that at the IOM Family History Society Open Day on July 8th when the Award was made, the Society's trio of Standish-watchers, Barney Young, Nigel Crowe and the writer, putting their heads together identified a perplexing and imperfectly dated will, filed away among the Wills of 1627, as that of John Standish the Son, who (if Myles were of the family) would have been his father who had predeceased his own father, who died in 1602.
Vain was the hope that it might have named his children, but following up an allusion to a half quarterland in Bride, reference to the Liber. Vast. revealed that he had died on December 12th 1601, and a Setting Quest (of which patently old John the Father was present) awarded the succession to William Standish, 'entered as the onely sonne of John Standish, junior'. Yet the will of this same John the Father, dated June, 1602, speaks of 'John's towe sonnes'! [IMAGE Standish tree here]
The Family History Society has acquired several Microfiche copies of an Index to the Woods Atlas (1874). For those of you who own a copy of this long out-of-print publication, as well as a Microfiche reader, the index is a time-saving reference tool to be used in conjunction with the material published in Woods. To cover the cost of production and mailing, we need to receive £1.50 from purchasers in IOMUK; £3.00 (Airmail) to other parts of the world. This also brings up a further question: It has been suggested to us that we consider offering our publications in Microfiche edition as well as printed copies, for this would require less postage expense as well as taking up less room on your library shelves. However, to do so would require a considerable initial expense on our part and there is much uncertainty as to just how great the response would be. To help us in our decision, would those of our members who own or have access to Microfiche readers please advise us; also, whether you would actually purchase Microfiche copies if made available; and thirdly, do you prefer them in 24X or 48X magnification. Send your orders to:- Mr. Roger Christian, Treasurer, Isle of Man Family History Society, Croit-y-Keeil, Port Grenaugh, Santan, Isle of Man, British Isles
This is the first of a series of Historical Articles which we hope to be able to include from time to time. If there is a town, parish or occupation you would like to know more about please drop a line to Mr, and Mrs. Lewthwaite, who will be responsible for this section.
Articles to come in future issues will include one on Peel in the 19th century plus map, details of Tromode Sailcloth Mills, a village shop in Ballaugh in the 18th century and information on the Laxey and Foxdale Mines. For those that are writing about their ancestors lives we hope that they will help to give a fuller picture of their life and times.
[Map of Old Douglas here]
As Mr. Oates reminded the company, when they made their first pause in Bigwell Street, Douglas in not very old. In the year 1511 there were only about fifty houses, and they were clustered along the north side of the river and along the sea shore, which were destitute of any protection from stormy weather. There was a round stone fort, situated at the point of Fort street where it touched the sea. In1790, Colonel Townley paid a visit to the Island, and in his 'Journal' he refers to the town, but not to any particular part of it. It was too small for division. It was about 1800 when the houses and streets began to be named. Bigwell street takes its name from a popular well which existed there, the site of which may still be seen. Of course, at that time there was no general supply of water. There was a pipe leading down from the well to a house kept by a man named Reed, who dispensed water to the people at the rate of two bucketfuls for a penny. The better class of people were supplied by men who hawked it at two canfuls for a penny.
In Queen street there is a fine dwelling built in 1809 by a Colonel Carlton, which has a good Georgian porch. Quine's corner is so called from a public house which formerly stood there, and was kept by a man named Sam Quine. Thornhill, between Barrack street and Shaw's Brow, is a congeries of little dwellings, to which access is had by means of several flights of steps. The district is known by the names of 'Little Ireland' and 'Little Hell'. An interesting explanation was given of the name Barrack street and the presence of these little houses. Originally the high land around was a green brow, partly covered by gorse. Here women went to spread their clothes to dry, and boys scouted round with dogs for rabbits. Later, military barracks were built pretty much on the site of the present Hanover Street Schools. The officers had good houses with gardens around them, and the soldiers were quartered in the little dwellings near by. Beside one of the shops in Barrack Street there is a passage leading into a courtyard and to a cluster of houses behind, of which nobody would suspect the existence. In Hanover Street the party paused to inspect the old 'Brig', a fine house of the olden time. About 1830 it is said to have been inhabited by Bishop Murray and his family. The Cattle Market, just opposite, is reported to be the site of an ancient church which existed long before St. Matthew's. In excavations, human bones have been disinterred. In Mr. Oates' opinion, this church was dedicated to St. Martin, the patron saint of the Parish of Conchan, because a lane leading from the quay towards this site was in the beginning of the last century called St. Martin's Lane.
There is a deed recording that this old church of St. Martin was exchanged for a cellar in the Market Place where the old St. Matthew's church was built in the year 1711.
In Ridgway street the party were shown the tablet on the Municipal Library marking the site of the house in Lord street where Professor Edward Forbes, the greatest naturalist of his time, had been born. From this point, the very large party proceeded to Muckle's Gate, leading off the Market Hill, and forming an access to a quaint maze of twisting lanes and old fashioned little dwellings. The name Muckle's Gate is derived from the Norse Muckle Gata, the great gate. It was the entrance to the town proper in the days when the houses crept alongside the river bank. A large house on the left is said to have been the first house that the Duke of Athol lived in when he came to Mann. It was then a house of some consequence.
The market place at Douglas is an ancient one, and the business done there, even within living memory, was much greater than it is today. Some sixty or seventy farmers' wives and their daughters here displayed tbeir butter, eggs and poultry.
The fruiterers occupied the quay front, and the butchers and fisher folk were alongside.
On market days, iron stakes were placed at the end of the streets to prevent carts driving through the throng, Saint Matthew's church, with its quaint steeple, was the chief object to this lively scene. The Douglas Hotel is believed to have been built by the first Duke of Atholl for his residence prior to the building of castle Mona, which was completed in the year 1803. When the Duke of Athol left it, it was taken over as the Custom House, and the quay was called Custom House Quay. William Scott was the collector of customs for that period. An Edward Scott also resided in the town for a short period.
He was a brother of Sir Walter Scott, and supplied him with the local lore displayed by the eminent novelist in 'Peveril of the Peak'. Alongside the custom House was Quiggin's well-known printing office, in the works of which Train's History was printed. It was afterwards carried on by Matthew Glover until the year 1876. It is noteworthy that the Douglas Hotel is the only property left in Douglas which pays Lords' rent £6 3s 0d, a year. Underneath the hotel are underground passages, which lead right out to the quayside and which may have been associated with smuggling exploits. Market Hill and Duke Street abounded with communicating cellars for the storage of brandy, rum, silks etc. It should be borne in mind that there was no such thing as smuggling into the Isle of Man. The import duties charged were very light; but there was very considerable smuggling out of the Island to near-by ports on the English and Scottish shores. The smuggling business was introduced and organised by clever but mercenary people, who came to the Island, chiefly from Liverpool and Cumberland and enlisted the services of Manx fishermen and sailors. We in the Island were a 'foreign country', and our vessels could not be touched within three miles off a foreign shore; and no English revenue cutters could come within three miles of the Port of Douglas.
The site of the ancient seat of learning in the town, the old Grammar School, in New Bond Street was of great interest. It was here, in 1736, that the Rev. Philip Moore, the ablest and most revered clergyman the Island has known taught the best scholars of his day. These included the Rev. Dr. Kelly, the author of the Manx Grammar, and the Rev. William Fitzsimmons who wrote a very considerable history of the Island up to the year 1800, which has not yet been printed. It is said that Philip Moore educated all but four of the Manx clergy of his next generation. He was a great friend and associate of Bishop Wilson, and preached his funeral sermon.
Mr. Oates also reminded them that the Rev. Robert Brown, the father of the great Manx poet, was master of the Grammar School in 1817, and lived in New Bond Street before he went to Braddan.
The 'Step Down' public house in New Bond Street was once a post office, and is pictured in the screen story of 'Darby and Joan' by Hall Caine. People walking from Laxey along the shore to Douglas were accustomed to put their shoes on at this point.
In Fort Street there is the site of the first Isle of Man Hospital and Dispensary.
The old Douglas Town Hall is now the custom House. In Spittall's Court, a poor little alley, the father of the later Major Spittall lived, and built up a big merchant's business. Mr. H.B. Noble came here from Cumberland and served his time to the shipbuilding and wine and spirit trades, so that two big fortunes had their beginning here.
In St. Barnabas' Square, Mr. Quirk, a former High Bailiff of Douglas, had his residence.
There is a fine arched cellar under the house. It was a district much favoured by the doctors and gentry. Proceeding to the North Quay, the old Steam Packet Office was pointed out. The Royal Hotel was owned and occupied by the Bacon family previous to their removal to Santan. Woodhouse Terrace, on the opposite side of the harbour, was a notable locality. Lady Bessborough lived there: she was a particular friend of Lord Byron.
Mr. James Holme, the banker, and Dr. Burman also lived there. At 'Blore's corner' was noticed the milestone from which all distances from Douglas along the main roads are measured.
The building now known as the Rocket Station was erected about 1797 and is part of the old court House of Douglas. Afterwards, in 1846, the Government purchased the Oddfellows' Hall in Athol street, which has remained the court House to the present day.
The Red Pier is so named from the colour of the Runcorn sandstone, of which it is mainly composed. The first stone was laid by the Duke of Athol in 1793, and seven years afterwards the pier was opened. The cost was £22,000 and this sum was provided by the British Government which had for a long while wrongfully annexed the Manx revenues.
In 1800, there came to the Island from Dublin, that curious character 'Buck Whaley' who built Fort Anne. He was a great gambler and a boon companion of King George IV.
Fort Anne was occupied afterwards by Sir William Hilary, who was instrumental in founding the Lifeboat Institution and also erecting the Tower on Conister Rock. Harold Tower was another worthy building on the Douglas Head side of the harbour.
A well known family, the Wilsons, who were the chief drapers in the town, lived there. There were three handsome and accomplished daughters. One married James Spittall, another John Martin, the painter of 'The Plains of Heaven' and the other Edward Corbould, the Art Tutor of the late Queen Victoria's family. As the afternoon was well advanced, the party made their way towards the Nunnery, where there was a reception of the Society by Mr. Leigh Goldie-Taubman, M.L.C.
On the route they examined the remains of an old bridge which crossed the stream not far below the Nunnery Mill, and which existed down to the end of the 18th century. The remains of the buttresses can be seen projecting from the old wall at the road side.
PRISCILLA LEWTHWAITE
Taken from the I O M Natural History and Antiquarian Society Publication of 1917.
With the passing of years the writer of the history of the life of my father and mother, William Robert Watterson and Eliza Jane Wills.
I wish to pay a loving tribute to them. My father was a Manxman born at a town know as Peel, Isle of Man, situated in the Irish Sea. His father in those days owned and controlled a fleet of trading sailing boats. My father was the youngest child in the family; he grew to school age and received sound education in his home school. He studied to become a schoolteacher, also as a Church of England Minister.
He also learned a very useful trade known as "Sail Maker", which was a very useful trade in those times. At the age of 21, he sailed for Australia as a member of a team of athletes from England and held records for running prior to landing in Sydney. Whilst on the boat coming out here, he injured his ankle, thus putting an end to his sporting career. He was under the impresnsion that gold could be picked up in the streets of Sydney, but soon found out that it was not so. Immediately afterwards, he and his mate made their way to Bathurst, where they were informed that gold could be had for the digging. They spent some little time there, found very little gold for their labours and eventually carried their swags to Charters Towers, a mining area in North Queensland. They set out on this venture and eventually completed their trip on foot. They were advised by the local miners that the gold was plentiful; "You put a hole down and rich gold could be had". So my father and his mate set to work, but they discovered that their labours were once again in vain.
They made their way back to Forest Reefs near Millthorpe where gold-mining operations were in full swing. My father and two other men decided to try their luck. With picks and shovels, they dug a big hole, landing dirt to the surface with a big bucket attached to a windlass operated by a man on the top. They worked for weeks in anticipation to strike gold, but again their labours proved once again to be in vain. The result was a big disappointment to those three men, because other work and money was practically nil. In those times, gold was only worth £2.17.6d an ounce, and wages were low, only a few bob a week. It was while he was living in Forest Reefs, he met Eliza Jane Mills (my mother). Her father and mother came out fromCornwall in earlier years, and they also followed up the mining as well.
They were eventually married at Orange in the year 1880. My mother was born at Forbes in the Year 1862. My mother's father was athletic, a very strong professional Cornish Wrestler. In his day he won more at the game than lost. After the marriage of my father and mother, he followed the diggings in many areas including Forest Reef, Trunkey, Tuena, Browns Creek, Callemont and Cadia. His main position at some of those centres was Engine Driver at the big mines. When he worked at Cadia, he was shift boss at the copper Mine. In early 1900, the mine closed down.Whilst working at Cadia, he studied geology specialising in Gold Quartz. Afterwards, he changed his interest to farming and both my parents bought a small property near Forest Reefs and named it "Glen Mona". For many years they carried on their farming pursuits on this property. The writer, his brother and sister Effie attended the Beneree Public School. During those years, Bill Webster was the teacher, and it was under his strict methods of conduct, we learnt to mind our P's and Q's the hard way. It was in 1921when my parents sold "Glen Mona" and purchased a 39.5 acres of mixed farming 12 miles down the road and the family was immediately shifted onto this property known as "West Ewowanbang"; by this time Bob was only 18 years old. I was only 14 and from the very start we learned to labour. In those days we worked from dawn to after dark, 6 days a week, receiving no wages whatsoever, but as the years went by, we came to realise that our labours proved to be well worth while.
Our mother passed away at West Ewowanbang on August 26th 1925, at the age of 62 after a long illness. A very wonderful and loving mother. Her death was deeply felt by all her family. In 1930 my father departed this life at the age of 74. Both my parents were buried at Milthorpe. My mothers enlarged photograph may be seen at the Milthorpe Museum.
My brother Bob passed away December 18th 1969 at the age of 67. His son Allen Watterson now owns and lives on the property at Forest Reefs. Bill left the Forest Reefs district in 1937; he married Miss Eva Ivey Hicks at the Methodist church, Orange, on July 10th, 1937; there are three children, one son and two daughters. Wilfred Robert Bruce, Liley Ellen Wykes, Marjorie Ann Holton; they are all married with teenage families.
The writer is now 73 years old. born in 1906 and is retired living at Dubbo. There were 12 children of the original Watterson family, 6 boys and 6 girls; only a small percentage survived.
In conclusion, the writer has endeavoured to relate some of the family history which dates back to the year of 1856. by Wilfred Reginald Watterson August 22nd, 1979 Source: Edna Rose Watterson, P.O. Box 638, Gunnedah, New South Vales, Australia
Could the ancestor you have been unable to find have been a resident of the Douglas Industrial Home for children?
The Douglas Home Mission was started in December 1868, it was first instituted with a view of aiding the large number of destitute children, who were without parents, relatives or friends and needed help with regard to their food, clothing, lodging and education.
The Home was first situated in James Street, Douglas but in May 1869 they moved to larger premises in Woodhouse Terrace on the South Quay, at this time they had 22 children between the ages of 6 to 14 years. By May 1870 they needed to move again and took Mountain View on Glencrutchery Road for an annual rent of £40.
For many years the Home was cared for by Mr. David Russell who was the Manager and Agent of the Home Mission which in 1871 was united with the Industrial Home. By this time there were 40 children in need of their care, 7 boys and 33 girls. When the children were brought to the Home, a form had to be signed by the parent or guardian agreeing to give up all claim to them and not to interfere with their upbringing in anyway.
Once in the Home the children had to work as well as have lessons, a tailor was employed once a week to teach the boys to mend their clothes, they also manufactured paper bags, hearth rugs and firelighters for sale. Over 16 acres of land were worked as a kitchen garden. Some of the boys worked as errand boys and as market porters on a Saturday night.
When they were old enough the boys would be apprenticed, they would then live in their Master's house, who would feed, clothe and train them for their future occupation.
Many appeals were launched to help support the Home, churches, sunday schools and many prominent citizens gave money and goods to keep the Home going. William Dalrymple was President for many years and he and his nephew Dalrymple Maitland and their families gave continuous support over many years. William gave the beef (531 lbs) for christmas dinner, as well as providing money and clothes. The Maitlands even gave a pony and cart for the managers use.
The children commenced their day at 6.00 a.m. when they were given a small piece of bread they would then attend lessons and prayers unti1 8.30 when they would stop for breakfast, which would consist of porridge and milk. They were then allowed a little time to brush their clothes, clean their shoes and have a short play.
It was then work again until lunch which might consist of boiled rice or Irish stew (made with potatoes and meat). Then once more to work, followed by more lessons until time for tea at 5,15. Tea if they were lucky might be herring and bread, or just bread and butter, with tea, milk and sugar. After tea the children would be allowed to play in the grounds, read or amuse themselves with toys until their evening prayers and Bible lesson before going to bed. Each child daily learnt to read and repeat from memory a text from the Bible.
Children were trained and then either emigrated or put to service locally. Over 270 were sent to Canada by 1896, some were adopted by families out there but some were used as slaves and made to work all hours on farms. A few children were sent to New Zealand and Australia, most people found that the system of the children emigrating was an advantage to get them away from their old surroundings.
Although the Home was started for the children of Douglas, a large number of the children came from all parts of the Island. I have found while doing this research that many of the children in the home were not baptised at birth, a number of them were Roman Catholics - 8 in 1878, some of the parents had been sentenced for some small crime and were in Castle Rushen Gaol.
I have now traced over 100 names of children who had been brought up in the Home, if you think that your ancestor was amongst them please drop me a line and I will search my records and see if I can find out more about them.
P.M. LEWTHWAITE
Records compiled from the annual reports of the Home, newspapers, census records, charity reports and court cases. Records for children in the House of Industry for the earlier part of the century and records of paupers are still being compiled but number many hundreds of names.
FARGHER, Phillip Thomas:
aged 3 years, emigrated to New Zealand with his parent:
John Fargher and Dinah Jane Quayle; died 3rd August, 1956 aged 85
years.
source:
Mrs. Lyn R. Bennett, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
FARGHER, Catherine Ann:
wife of William, died at Anaconda, U.S.A. 10th March 1891, aged 28
years.
Source:
M.I. (207), New Kirk Patrick cemetery
FAYLE (S), Daniel:
born in March 1831at Ballaugh Isle of Man; 2nd son of Thomas Fayle
(born 1800 in Braddan) and Ann Sayle (born 1804 in Andreas); they
were married at Andreas in 1828 snd emigrated to the U.S.A. in
1837.
They settled in Albany, New York, along with Ann's fathers older
brother, Charles Sayle(s). The Fayle family appears an FELL in the
Manx church records and, in the U.S.A. was called FAIL in 1840 and
FAYALL in 1850. The form FAYLES was used in the 1860 census and has
continued that way. Daniel Fayles married Ann Brainend in Albany in
1859 and is buried in the Albany Rural Cemetery in a plot shared by
the Fayles and Sayles families.
Source:
Mr. R. Russell Fayles, Moorestown, New Jersey, U.S.A.
FARAGHER, Robert A.:
aged 70, died at Ann Maria, Florida, where he had spent his winters
after retiring from his employment with Iron Fireman. Born in
Liverpool. England, he was reared in the Isle of Man, and came to the
United States when he was 28. In 1922 he married Alice Kermode and
she survives him along with two daughters, Mrs. Ruth Thormann and
Mrs. Eileen Fabel and two brothers, James of North Olmsted, Ohio and
Harry of Nashville, Tennissee.
Source:
Bulletin of the North American Manx Association, Vol. 38 No. 3, March
1965
FARAGHER Edwin:
"Killed on Air Training" "South African Manxman" Mr and Mrs Edwin
Faragher of Maraisburg, Transvaal, have been informed that their
youngest son had been killed while training in the South African Air
Force.
The accident took place at Roberts' Height, near Pretoria. The lad
was only 20 years old. Mr. and Mrs. Faragher emigrated about 30 years
ago, and have been active members of the Johannesburg Manx
Society.
Mr. Faragher belongs to Colby, and Mrs. Faragher's father, the late
Mr. Costain, mason, was well known in Castletown.
Source:
Ramsey courier dated 2nd May, 1941
FARAGHER Dan T :
aged 76, passed away February 14th 1965. He is survived by his wife
Jennie Taggart, and four sons, Dale and David of Kewanee, Illinois,
Morris of Pekin, Illinois, and Dean of Freeport, Illinois. Mr.
Faragher came to Galva area when a young man and had been a farmer
all his life. His parents, Henry and Sarah Craine Fargher, two
brothers and a sister preceded him in death. Four sisters residing in
the Isle of Man also survive.
Source:
Bulletin of the North American Manx Association, Vol. 38, No. 3,
March1965.
FARAGHER, Alice M. nee Kermode:
passed away on December 18th 1973 at her home after a long illness,
although born and raised in Cleveland, the late Mrs. Faragher had a
lifetime interest in all things Manx. She and her late husband
Robert, visited the Isle of Man in 1937 with the Homecomers, this was
the highlight of a lifetime visiting many cousins, such as the
Kermodes, Crellins, Pickards and Irvings, who still reside there. The
late Mrs. Faragher is survived by two daughters, Mrs Robert Thormann
(Ruth); and Mrs. Thomas Fabel (Eileen); and two sisters, Mrs. Belle
Stables and Mrs Esther Taylor; one brother Raby Kermode. Three
brothers, Allan, William and Fred and a sister Fenella Kermode
predeceased her.
Source:
Bulletin of the North American Manx Association, Vol. 47, No. 3,
March 1974.
ROGER CHRISTIAN
Strays co-ordinator and Treasurer
Many thanks to Malcolm Lord for scanning in this issue
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