Isle of Man Family History Society Journal Vol 12 No 2 May 1990

• Pension Lists for Douglas
• Expenses of having a baby (1809)
• Presentments (record of fathers of illegitimate children)
• " How we get involved " (missing marriage James Craine = Margaret Cowley German 1843)
• Another Missing Marriage (Southward = Stevenson Channel Island marriage)
• Problem Solved (Cornish/Cummings)
• Passenger and Immigration Index USA
• Stevenson's Cottage
• The "Town Clark" (Charlie Watterson, Castletown)
• Mary Ann McConochie (Walsh)
• The Poor Children's Free Breakfast Room
• Diamonds (J.H.Tomlin)
• The Douglas Poor House
• Douglas House of Industry
• How Early Manx Families migrated from Brimfield to Galva (USA)
• From the Royal Australian Historical Society ("Eagle & Child" + Moughtin Fam Tree)
• Petitions and Conveyances as Genealogical Sources
• Curious Facts (Lonan Church Reg 1839-45)

REVIEW OF "TWAS THUS AND THUS THEY LIVED "

by Margaret Kelly

These words of T.E. Brown are a title for Margaret Kelly's new book, produced by the Nelson Press at £9.50. Primarily it is a Family History book in that its theme is the Kelly family of Ballavitchel, Marown But it is also a social history study of 19th century Manx life presented through the actual diaries and lecture texts of an Island farming family. Quite one third of its pages reproduce these. It is also a church-history book about Methodist personalities from Wesley's time onward. And it is a handbook for others with an urge to exploit similar rich veins of personal archives and present to posterity their treasures.

The whole miscellany is held together by the unique personality of the authoress, whose bright and witty style leads the reader through the mazes of a detective story among parish registers, wills, written and nuncupatory, and other public records in the Island's archives, to emerge at the end, as from a holiday into the past, full of new insights into what a past century felt and looked like. Richly illustrated by photographs and facsimiles of past documents, the whole book is time to its title and worthily carrying the imprimatur of the Manx Heritage Foundation, it radiates humanity.

Rex Kissack

TYNWALD CELEBRATION "DOWN UNDER "

by Val Lawrence

The Victorian Manx Association members gathered together with their customary enthusiasm to celebrate Tynwald 1989; on Sunday July 2nd. As ever, the ladies catering was superb and waistlines were considerably longer at the end of the day.

This year's "hat" contained a "rabbit" of immense salient [sic talent ?]. Somehow, each year, some Bright Star attends and is invited to entertain. This time it was 93 years old James Gawne, hale and hearty, a pianist and organist of great talent. He has performed in Carnegie Hall, New York, and Royal Albert Hall in London; during a long professional career; but, on this day, he was ours. The nimble fingers gave us the Manx National Anthem, then a musical tour around Europe, with a dash of some great composers. James, Australian born, is the son of a Peel family.

Then came the A.G.M. with proof that we are in good financial shape. Ramsey's famous son, George Clarke, was reselected president and all other office bearers were returned for another year. Jack Callow was welcomed to committee to replace Neil Kewley. Jack's family came from Dreemskerry in Maughold. President George and Secretary Tom Corlett (of Castletown) will be visiting their homeland soon, and will happily offer hospitality to any Manx travellers in Victoria or new emigrants. They can be contacted in Victoria on 03-8485115.

Tim Corlett

PENSION LISTS FOR DOUGLAS

The Manx Advertiser for 1818 and 1822 contains a list of the Poor of Douglas who received either a weekly or monthly pension. A small extract is listed below, if you suspect that your ancestors may have featured in such lists see the offer in COLLECTORS CORNER on page 72.

[fpc note this confuses the two separate reports]

The following 10 people were housed in the Poor House:

Catherine Quay and her daughter Betty, Ann Kelly a cripple and an idiot, Susan Christian, very old and infirm, has no friends, John Kinrade age 84 yrs, very infirm and Thomas Collister who required assistance from periodical insanity. The remaining 4 were children, Charles Moore age 9 years the son of Elinor Kewley, the wife of a porter on the Quay, James Tear an orphan age l0 yes, Harriet Wake an orphan aged 5 years and Solomen Gibson 4 years old the mother at service in Liverpool and totally incapable of assisting the child.

People who needed housing were:- Ann Shimmin, John Kelly from Cronk Dhoo, Greeba age 84 yrs. (had a brother alive) and Jane Kelly his wife. Arthur Cowl aged 75, lame, a weaver had been in regular employment at Mr. Moore's factory until it closed.

EXPENSES OF HAVING A BABY

Margaret Teare of Kirk Bride claims against James Brew of Andreas the father of her child at the Chapter Court at Lezayre on 2nd June 1809.

The claim is fat the lying in expenses of Margaret. 1809

4 Quarts of Rum? Was this for the midwife, nurse or poor Margaret!

PRESENTMENTS

These appear in the Chapter Court records of offenders and can be of help when a baptism record does not give the name of the father when an illegitimate child was baptised. The mother when presented at Court, in addition to paying a fine and performing a penance, was ordered to declare the name of the father.

An illegitimate child may be baptised under the mothers surname but brought up with the fathers surname, which makes it very hard when searching for a baptism. If in the census records you have a good idea of the year of birth and parish but are unable to find a baptism it is quite possible that your ancestor was illegitimate and it is always worthwhile to check the church court records.

Unfortunately these are not yet available on microfilm and many are becoming too fragile to handle. Underneath I have listed some mothers who were presented for the years 1808 to 1811 with the name of the father of their child alongside.

SMALL SAMPLE OF PRESENTMENTS

Year Mothers Name Parish Fathers Name Parish
1808 CATH COLLISTER Lonan WM. KELLY Lonan
ELIZ. CARRAN St. Matthew's JOHN CANNON Fencible
ELIZ. GELLING St. George's JOHN QUILLIAM

LUCY MATHEWS " " HENRY SAVAGE
ELINOR KISSACK Onchan WM. TAGGART
formerly of Braddan now off the Isle
MARGT. TAGGART Onchan THOS. QUINE

ELIZ. CROUGHAN St.
Matthew's WM. CLAGUE of Douglas

JANE CORKILL Douglas CEASAR CRETNEY Douglas
ANN CORKILL JOHN MOORE Arbory
JANE CAGHERTY Malew THOS. BRIDSON
CATH TAYLOR Rushen THOS. CORTEEN
CATH KEGGAN " RICHARD KELLY
JANE LOONEY Maughold EWAN CALEY Lezayre
ANN CORLETT Ramsey WM. CRAINE formerly of Ramsey now off the Isle
1809 ELIZ. CORLETT Lonan THOS KEANEY Lezayre
ISABEL HOGG " JOHN QUINE
NORAH COLVIN Marown DANIEL LACE now of Onchan
ESTHER CALLIN " WM. SHIMMIN
1810 MARGARET SKILLICORN Lonan JOHN SKILLICORN
ELIZ. GAWNE Braddan JOHN FREER
CHRISTIAN BELL Douglas DANIEL CHRISTIAN
ANN KNEEN Douglas WM. GARSIDE
MARGT. SKILLICORN Braddan JOHN CURPHEY Douglas
CATH. KINLEY Lonan JOHN CHRISTIAN Ramsey
ELIZ. KEY Braddan WM. FELL
CATH DARCY Braddan WM. KENLEY Douglas
ELINOR GARDNER Douglas WM. TEAR Deceased
ELIZ. GELLING Marown JOHN FREER Braddan
MARGT. MURRAY Maughold WM. KENNAUGH K. German
MARY COSTEAN CHARLES CALLOW Junior of Maughold
1811 ISABELLA QUINE Onchan ROBERT QUANE
ELIZ CARRAN Douglas THOS CANNELL
ELIZ GELLING Braddan
ESTHER MYLREA Marown JOHN KELLY
JANE LOONEY Maughold ROBERT LOGAN
MARGT. MADDRELL Malew ROBERT CLAGUE Braddan
MARY TAYLOR Rushen JOHN KERMOD
ISABEL QUAY Maughold WM. MITCHELL HILL
JANE TEARE Andreas WM. STOWELL Maughold
ANN CORLETT Ramsey HENRY NANTES

"HOW WE GET INVOLVED" OR "WHAT ITS- ALL ABOUT "

Gaps in marriages - German Parish Records (on microfilm)

Nos. 382 (381 10 Oct 1843) 6 GAPS No. 384*
387 (388 30 Nov 1843)
Nos. 399 (398 25 Apr 1844) 11 GAPS
409 (410 8 Aug 1844)
Nos. 421 (420 2 Feb 1845) 5 GAPS
425 (426 17 May 1845)

TOTAL 22 MARRIAGES MISSING

* No. 384 28 Oct 1843 - Found on examination of original Parish records(6 Nov 1989 by Mrs. I. Harrison of Peel)

JAMES CRAINE
bp. 20 Aug 1815
Braddan
(Bachelor of this Parish)

married MARGARET COWLEY
bp. 24 Oct 1813
German
(Spinster of this Parish)

Witnesses:- Philip Clucas, Clerk of the Parish and James Kermode

MARGARET COWLEY was actually a WIDOW. She had married PHILIP CRELLIN 18th July 1835 in Patrick. Philip Crellin died (or was buried) 18 Nov 1842 aged 28 yrs. in German. They had 3 children - James Crellin bp. 21 Oct 1838,German. Ann bp. 10 Jan 1841 - German. (1890 was informant of Margaret's death - Mrs. Annie Corris of Church St. Peel). Philip bp. 9 April 1843- German. Born after his father's death.

JAMES CRAINE & MARGARET went on to have 8 children. (One of whom was my gt. grandfather - Thomas Craine). Both of Margaret's families seem to have lived together quite happily (we'll never know exact details but this seemed to be the case).

JAMES CRAINE died in 1906 aged 91 yrs. He died of "Senile Decay" or "Old Age" (take your pick). He was strictly teetotal till the age of 70. Then he discovered the pub - The Ballacraine - he owned a pony and trap. When it was "time" the pony knowing the way would gently take him home to nearby Ballachurry. (This story was provided by J. Robert Lewney of Bristol another of James's Gt. Gt. Grandchildren).

ROBERT LEWNEY appealed in the Journal for any information about this "missing" marriage. At that time we (that is my cousin, Norma Cowell and myself) could only commiserate and swap information. We learned a lot about each other's families - especially about emigration to America. After 2 visits to the Island by Robert we are now firm friends.

Robert has a cousin living in Montana, U.S.A. Her son travels 450 miles to Salt Lake City to look at Mormon records. He has to book 3 weeks in advance to look at indices - then wait 4-5 weeks for parish details (and I think Noreen Cotier's Little Haven in Peel is a major excursion - Well it is from Laxey).

They - that is Robert and his relations in America - have spent 4 yrs. searching for a record of this "missing marriage" all over the IOM, England and Scotland. It was our Xmas present to them.

David Christian, 3 Minorca Hill, Laxey

ANOTHER MISSING MARRIAGE!

Extract from the Register of Marriages

St. Pierre du Birs, Guernsey

Francis Southward, son of Thomas Charles, of Sulby Mills, Isle of Man and Sarah Jane Stephenson, daughter of William of Laxey, Isle of man were married together the 25th February 1880 by me.

C. Brock M.A. Rector

February 25th 1880

Francis Southward b.1836 was married to Maria Lousia Stephenson b.1845 his first cousin on 24th December 1863, she died in 1870 and Francis then married her sister Sarah Jane, which of course at that time was against the law. So Francis and Sarah travelled to Guernsey in the Channel Isles to get married- quite a journey in 1880!

It was Francis Southward who took the photographs in the "Southward" collection in the Manx Museum.

Sent in by Richard Cowley of K. Michael
Francis was his Grandmother's Uncle

Francis Southward and Sarah Jane Stephenson his wife, with their 3 children Edwin, Frank (died in Canada) and Elsi Winifred died 1965 in Ramsey. Taken circa 1905

Has anyone else come across a marriage of Manx residents in the Channel Isles, maybe they had also something to hide.

PROBLEM SOLVED

My grandmother, Beesie Mary Vague Tolley, died when my Dad was only 2. Grandpa remarried to Elizabeth James Clark, a widow and second cousin to Bessie. So I grew up with a step-grandmother and knew very little about Bessie's family. In later years I began to research my family and came up against a wall of legends and misinformation. I knew more about my step grandmother's family than my own. Fortunately I am not a one name addict and I researched every line (including my step grandmothers) as it was " breaking ". I must admit to giving up quite often on this one.

I knew that Bessie's mother, Catherine "Jennie" Cummings came to this country as a "babe in arms " or "age 3". That her father was a " mailman on a railroad and died in an accident before she was born ". That she was " raised by the Faragahers". That her father was William Cummings (she named a son after him) and her mother Ellen. Also that she had a brother William, a sister Christine who married a Linder and lived in Washington, D.C., and sisters Bess and Belle. Now with that to go on you would think I could just jump into the microfiche and find them all.

I tried to find them in Iowa Co., Wisconsin, where Jennie was married and Bessie was born. Her husband lived in Linden at the time of their marriage. This is a well known Manx enclave. I had heard that " Ellen had died in Lincoln ". I come from South Dakota and the only Lincoln I knew of was in Nebraska. Although none of the family had lived near there I gave it a try. No Ellen Cummings. But maybe she had remarried? I then made a rash judgement and decided it was Linden (Iowa Co., Wisconsin). And right there in the cemetery I found an Ellen Skillicorn, just the right age for my Ellen And the Skillicorns and Faraghers were "cousins". That was the only evidence and it was flimsy. But I was getting desperate. My search through the IGI could not come up with any Cumings that had even been born in the IOM. And the family was adamant about that.

One day I was again back searching the microfiche. In my desperation I took another tack. Something I should have thought of much sooner. I knew that Elizabeth James and Bessie Vague were second cousins. Elizabeth's mother was Elizabeth Leece, born IOM. And Bessie's mother was Jennie Cummings, born IOM. Because the family knew more about the James family than the Vague I knew that Elizabeth Leece's parents were John and Catherine Leece. But I did not know who were brothers and sisters on that level. Was Ellena Leece or Catherine a Cummings? So I checked out the marriage of John and Catherine Leece. (I even knew their children's birth dates in IOM!)There was John Leece who married Catherine Comish! Wrong name but who cared, remember my desperation. I quickly looked up the Comish names for Catherine and found she had a brother William! Who married Eleanor Kneale! And there were all their children, born in Castletown and the last one was Catherine Jane, born about 4 months earlier than I had been told. But the other children fit in. I quickly sent for the 1851 census and the Arbory parish records. They took forever to get here, but there was the Comish family and it was almost perfect for me. William was a butcher and did indeed die in April of 1851, but I could never find any of the family in this country so did not really feel sure I had the right one.

Finally I decided to go at it in a roundabout way again. I wanted to find out if any of the family (hopefully not Catherine Jane) stayed on the IOM. I had finally found Jennie as Jane Cornish with the William Faragher family in Wisconsin in 1860. I wrote to the Family History Society asking for help and my letter was printed in February 1989. Imagine my excitement when I got a letter from Albuquerque, New Mexico, from my cousin, and she knew all about the family. Her ancestor was Isabella, a sister to my Jennie, their father did die in an accident so I will now try to find the newspapers of that day and see if it warranted a story. The rest of the family had stayed on the Isle of Man for many years and then came to America, with a stopover in Liverpool. Not to Wisconsin but to New Jersey! The last place I would have looked. The first one who came over changed the name to Cummings and they all followed suit. I do not know the Manx language or accent but I surmise the name sounded like Cornish and then Cummins and so it goes. It certainly makes it hard for the researcher. The rest of the family then went to (you guessed it) Lincoln, Nebraska. Where Ellen is indeed buried.

So never give up after trying the conventional ways. Go in the back door if that is what works, and never give up, as this took me over 20 years to resolve to my satisfaction. I must admit to researching the Comish ancestry even though I was not positive it was mine, I was fortunate to visit the IOM and visited Arbory and Castletown. I hope to come again soon. If there is anyone on the Island who is related I would love to hear from them. I have bought every book I can find on the Isle of Man to learn more about the Island's customs and history. But I can always use more.

Thanks again for your help.

by Evelyn Tolley Buckingham

PASSENGER AND IMMIGRATION INDEX U.S.A.

Name Age Place-of Arrival Year

Adam CROWE 19 yrs Virginia 1634
Andrew CROWE - Philadelphia 1832
Benjamin CROWE - Barbadoes 1685
Daniel CROWE - America 1738
Elishua Mrs. CROWE - Boston Mass. 1633
Elizabeth CROWE - Pennyslvania 1773
Ellen CROWE 40 Boston 1849
James CROWE - Philadelphia 1875
James CROWE - " 1878
John CROWE - Charles town 1620-50
Martin CROWE 10 Boston 1850
Mary CROWE 10 " 1850
Robert CROWE - Barbadoes 1654-63
Thomas H. CROWE - Philadelphia 1635
Richard CLAGUE 22 New Orleans 1822
Richard CORK 45 _Charlestown 1822
Ann CORK 2 New York 1823 and 5 children
George CORK - Jamaica 1685
James CORRINS - New London Con 1811
Geo KISSACK - Philadelphia 1848
John KISSACK - " 1805
Edmund QUAYLE - Barbadoes 1684
Henry QUAYLE - Phila PA 1870
Jho QUAYLE - Virginia 1650
William QUAYLE - Phila PA 1828
Richard QUAYLES - Virginia 1639

Stevenson's Cottage

tbd ...

THE "TOWN CLARK"

Charlie Watterson did not so much serve as reign over old Ballacashtal for thirty five years and through two world wars, from 1910 to 1945.

Charlie was all things to all people. Loving and generous, straight as a die, and yet a boss in the old fashioned sense who could curse like a trooper, did not hesitate to tell each and every ratepayer what he thought of them and was moral, upright and strict in the old puritanical sense.

He was never referred to as the ‘Clerk to the Commissioners"; he was the "Town Clark", with an ‘a’ and as such was so well known that a brace of game, sent to him from the north of Scotland and addressed - The Town Clark, Isle of Man - was received by him within a few days of posting.

A joiner by trade, seaman by inclination, he had as a very young man captained his father’s cargo boats, small sailers which plied from the island to the English, Scots and Irish Ports around the Irish Sea.

Charlie did not so much walk as roll along the streets of the town. He was rotund, with the cherubic face of Santa Claus, and when he smiled it was with a wonderful crinkly sort of a smile which illuminated his entire face.

Every man, woman and child in the town knew Charlie Watterson, the Town Clark, and he knew personally everyone in the town and he could sit himself down and write out the voters list from memory.

As a small boy he had sat at the paternal table and listened enthralled as the Manx Poet and Philosopher, the Rev. T.E. Brown, read to his father, Captain Charles Watterson, his latest essay into the Manx dialect and undoubtedly Brown’s ‘Fo'csle Yarns’ owed much to information gleaned from Captain Watterson.

Charlie had a strong taste for the Drama and for a number of years was a member of an amateur group which put on Manx Plays in Church Halls etc., throughout the Island. He had an exceptionally good memory and the learning of his part quite an easy chore; he could recite the whole of T.E. Brown’s Fo'csle Yarns and most of his other works and should there be some kind of interruption in the smooth flow of a play Charlie could fill in with poetry from the Manx Master.

He had been educated at the old Castletown Grammar School, which at that time produced many of the island’s finest scholar~s and never tired of talking of his schooldays, his contemporaries, and the old schoolmasters.

The Grammar School had been originally the old Chapel of St. Mary’s and the Chapel Lane Area, the oldest part of the town, was very different in his schooldays to what it is today. It had at one time been the residential part of the town with several fine houses, including St. Nicholas and the Reverend Parsons House but by Charlie’s youth St. Nicholas had been converted into a girls private school and several of the larger houses, including the Rev. Parson’s old home had been converted into alms houses. The area was in time to decline further and eventually, prior to clearance, was to become the town’s shambles with no less than three slaughter houses.

Listening to Charlie talking of the days of his youth was akin to the experience one would expect if it were possible to be transported back to a byegone age.

He grew up in the days when the horse and cart were the only means of transport, apart from that new invention the railway which was still such a novelty that a considerable part of the town’s population turned up at the Railway Station to meet the last train through at night, and Cowell and Taggart still operated a horse drawn stage coach from Castletown to Douglas.

Charlie would talk about the hustle and bustle on the Market Square on Market Day when farmers and their wives from the whole of the South of the Island would bring produce to sell from their stiff carts or from stalls in the old "Buttery", the~ building now occupied by Barclays Bank.

The fishing was still a major industry and when the fleet was lying to in Castletown Harbour it was possible to get from the Castle Quay to the Irish Quay without getting one’s feet wet. Charlie would talk of his childhood days and the ‘Water Galas’ arranged by the fishing fleet; a suitable evening would be chosen and the whole fleet would have been assembled at Derbyhaven and decorated with candle and oil-lit coloured lanterns the boats would make their way round Langness Point into Castletown Bay and thence up into the Inner Harbour. The evening would be rounded off by various water sports.

He would often comment on the poverty of Castletown in the days of his youth and would recount how many large families, consisting of as many as nine children, were brought up in the many tiny two storied stone houses in the town with the "thie veg" situate in the backyard. Those lucky enough had a water tap just outside the backdoor but many were still having to draw water from a community tap and in some parts of the town water was still being drawn from communal wells. He would talk of ‘the big tree house’ which later was demolished to provide land on which to build the Primitive Chapel, now, unfortunately, used as a furniture store, and would relate how some two dozen of the poorer families lived crammed together in the ‘big tree’. There were still beggers on the streets of the town and with the price of drink at an all time low drunkeness was common. There were several ‘soup kitchens’ in the town without which many of the town’s children would not have survived to adulthood, and the netting of hares and rabbits, collecting of ‘flitters’ from the rocks at Scarlett and Pooilvaaish seagulls eggs, crabbing etc. , helped to supplement the miserable earnings of the poorer inhabitants of the town.

Charlie saw much of this change in his lifetime. A new sewerage system was commenced in the early 1900’s dry privies were made illegal and every householder required to install water closets. The work of paving roads and footpaths was taken in hand. In the 1920’s work of building houses for the working classes was commenced at James Road. But this was not undertaken without comment. Some of the better off residents of the town were appalled that the Commissioners were providing in the new houses bathrooms and fancy washbasins ‘for the working classes’.

Charlie ‘reigned’ in Castletown over a time of social and economic change and the present and future generations must owe a debt of gratitude to the man who more than any other laid a firm foundation on which people could build our present Castletown.

Teddy Blackburn of Castletown.

Perhaps some members will remember the article called OLD CASTLETOWN which we published in 1988 in the journal and was written by Charlie Watterson in 1930.

MARY ANN McCONOCHIE

I never knew Mary Ann McConochie, my great-grandmother; she died in the 1890’s a quarter century before I was born. As a boy I heard no stories about her. My father spoke often and fondly of his other grandmother, but never mentioned Mary Ann’s name.

Though Mary Ann lived in New Orleans, LA. , for most of her 62 years, records there show no trace of her existence - no will, no death certificate, no newspaper obituary. Yet a century after she died some aspects of her life have come to light.

Mary Ann was the daughter of Rob McConochie, a Scottish born schoolmaster, and his wife, Elinor Garrett, a native of the Isle of Man. Mary Ann is believed to have been born on the Isle of Man on July 5, 1835. She had a brother, Thomas, and a sister, Catherine Maria; there may have been one other child.

In 1841, the census shows, Mary Ann was living with her parents at Ballabrooie, Lezayre Parish. A decade later parents and son were residing at Moaney Moar in German Parish, but there was no sign of Mary Ann. (She may have been working as a servant and thus would have been counted in another household). [FPC a '12 yr' old Mary A. Plash is found at Villa Marina, Douglas - presumeably as a servant as no indication is given neither are there any other family members]

On May 23, 1856, Mary Ann and John Place, both residents of Victoria Terrace, Douglas were married in the parish church of Kirk Braddan. The groom, a widower "of full age," was a mariner.

James Joseph Walsh was a Dubliner who went to America in his teens and shortly signed up for a hitch with the United States Marines. Assigned to a sloop of war, he sailed out of Boston, Mass., in 1854. He was in Honolulu in 1855 when he was sent to fight the Indians at Seattle, in what was then the Washington territory. Discharged in 1857 he returned to Ireland, and at some time that year or the next he visited Douglas. There it appears he became acquainted with Mary Ann Place and her husband John, now a tavern keeper in the Alma Hotel. And then, evidently, the three of them decided to go to America together.

On Wednesday, June 9, 1858 the sailing ship Columbia, out of Liverpool and laden with immigrants, arrived at New York. Just four lines apart on its list of 430 passengers were the names of James Walsh and John Place. And although Mary Ann’s name fails to appear, she apparently was with them.

It was in 1906, after both his parents were dead, that the eldest son of James Joseph Walsh and Mary Ann McConochie gave a sworn statement in which he related the story they had told him. They had met, so they said, on the Isle of Man. She "was a widow with considerable property. Her maiden name was Macconochie, her first husband was a sea captain and she obtained her wealth or property from him. He left her a public house there in Douglas".

They were married, he was led to believe, at Douglas, on April 20 1858. "After their marriage my parents sold out everything in Douglas and brought their silverware and other property to the U.S. I understood they had several chests of goods which they brought with them. They came over on the sailing packet Columbia, landed at New York, then came west to Rock island, Illinois, later came south to Memphis, Tennessee, and still later to New Orleans".

After James Joseph Walsh died in 1899 one Lydia Walsh, claiming to be his widow, applied for a Civil War pension. Records showed that the two had indeed been married in New Orleans in 1886. But in his file was a letter dated 1880 in which he wrote of having a wife and seven children. Was Lydia the legal widow? Her story, told under oath, was a revelation:

"This woman," she said, speaking of Mary Ann, "met Mr. Walsh coming from Liverpool on the (ship) She was then in company with her husband, but when they reached New York City, she left her husband and followed Mr. Walsh . . . . She admitted to me that she had never been married to him, but had lived with him and borne him children, but that she could never have married him because she had a living husband from whom she had never been divorced

That, indeed, appears to be the way it happened.

Even if John Place felt he was well rid of a faithless wife, he no doubt hoped to recover the "several chests of goods," which probably contained most of his possessions. Very likely it was fear of pursuit that sent Mary Ann and her lover to New Orleans, a city about as distant from New York as it was possible to get in a hurry. Fear of being discovered may also explain why Mary Ann was reluctant to seek a divorce.

Before it dissolved in drink and infidelity, the 26 year liaison between James Joseph and Mary Ann produced ten children. Two sons and four daughters survived to adulthood. Records show that all the girls were married; other than that, the fate of three is not known. But the fourth and youngest became the well-loved matriarch of a large family, many of whom still reside in and around New Orleans. And the younger son, happily married but childless, made a successful career as a salesman.

The first-born son - my grandfather - was apprenticed to a cotton broker when he was 13. As soon as he came of age he left New Orleans for Texas. His first wife, a promising poet, died young, leaving him to rear their two children. Married again, he fathered two sons, served as a lay reader in an Episcopal parish he helped to found, and for 47 years worked in the office of a large insurance firm. After an exemplary life, he died at 90.

Shortly after they were married, James Joseph Walsh and his young wife moved to Los Angeles, Calif., and it’s there that he is buried. As for Mary Ann, all traces of her grave were swept away in the construction of today’s New Orleans Superdome.

Terence G. Walsh

THE POOR CHILDREN’S FREE BREAKFAST ROOM

Taken from Mona’s Herald January 14th 1871

"The poor ye have always with you, " happily is well recognised in our little Island. In Douglas, in Ramsey, in Peel, in Laxey, and in the other towns and villages of Mona kind hearts abound, and as each winter is succeeded by another, the poor are remembered in their need. It is with feelings of pride that we are able to acknowledge this high trait in the character of our people, for it can be said of few countries as it can be said of us, that we voluntarily and with no niggard hand assist the needy and distressed and care for the fatherless and the widow. Amid the many channels through which the charity of the well-to-do inhabitants of this Island passes towards the relief of the necessities of those to whom the winter season brings hardship, and cold, and hunger, there are none doing a more important work than the "Children’s Free Breakfast" charity.

The free breakfast room has been in existence two winters. On visiting it on Thursday morning, about nine o’clock, we found it to be an old building in Lord Street, formerly used, and now known by the name of the old Drill Hall. The doors were not open, the breakfast hour being half-past nine;. but we could hear that operations were being actively carried on upstairs, in the preparation of the nutritious aliment known as thick porridge. Surrounding the door were about thirty sharp visaged, hungry-looking, little mites, all of whom bore evidences that some effort had been made to turn them out as spruce as was possible under circumstances of extreme poverty. The greater bulk bore a ragged appearance, but their clean faces (pinched and blue as some of them undoubtedly were in the sharp morning air,) shone, and their bright eyes glistened in anticipation of the good that was to come. Ere the door was opened, the crowd of urchins had swelled to something like a hundred, and when admission was allowed them, "such a getting up stairs," such scrambling, pushing, pitter-pattering of feet, shouldering and shoving the weak to the wall, the strong to the front, a perfect example of the bustle and worry, and struggle, and pulling back and helping on which goes on day by day in this world of ours among bigger, ruder, and less artless mortals. Arrived in the large room upstairs, they are disciplined by a few words into good order by Sergeant Beale, whom they obey very willingly, and by whose persevering efforts, and those of Captain MacGregor, the boys have learned to bow - if not gracefuly at least, courteously - and the girls to curtsy. Round the tables they range themselves, and shortly two or three paid assistants and teachers place before each child a good sized plate upon which there is somewhere between a gill and a pint of good honest meal porridge, in the middle of which, half buried, rests a modest dab of treacle. Captain MacGregor gives out the words,

"Be present at our table, Lord,"

and from the 140 odd little throats their bursts a sweet matutinal grace - now sweet for its graceful music, but very sweet because of the little thankful eager hearts that give it so powerful and ringing an utterance. And now the onslaught begins; in an incredibly short time every plate is cleaned and every crust eaten, and one is naturally carried back to the scene where poor Oliver Twist and his school fellows so anxiously yearn for more; only there is this difference, Oliver’s was thin gruel, but this is good thick satisfying porridge. A sufficient time having elapsed to allow of clearing away, the education of the children is then proceeded with, to which end Sergeant Beale and three female teachers are provided, the following excellent persons acting as voluntary auxiliaries, vis., Miss Wainman and Capt. Macgregor (who take an especial interest in the undertaking, and by whose exertions the whole good work has been brought about); Major Harvey, Derby Castle; R. Bell, Esq. , Mount Vernon; W.C. Shaw, Esq. , Victoria-road; H. Dumbell, Esq., Belmont; and J. King, Esq. Derby-square, who all devote one morning each week for the instruction of the little ones. There is a vacancy for some kind-hearted gentleman or lady who can spare an hour or two on the Thursday in each week, this being the only day that no voluntary assistance is at present rendered. A little before twelve o’clock preparation is made for breaking up, the children, after a hymn and a prayer, being regaled with a large slice of bread and treacle, and sent home happy and contented.

DIAMONDS

One evening in August I set off for the meeting in eager anticipation.

The reason being a talk to be given by Mr. Mylchreest entitled ‘The Diamond King’ What woman is not interested in precious gemstones? The talk was under way when the name of Kimberley was mentioned. I pricked up my ears:-

Kimberley!

Uncle Harry!!

Uncle Harry means to me a debonair figure in a panama as a member of the party in my Grandma’s wedding group.

Inspired by all this talk of Kimberley, I dashed off a letter to a company in the U.K. enquiring about possible personnel records. Why that one? Well, on a trip to Vancouver, my uncle mentioned that Aunt Alice had had a pension from Company X. Upon my return, I imparted this piece of information to mother, who retorted with something like "A pension?" "What a load of old rubbish"!!

The company acknowledged promptly and said it would be necessary to write out to South Africa. Well, in due course, I was rewarded by being sent copies of their records, much to my fascination and delight.

So it will be seen that the company my uncle mentioned was correct, but as for the pension

Diana Manning Miles

Onchan

Tickets issued to Mr. J.H. Tomlin and 2 Children to Capetown 12/2/1908 One 3rd Ticket to Barbeton 15/5/1908

THE DOUGLAS POOR HOUSE

In MAY 1760 Alex Pickman [Pikeman] purchased a piece of land from Christopher Callow and his wife Margaret Corlett. In 1786 this land was sold by Alexander's widow Sarah to Francis Lasnon, a Frenchman who had connections with the Huguenots of Rouen. This plot of land was 21 yards in front, facing Duke Street and 50 yards eastwards down to the sea.

It was on this piece of land on the sand side of Douglas that Francis Lasnon had a house built which was ready for occupation in September 1788. Francis died just two months later at the age of 39 years, in his will he left his house and outhouse for the poor of Douglas. He called it 'my newly built house'.

Francis was a shopkeeper, there were no relatives mentioned in his will with the exception of a bequest to his God daughter, Jane Grandin, he left the rest of his estate to his apprentices and other Manx people. He seems to have been a very wealthy educated man. He was buried in Onchan churchyard and there was a stone marking his grave where he asked to be buried, that was 'The upper north side of the grave yard'.

The Chaplain and Wardens of St. Matthew's Chapel were entered for the premises of Francis Lasnon in October 1789.

In the Manx Advertiser of the 26th January 1811 is the following:- 'To be let by auction the commodious building called Lasnon's Charity together with a house in Strand Street known as John Wallin's house belonging to the Poor of Douglas'.

In 1802 a house in Strand Street was left by John Wanton for the benefit of the poor. John Wanton was " an industrious pauper ", he acquired his property out of the savings of mendicancy. This house was called the Old Poor House.

In 1818 and 1822 widow Marsh aged 80 years who had only one leg lived in the old poor house, rent free and was given a shilling a week. At times she was there alone, but now and again other widows were housed there too.

In 1811 a house had been rented from John Ceasar in the gardens in Wellington Square for the affairs of the Poor. In the Manx Advertiser of 20th March 1817 is the following 'The House in Fort Street', Lasnon's House' belonging to the poor is to be in the future a receptacle for the Poor of Douglas instead of the house now rented.

In the newspapers of 1818 there is a long list of old, sick and others in need of assistance, ten people were housed in the Poor House 6 adults and four children Charles Moore aged 9 yrs son of Elinor Kewley the wife of a porter on the Quay, James Tear an orphan age 10 years, Harriet Wake an orphan aged 5 years and Solomen Gibson age 4 years whose mother was at service in Liverpool and totally incapable of assisting the child.

There were also four other people on the list for further inquiry who needed housing.

Also in the Rising Sun of January 1822 there is a long list of poor receiving subscriptions of one shilling a week but those over 60 years of age were given 2 shillings.

There were now 12 people living in the Poor House including Charles Moore and James Teare.

The poor, if they had no relatives to help them, were dependent on charity there was no poor rate, begging was punishable by law. The Benevolent Society started in 1794 with special visitors with a district each in Douglas where they had to look for people in need. They reported to the Committee every week. In 1818 a soup dispensary was started by a group of ladies, they only gave out soup during the winter months. Coal would be given to the poor at Christmas and in 1822 people could get medicines free by getting a prescription from Dr. Oswald, taking it to Moore's the chemist. The chemist was paid out of a fund raised by a group of women Mrs. Oswald, Mrs. Burrows and Mrs. Quayle. These women organised 'Bazaars' and the Chaplain and Wardens of St. Matthew's did help at times.
The outbreak of cholera in 1832-33 changed things, the number of people needing help was greatly increased. There were many orphans and old folks needing someone to look after them.

In 1833 a meeting was held in Douglas at which it was resolved to take steps to erect a House of Industry. It was ready for use in 1837 a Superintendent and Matron were engaged.

In Charities (the Manx Museum D/50/3 page 105, 1831) is the following: Lasnon's Charity. This house has been app....... for the residence of several aged and infirm paupers. A backyard and cowhouse attached are let to Mr. Leeson at 5 guineas per annum.

With the opening of the House of Industry, Lasnon's House was no longer needed as a Poor House. The annual rent of Lasnon's House and large yard was £28. The soup dispensary committee paid £14 for the use of the house during the winter months. From an early date until 1837 they had been using John Wantons, the Old Poor House, for the cooking and ladling out of soup, according to Mr. Clucas of 54 Duke Street it was still used by them until 1908.

Over the door of a building at the end of Myrtle Street leading to Upper Church Street is a stone with the following inscription:- Douglas Soup Dispensary erected for charitable purposes out of the Henry Bloom Noble Trust funds. Soup was dispensed from this place until 'Meals on Wheels' took over.

In the Manx Museum Charities D50 1X (p.147) there are the annual reports of the Soup Dispensary.

Who was Francis Lasnon? His god daughter Jane Grandin was the daughter of Etienne Blenvenu Grandin and Jane Cain of Ballahutchin, Marown, she was born in Douglas in 1784. Francis Lasnon had been a witness at her parents wedding at Kirk Braddan in Douglas in 1783. Etienne was a silk dyer, born in Rouen.

The Poor House still stands at present it is in a sad state, its days are coming to an end [FPC: now demolished].

In 1840 the Old Poor House became the Medical Dispensary. Dr. Spencer had been appointed. It was still being used as such when the Fort St. Hospital opened in 1850. In 1889 this dispensary was at the hospital on Crellin's Hill, now the Manx Museum.

In 1840 Dr. Spencer saw patients at the Dispensary, the Old Poor House, from nine to eleven each weekday. He had to visit the poor in the own and was also expected to attend to the sick housed in the House of Industry. Attempts had been made to use the Old Poor House as a hospital for accident cases, six beds were to be put in this building for use. There was a great need for a hospital for infectious diseases finally in 1888 the White Hoe Hospital was opened.

The Old Poor House was probably sold in 1889.

There was a scheme for sending patients to the Liverpool Infirmary, this is recorded as early as 1822. The Hon. Deemster Heywood and James Holmes were long subscribers to this hospital and had tickets they gave to any deserving person wishing to be admitted on account of some obstinate infection.(Taken from Manx Sun of November 1st 1851) this continued until 1908, funds used for this project were then used for helping the Manx people living in Liverpool.

by A.M. McHardy of Baldrine

DOUGLAS HOUSE OF INDUSTRY

Taken from THWAITES DIRECTORY 1863

Amongst the numerous charitable institutions provided by the benevolence of the public in Douglas, none claim so high a place as the House of Industry. It is the poor's house, to which every destitute person in the town is at liberty to resort for shelter and subsistence. The house occupies a very pleasant situation in Harris Terrace. It was opened in February 1838 and was erected principally through the exertions of the Rev. D. Carpenter,a former incumbent of St. Barnabas Church. It is a commodious stone building, capable of accommodating 80 inmates. The cost of erection was defrayed by voluntary contributions aided by a grant of £800 from the British Government. This charitable institution is entirely supported by donations and subscriptions and by collections at the different places of worship. At the present time,the number of inmates is 76; besides which, considerable assistance is rendered to a large number of out-door pensioners. The management of the institution is vested in a committee of 24 gentlemen, twelve of whom, including the high bailiff of Douglas and the Ministers and Wardens of the established church, are ex officio; the remaining twelve are elected annually by the subscribers. The house is under the superintendence of John and Frances Christian.

The Ladies Soup Dispensary, in Fort Street, has been established for a number of years, and has been the means of affording much relief to the poor and those suffering temporary privations. This institution (which is supported by voluntary contributions) is under the management of Mrs. Margaret Gracey.

Information written on the back of the photograph by FROWDE

The Old Poor House is at the back of Clucas' the poulterers in 54 Duke Street. This old house stood in 1833 out on the shore, there is visible on the north wall a bulnose some seven feet above the present ground level to repel the waves riding down the bay It stands at the extreme north end of old Fort Street . the lower position is now a garage, but the weather worn chimney stack with Berated corners in the mortar having been eroded by the storms of a century and is eloquent of age.

HOW EARLY MANX FAMILIES MIGRATED FROM BRIMFIELD TO GALVA

DESCRIBED IN ACCOUNT BY CHARLOTTE PRATT AND MRS. JOHN FARRAGET

The role of many Manx families in the development of the Galva area has been described in previous issues of Galvaland, but another account has been provided by Mrs. Clyde COLLINSON (Hilda KENNAUGH).

It was compiled during the 1930's by Mrs. Charlotte PRATT and Mrs. John FARRAGET and includes biographical material about Thomas H. KELLY, James KERMEEN, John KERMEEN, Edward KEWLEY, John CORKILL, and Robert LOONEY.

Mrs. COLLINSON added sketches about John LEWIN and John KEWISH. "A Glimpse of the Pioneers" is the title of the account by Mrs. PRATT and Mrs. FARRAGER with this introduction:

"Vision, courage, and tenacity of spirit are prerequisites in any form of pioneering. Our own people imbued with this indomitable spirit, left the Isle of Man as early as 1826 for the new world.

"They overcame terrific obstacles .... yet they remained optimistic and cheerful. They lived to see marvelous changes, and contributed much to the growth of the community in which they settled.

"The earliest Manx settlers in the State of Illinois arrived about 1849 and, by all accounts, most of them became farmers.

Thomas H. KELLY, son of John and Jane CORLETT KELLY, of Onchan, Isle of Man, came to the United States in 1849, the journey being made in a sailing vessel coming by way of New Orleans, thence up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Peoria. He came with about a dozen young Manx men, among them John KEIGHIN, David KEIGHIN from Peel and John CRELLEN (he later located in California).

From Peoria Mr. KELLY went by stage 20 miles to Brimfield, where he farmed several years. There was at Brimfield quite a Manx settlement including the families of COWLEY, COLLISTER, KEIGHIN, GELLING, PATTY, KERMEEN and others.

Coming as they had, from the Isle of Man where the climate is moderate these people found the Illinois winters very severe. All supplies were hauled by wagon from Peoria and all their grain was hauled there to be marketed.

From Brimfield Thomas KELLY moved to Galva, where he bought a farm and shortly after that married Catherine Ann MYLCHREEST, daughter of John and Ann COWLEY / MYLCHREEST, who had came to Brimfield from Peel in 1848.

Galva, like Brimfield, developed quite a Manx settlement with families of CARRAN, KEWLEY, CORKILL, CLUCAS, FARRAGE, KELLY, KNEEN, COLLISTER, and MYLCHREEST. They helped build the schools and also the First Methodist Church, hauling lumber from Rock Island.

After about 10 years he sold the farm and purchased one at Kempton, about 100 miles south east of Galva. There again another Manx settlement gathered and pioneering was done. The township was named Mona.

In 1887 he retired and moved back to Galva, where he resided until his death in 1911, aged 81. His wife passed away in 1933 when almost 95 years old.

Three children survived: Thomas E. KELLY, of Kempton and Milchrist D.KELLY and Charlotte E. PRATT of Galva.

In 1849 James KERMEEN arrived via New Orleans, the sailing time being 13 weeks. During the river voyage up the Mississippi and Illinois, cholera broke out and 70 of the group died.

He proceeded from Peoria to Brimfield by stage coach. Finally settling at Galva, Mr. KERMEEN became a successful farmer and married Julia CORLETT who came to Galva in 1854 with her parents and her mother's five brothers.

When the Civil War broke out three of Mrs. KERMEEN's uncles joined the Northern Army. Two were killed in action and were buried somewhere in the South.

Mr. KERMEEN was 91 when he passed away and his wife was 78.

John KERMEEN at the age of 15, arrived in Peoria in 1855. He came all the way by water to Peoria and by stage to Brimfield.

He too, became a farmer and married Anna McKANE. Their honeymoon consisted of a visit to the country store located on the present site of the city of Princeton (about 40 miles from Galva). He died at the age of 86.

In 1850 Edward KEWLEY landed in Buffalo, New York. A year later his wife and little daughter Jane joined him and years later they moved to Adrian, Michigan.

Finally the clannish instinct was too strong and they arrived at the Manx colony in Galva, where they settled down to farming.

John CORKILL came to this country in 1866, arriving in Portland, Maine and coming directly to Galva, where he farmed for five years. He eventually went into the coal business, opening a shaft for himself and later with two others conducted three shafts near Galva. Finally they sold out to the Herdien Coal Company.

He met with financial success and in 1870 purchased 160 acres on which he located and entered energetically upon its development.

Robert LOONEY, of Kirk Maughold, landed at an eastern port in 185? and naturally gravitated to Brimfield. After a period of four years he went back to the Isle of Man and married Eleanor CORKILL.

They arrived in Galva the following spring and took up farming. At the time of his death Robert LOONEY owned 180 acres of land.

HOW EARLY MANX FAMILIES MIGRATED TO GALVA

The following material about Manx settlers was compiled by Mrs. Hilda COLLINSON as an addition to the information above:

John LEWIN, who arrived in Galva township in 1856, was born in the Isle of Man in 1843 to Robert and Isabella KISSICK LEWIN (his father died in 1857 and his mother in 1894).

John farmed with his brother and in 1870 he bought 80 acres in Knox county for $4,000. He later sold this at a profit and purchased land in Henry county.

He cast his first vote for Abraham LINCOLN 20th 1864

His wife, the former Annie ANDREWARTHA, was born in the Isle of Man, May and came to America in 1880. They married in 1884 and both were Methodists
His sister, Isabella married John CORKILL, of Galva, and his sister Jane married William KNEAL of Kempton.

John KEWISH was born February 2nd 1850 in the Isle of Man to Patrick and Anne CRAINE KEWISH. He went to sea at the age of 16, wee a sailor for five years and after coming to Henry County in 1873 was an engineer two and one half years. He bought 160 acres of land in section 24 of Galva township in 1882.

In 1873 he married Annie KEWISH who was born in the Isle of Man in 1849 and they came here in 1869. They both were Methodists and their children were: John T., Bertie, William, Irvin, Annie and Ella.

He was a Republican, was active in the community and helped raise funds to organise the Farmers' Elevator in Galva.

His brother, William died in Galva in 1886, and a brother Robert died in Galva in 1877, leaving a widow, Jane CRAINE KEWISH, and two came Robert and James. (These sons died in 1976, Robert in January and James in October).- Extracted from the "Galvaland Magazine" March 1977.

Taken from HENRY COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY 1985

FROM THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

"And now beneath the towering Haaaan's Walls we see the old ruins of Mylechrane's "Eagle and Child". This important inn has almost disappeared, and today is represented by a few foundation stones. It is mentioned frequently in the early New South Wales Calendars and was kept in the family of Mylechrane until 1856, when it was transferred from Esther Mylechrane to Edward Martin.

During the heyday period an old oak tree stood before the inn, and old inhabitants
the Bowenfela immediately recall the comfort of the "Eagle and Child" by reference to the many happy hours spent beneath the wonderful kindly shade of the tree.

Mylechrane's inn owed a great portion of its popularity and fame to the unusual name which it possessed. Mr. Watson A. Steel has given me the meaning of the "Eagle and Child". Shortly after the introduction of Christianity into England, a band of monks built a monastery on the Isle of Man, pursuing their daily life and training youths, who would spread the new beliefs throughout the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Into this monastery of quiet and holy religion no woman went. But lo! one day while the monks were walking in the garden an eagle wee amen, bearing in its beak a precious bundle which was gently brought to ground. The holy men immediately ran to the spot. Imagine their surprise when they saw a young female! The strong oaths to which they had been sworn made them fearful of accepting the babe into the monastery; but moved by the helplessness and innocence of the child, they nurtured it, intending to consecrate the girl to Mother Church. The legend further relates that the girl became a daughter of the Church, renewed for her purity, beauty and devotion to the work of God.

See Moughtin Family Tree - Eliza Moughtin married J. Mylechrane.

[FPC this account is, I'm sure, intended as a 'spoof' - the Eagle and Child was well known as the symbol of the Stanley Family - for 350 years Lords of Man]

Moughtin Family Tree - TBD + some photos

PETITIONS AND CONVEYANCES AS GENEALOGICAL SOURCES

As Old Laxey is where I have a second home, I am interested in its history,and having read that there was a petition for a better harbour at Laxey made to the 1793 Commission into the Revenue, I looked up the printed Report of the Commissioners in the Manx Museum. Thus I discovered that there had been various petitions by the "landed proprietors" from almost every parish, providing lists of most of the people who held all or part of a quarterland or even a mere croft, long before the first census.

In Lonan, with a population of 1405, there are 125 names. Most of them are of Celtic or Scandinavian origin: the ones (having one myself) I tend to regard as "real old Manx" names. There were also Skillicorns, traditionally a Lonan name, whose origin is a Dominating enigma. T.E. Brown, regarded the name as so typically Manx that he immortalised it in verse as a better contender than Cain, Karran or Kewish for the title of the "Future Manx Poet". The erudite A.W. Moore in his "Manx Names" (1906) deceived himself that the name Skillicorn was peculiar to the Isle of Man, "probably derived from a local name now forgotten, beginning with the word 'Skellig' - a rock."

W.W. Gill however, in "A Third Manx Scrapbook" (1963) looked outside the Island to document in detail a once-eminent family of that name (originally Skillingcorne) long-extinct in Lancashire, and who first appear in Manx records around 1500 in the form of two clergymen, who obviously were blessed in having their quiver full!

In Lonan, almost two hundred years ago there were also the exotic names of Hendricks, Lawson and Hogg. In 1715 Mary Hendricks, wife of a Douglas inn-keeper was excommunicated for immorality, and cast into the dungeon under Peel Cathedral, and this sparked off a battle between church and state which culminated in Bishop Wilson being imprisoned in Castle Rushen. Perhaps these Lonan people are her offspring and somewhere their descendants are now searching for them.

The Lawsons are still in Laxey, and I had heard it said there that they had arrived on the Island as miners. Yet they were there when there was less than a handful of men hopefully burrowing into the river bank: a time when the mines had not yet attracted immigrants.

The early discovery of people called Hogg in Laxey links with the Abstract of Title to my cottage, which shows that Anne Hogg, Widow of Edward Hogg, bought it in 1868 and 8 years later married James Irwin of Laxey, who died in 1881. A marriage settlement mentions as trustees another Hogg and a Creer, who given, the purpose of such settlements, may well be a relation,and that she had no children. A Deed of Gift shows that her nephew, a miner named Joseph Gelling, looked after her in her old age. Further information emerge about her other properties in the area, and of another generation of Gellings, including a married daughter called Walker, so that there is a hundred years of the history of one family in my Deeds.

The bare facts can be further clothed with local memories of old Mrs. Gelling who presided over one of the few wells in the neighbourhood and Mr. Gelling who wore a silk shiner for his public appearances as Chairman of the Laxey Commissioners. From the same source, I know that when the family sold this house they continued to live in the house next door which had also been in the family, and left it to a nephew, so my neighbour's Abstract of Title would extend the story, not only of this family but of this locality. My deeds have also revealed the names of generations of the neighbours, as rural properties used to be identified in conveyances by naming abutting owners. One in 1868 was "Paul Richman or Redshaw", an illustration that even with uncommon names there can be pitfalls for the ancestor-hunter.

And to end at the beginning, the earliest reference in my Abstract of Title reveals that in 1865 Joseph Skillicorn, baker of Liverpool and his wife Elizabeth inherited it from Philip Skillicorn, and that it was called "Thie Phil". How nice it would be now if Phil had inherited earlier from one of those who signed the 1793 petition.

Unfortunately, conveyancers only research past ownership far enough back to assure the next owner that there is a good title. However, the pre-1911 deeds now deposited in the Manx Museum may go back further than the current ones, which can be tracked down in the Registry of Deeds (Finch Road) provided you know the name of one of the parties to a conveyance and its approximate date.

Since the originals are registered and preserved, old copies which turn up are not needed as proof of ownership, but they are definitely worth preserving for family history research.

CURIOUS FACTS

Were your ancestors married in Lonan between the years 1839 and 1845?:'

Have you seen the full entry of their marriage in the Church Register?

The Rev. Joseph Qualtrough under the column marked - condition - meaning Bachelor or Spinster - actually wrote in the circumstances of the couple for example

January 12th 1839

Robert Kermeen and Margaret Kewin were described as being in good circumstances, while the following marriage of William Clucas and Jane Scarf had the information that William - a labourer was in low circumstances! On the 2nd March James Oliver and Ann Lewney were in moderate circumstances, on the whole farmers were listed as being in good circumstances, miners in moderate and labourers in poor or humble circumstances. When William Hutchin married Mary Cowin on the 21st August 1847, the Vicar gave the added information that Mary- a widow was an heiress!

The Rev. Qualtrough also gave the occupation of the Bride and stated if she was a servant maid, an added bonus as very few vicars ever stated the woman's occupation, one or two were Dressmakers and Ann Kelly in 1849 was described as Papermaker, the first woman I have seen involved in paper making- she probably worked for the Lewthwaite family who had a Paper mill in Laxey at that time.

John Quilliam, Bellman of Douglas was presented in 1758 for going about the town with a handbell on Whit Sunday, as also for the frequent offence given by the said Quilliam on weekdays and has been interrupting and disturbing the Public Worship of God by ringing a bell and calling in time of Divine Service and this, at or near the Chapel as to be distinctly heard within.

1838 Local Newspaper

It is rather a curious fact, that there are now living in Douglas four widows named DOUGLAS - three of whom have last their husbands within the last three months, and what is more singular, none of them are in anyway related by family connexion.

Mona's Herald Feb. 1838
On Saturday last a poor man residing at the Union Mills, named CAVEEN was robbed of 700 herring. It is very natural to suppose that the fish were taken in as part of the family stock of food until the forthcoming fishing season. We wish the thief maybe found out and justice fully metered out to him.