[taken from Chapter 1 Manx Worthies, A.W.Moore, 1901]

JOSEPH CANNELL (b. circa 1673).

We learn from a letter of Governor Sacheverell's, dated 1696⁺ to the Archbishop of Canterbury, in which he dwells upon the misfortunes and poverty of the Manx Church. " that three of the hopefullest of our young men that ever the Island bred "^* had left it because they were afraid that they would be compelled to accept three livings then vacant, which were worth only three pounds a year each. Two of these young men are unknown, but the third was JOSEPH CANNELL, who afterwards took the degree of M.A., and became rector of the united churches of St. Nicholas Coleabbey and St. Nicholas Olave in London. The only other fact that has been ascertained about him is that he preached a sermon on the 21st of March, 1705, about the 'case of the Pretender," in the Church of St. Nicholas Coleabbey, in which he told the congregation what their " duty " was. The sermon, which was " printed and sold in London by E. Wills, near the waterside, for the benefit of the poor," has not been preserved, but it doubtless enjoined obedience to Queen Anne and abhorrence of the Pretender.

* An account of the Isle of Man (Introduction). Manx Soc., Vol. 1