[Appendix A(70) 1792 Report of Commissioners of Inquiry]

N° 70.

Copy of the ATTORNEY and SOLICITOR GENERAL's REPORT dated Isle of Man, March 6, 1780.

To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury.

May it please your Lordships,

ACCORDING to your Lordships directions communicated to us by Mr. Chamberlayne, we have taken into consideration the Memorial and Petition of the Duke of Atholl, and also the Draught of a Bill to explain and amend an act of the fifth year of his present Majesty, for carrying into execution a contract made between the Treasury and the Duke and Duchess of Atholl.

The object of the bill to secure to the Duke of Atholl the enjoyment of those rights of property which were reserved to him upon the contract with the Treasury, appears to us to be just and reasonable ; but it is very important, that in the bill these rights should be correctly set forth; and we cannot take it upon us to judge whether they are so or not, having no knowledge or any means of acquiring information of the usages of the Isle of Man.

We observe, that in the first enacting clause it is amongst other things provided, That the Duke shall enjoy all manner of Boon Services due by the tenants and landholders, and comprised in the reservation of the act under the denomination of "Services or Works of Tenants, free or customary, without any diminution or restriction for or on account of military Service due to His Majesty, or his Officers, in the said island," From these latter words we must conclude that under the denomination of Services or Works of Tenants, more is comprised than such Services of Tenants as are known in England, and that some of them are of such a nature as to be incident to the Sovereignty of the island. It is not meant to deprive His Majesty, or his Officers, of such services; but it is very probable that the performance of these services may entitle perfons to exemptions from other services ; and therefore to secure to the Duke of Atholl all manner of services, without diminution or restriction on account of military service, would either be prejudicial to His Majesty's rights, if the military service was suppofed to be waved, or to the rights of the inhabitants, if they were to be doubly charged.

In the next clause it is recited, That under the denomination of Piscaries and Fisheries, the Duke and Duchess of Atholl, and their ancestors, enjoyed the Tributary Herrings, anciently called Castle Maze, and commuted in latter times for what is called the Herring Custom, or ten thillings upon every boat employed in the Herring Fishery,

The enjoyment of this payment does not afford a conclusive proof that a Herring Fishery passed under the general words Piscaries and Fisheries in a grant of the Crown; and there seems to be some reason to rank this payment amongst the Customs and Duties payable in respect of the sovereignty of the island. An inquiry into the mode of collecting it, and the application, (if there has been any special application, may clear up this point; but we have no information to enable us to form an opinion upon it,

The clauses of the bill respecting the Game do not affect the rights of the Crown, but they seem to affect the inhabitants of the island in a greater degree than any laws respecting the Game affect the people of England.

The bill proceeds to erect a Court Leet, which we do not observe to be specified in the reservation of the Duke's rights in the contract, and in the act of the fifth of his present Majesty, which only take notice of a Court Baron,

The Seneschall, Steward, or Agent, to be nominated by the Duke of Atholl for holding his Courts, is invested by the clauses under consideration, with all and every the powers, jurisdiction and authorities, heretofore exercised by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Deemsters, Receiver General, Comptroller, Clerk of the Rolls, and Attorney General of the island, with respect to such Courts. How much power may be given by this union of all the powers exercised-by all the above mentioned Officers, it is impossible for us to inform your Lordships ; and in this, as well as in the several instances above-mentioned, we have one general observation to submit to your Lordships: The bill has not, as we are informed by Mr. Chamberlayne, been published in the Isle of Man. In justice to the inhabitants, who cannot have the same notice in the course of passing acts as other subjects have, and to whom the Crown owes its protection in regard also to the interests of the Crown, we humbly conceive that the bill ought not only to be publicly known, but to undergo the revision of His Majesty's Chief Justice and Attorney General of the island ; and until this is done, we do not think it would be proper to consent to the further progrest of it. All which is submitted to your Lordships consideration.

(Signed) AL, WEDDERBURN, JA. WALLACE,

March 6, 1780

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