[From Lib Scac 1764]

1764 - Water supply to Paper Mill

To the honourable John Wood Esqr Govr of this Isle - The humble petition of Margaret Quayle by virtue of a power of attorney from John Quayle Comptr her husband.

Sheweth That Mr Thos Moore having sometime ago converted a certain Tuck Mill he had scituated near Castletown within the parish of Kk Malew into a Paper Mill, the Race which conveyed the water to the said Tuck Mill (tho' it was carried thro' your petr's said husband's land) not in the least answering the purpose to which the said Mill was converted, your petr's said husband and constituent for the encouragement of Manufactures with this Isle and upon promise of payment and satisfaction for such damages and expences as he might or sho'd sustain was induced to permit a Race, sufficient to serve the occasions and purposes of the said Paper Mill, to be cut thro' the most valuable part of his lands.

That after the sd Race was so cut your petr's sd husbd was at a very great expence to make sevl bulwarks to secure his lands agt the overflowings of the main River which must otherwise have consequently not only broke into but also have carried away a great part of your petrs said husband's lands - And as your petr's said husband having frequently applied to the sd Thos Moore for payment & satisfaction for such liberty and the damages he had already sustained in his lands and the expences attending the erecting of such bulwarks, but he the said Thos Moore utterly refused to make compensation or satisfaction in the premises.

That your petitioner's sd husbd finding himself thus grossly imposed upon and that not only the old but the new race were by sufferance cut thro' his lands he was for the security of his sd lands agt the inundations of the main river obliged to make & erect bulwarks as well for several years [past] as for this present year against the floods which annually [have] overflowed his said lands.

That your petr's said husband having thus secured [his] lands at a very greatr expence and having occasion lately [to] depart this Isle, the said Thos Moore (tho' out of this Island) took advantage thereof did by his orders and directions as your petr apprehends engage a number of men, who, the very day your petr's said husband left home to depart for England, went [to] work, cut thro' the bulwark erected as aforesaid, let the water vent itself thro' both the said Mill Races which cannot but be attended with those consequences, that the next flood the whole of the [said] bulwark erected as aforesd will be carried away, his lands overflowed & rendered useless this year and your petr [put] to great anxiety and trouble - And whereas as your petr for the reasons aforesd is under a necessity to stop the said breaches.

Your petr therefore humbly prays that your Honor would be graciously pleased to grant your authority hereon to [restrain] not only the said Thos Moore, those employed or to be employed by him but all others (without your petrs licence) from proceeding or opening a vent thro' the said bulwark or any part thereof of the breach so to be made up by your petr until your petr's said husband returns to this Isle, whereby he may have an opportunity of asserting his right and maintaining it against the encroachments of designing people and your petr shall for your Honor's Happiness ever pray &c.

The matters contained in this petition are referred to the worspll Deemster Heywood - who is to give such orders and directions in the premises, for the petrs relief - as the nature of the cause requires - Given at Castle Rushen this 12th December 1764 John Wood

Decr 12th 1764

Persuant to the Honourable Governor's orders I do direct that the matter of this petition be heard before me on Tuesday the eighteenth Inst Decr and that in the mean time the Breach mentioned in this petition already made or to be made up remain in that situation till the said 18th Day. Given this 12 Decr 1764 Pet: Jno Heywood

Upon hearing this petition it appears that the matter thereof comes more properly within the province of a Great Enquest, whose peculiar business it is to enquire into & present all disputes touching & concerning meres boundarys water courses & the like, therefore the petitioner is referred to seek redress in the matters, complained of in this petition by & before the Great Enquest and he has hereby authority to covene the sd Enquest on the premises to hear & determine the same accordingly, Given this 18th day of Decr 1764 Pet: Jno Heywood

Notes

Margaret's husband was John Quayle, Comptroller and Clerk of the Rolls - he was at the time on a visit to London where the third Duke of Atholl having within the previous few months inherited the Lordship of Man from his uncle, was in the process of attempting to ward off the force sale of the Island to the British Crown. The lands under dangaer of inundation were the low lying lands of the Creggans estate through which the Silverburn flowed within raised embankments.

William Cubbon in his study of Manx Paper Makers states:

Apart from a solitary tantalising reference in the Liber Cur. Monaster (1696 to 1705) to a 'Tuck Mill or Paper Mill road through Whitestone ¹, the earliest information we have concerning the insular manufacture of paper is contained in the 'Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry for the Isle of Man,' published in 1792.

His footnote gives a little more information

1 Ballawhetstone, near Billown, Kirk Malew. There is a record for the year 1797 of the sale of a Paper Mill at Ballasalla, by Charles Moore of Billown to George Quayle of Castletown, with lands of eleven acres, but this is the only indication we are able to trace other than the one quoted that a paper-mill existed in the eighteenth century in Kirk Malew. What is undoubtedly the same property is described in the 1703 Manorial Roll as follows:-

' Capn Cha. Moore for a Tuck Mill and a Croft now a Small meadow of 10s. 4d. rent compounded for in . . by . . . ffine then . . . .

The blanks are an indication that there appeared to be no entry in the 1643 or later composition books.

The 1797 sale is that found in SSS Oct 1798 33 and summarised as

dated 18 Jul 1797;Charles Moore(Malew) + wife Elizabeth als Clucas sell for £387 5s(British) to George Quayle(Castletown) that mill known as the paper mill + dwelling house + lands(11A 3r 34p) adj John Taubman on south, Wm Leece on west and sd George Quayle on north + east - condition that George Quayle not to erect any corn or flax mill or to convert existing building to such and not take from the ancient mill race belonging to Castletown mill any of the water so as to injure it + that Charles Moore + proprietors of Castletown mill have the right to repair the dam head; Witt James Oates, Philip Oates, Wm Kirwan, Edwd Gelling