T 1/455/353 - Letters from Governor Wood 1766

There is a batch of Manx related material which includes several communications from Governor John Wood interspersed with unrelated submissions from Charles Lutwidge - the pencilled page numbers do not reflect the dates of the letters thus I have re-ordered then in date sequence - Wood makes reference to other letters to and from the Secretary of State, no copies of these can be found in the Manx archives but possibly may still to be found in the UK National Archives.

[1]

Isle Mann July 31 1766

My Lords

On the 16th Inst I had the Honor of a Letter from Mr Cooper dated the 30th Ult; signifying your Lordship's Order that Mr Quillin should attend at the time of the seperation of the Deeds relative to this Isle, in conformity to the opinion of Mr Attorney General, to which all obedience shall be given - And I beg Leave to inform Your Lordships that upon every occasion, wherein the Rights of the Crown were in any degree concerned, Mr Quillin the Attorney General of this Isle has constantly been consulted; and no Transaction has been, in which he has not personally assisted - I have the honor &c

John Wood

[2] noted as to Grey Cooper Esqr and read Octbr 1 1766 together with a note to send a Copy of the Treasury Minute of 25th of June last to Mr Burke

St James's August 22d 1766

Sir

Mr Secretary Conway has directed me to send you the copy of a Letter, he has just received from Governor Wood of the Isle of Man in which he acknowledges the Receipt of the Copies of two Letter from You, in answer to some particular Points of Business, which were referred to the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury ; and at the same time recites other Parts of his former Letters, on which he desires also to receive Instruction. These Matter have already been referred to their Lordship's Consideration; and I am therefore to desire You will take the earliest opportunity of receiving their Lordship's Determination upon them, in order that Mr Secretary Conway may be enabled to return an answer to Governor Wood.

I am &c William Burke [Under Secretary of State]

Castletown Isle Mann Augt 14th 1766

Sir

I had the Honor of Your Letter of the 4th Ult, accompanied with Copies of two Letters from Mr Cooper to Mr Burke, dated respectively the 30th June last; the one intimating, that Mr Lutwidge the Receiver Genl of this Island had directions from the Right Honorable the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, to discharge the Expences incurred by setting up the King's Arms in this Isle, & in providing Vessels for transporting the Draught of Troops to & from Scotland - And the other signifying, that I may be allowed the Expence of the Entertainment at the two Circuit Courts, & also the Tynwald Court if any such be held. But that their Lordships still reserve under Consideration the other necessary contingent Expences mention'd in my Letter of the 18th Decr last to his Grace the Duke of Grafton, then one of his Matys principal secries of state - And tho', Sir, you have been so obliging as to promise me the earliest Intelligence of their Lordships Determinations on these Matters; yet I hope you'll pardon my taking this opportunity to lay before you the disagreable situation I have been in for some Time past.

Here have I been without Salary or any Fund to answer the contingent Expences of the Govt of this Isle, since May 17th 1765. And tho' the superior Magistrates & Officers rest satisfied wth the Assurances wch His Majesty has been graciously pleased to declare by His loyal Proclamation; yet the inferior Officers & Constables who were pd quarterly by the late Lord proprietor, tho' at first importunate, were pacified upon my promises; but many are now really indigent. And tho' by my Letter of Decr 10th I requested the Dukes of Grafton would please to direct, from whence their pay was to be drawn, as they expected to be paid off upon their Discharge; I have not as yet been able to relieve those that are to be continued, nor to discharge them, that are to be reduced, according to the Number limited & mentioned in the Orders of Council of the 28th Octr & 17th Feb last - As to the Funds arising from the Fines & perquisites of the Courts, it is well if they answer for providing Fire,Candles & other necessaries for the Court Rooms & the repositories of the Records - But those Fines & perquisites are Matters of Record, & therefore can be accounted for wth the greatest Certainty, in such manner as shall be directed. They were hitherto levied together wth the Lords Quit Rents by the Moars, who being in most respects manerial Officers. I also in the same Letter, humbly recommended to the Duke of Grafton, that these Moars should be in no particular employed by the Crown; but that the Coroners should be discharged from executing any Duty, wch appreciated to the Manerial, confined to the business of the Crown only, I have an annual allowance in lieu of the Territorial privileges & Emoluments wch they received from the Lord proprietors in respect of their Offices. But till some measures of this kind are taken, should there be a Debet Cause, it will remain a Doubt, which are the proper Officers to collect these Fines &c.

By my Letter to the D. of Grafton of the 28th Jany, I also informed His Grace, that I had taken possession, on behalf of the Crown, of the Houses, Out Offices &c which I & all the preceding Govrs under the late Lords proprietors enjoyed - These houses were neglected since the Death of the late Duke of Athol, & tho' the present Duke claims them under the Reservation of the Act of Parliament whereby the sovereignty of this Isle became vested in the Crown; yet as I retain Possession, I cannot allow him to repair, or exercise any Right therein, And these old Fabricks, without proper reparations, will not be habitable next Winter.

As to the Charges necessarily incurred in public Entertainments, upon my taking possession of this Isle in behalf of the Crown; and also upon their Maty's Birth Day or other publick Occasions, wch the late Lord proprietor provided in Castle Rushen, these I had in my own house, & at my own private Expence, & shall submit entirely to your Consideration, But it really will be extremely expedient that the other Exigences of Government & the proper Directions relative to the sevl other matters wch I have had the Honor to lay before His Majesty's principal Secries of State for the rule of my Government should be adjusted.

Were I allowed to offer my humble Opinion in these Matters, I would with all submission, propose that a Sum of Money be appropriated, & an Agent appointed in London, to answer the sevl Exigencies of this little State, for wch a particular Account shall always be given in such manner as shall be required.

To trespass so much upon your Time, Sir gives me great Concern but your known Goodness & the pressing Circumstance of Affairs will, I hope, plead my apology - I have the honor to be &c

John Wood

[3] noted as to Grey Cooper Esqr, Rcvd 5 Dec 1766 ; read 8 Dec 1766

St James Decmr 3d 1766

Sir

I am directed by Mr Secretary Conway to send you inclosed an Extract of a Letter [from] Governor Wood of the Isle of Man, in which he mentions the present Condition of the House possessed by him, & of the Chapel now in Use, & I am to desire you will lay it before the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury for their Lordship's Information in case there should be any Intention of purchasing or renting these Buildings.

I am &c William Burke [Under Secretary of State]

Extract Castletown Novr 24 1766

In my Letter of the 28th August I mentioned my having continued the Use of the Chapel, I beg leave now further to observe (least there should be a Scheme of Purchasing or Renting that of the Houses possessed by the Governor) - how far it would not be Eligible, first to have them Surveyed and Reported. As I am informed by Tradesmen here, that no repairs can make the Dwelling House sufficient or Even Habitable for any Time.

Notes

Letter 1 covers one of the significant problems caused by the revestment - the separation of the Civil administration from the Manerial administration of the Duke of Athol's holding as Lord of Man. Under the arrangement instigated by Governor Murray, the first Governor under the Atholl Lords, the Clerk of the Rolls was also Collector with the Receiver General responsible for the Manerial [or Manorial] rents etc. As both these offices now came under the Revenue run by London, which had decreed that no one who had been involved in the pre Revestment Revenue should remain in office. both holders were removed from Office - the Manorial aspects passed to newly created posts of Stewards of the Duke of Atholl (later called Seneschals) but John Quayle who had succeeded his father as Clerk of the Rolls was found to be essential in maintaining both sets of records so was re-instated as Clerk of the Rolls as well as operating as a Steward for the Duke. The possession of the Records was disputed - they were obviously needed by the Duke to obtain his rents etc but they were also needed by the Chancellery Court etc - there was some separation and the Manorial records briefly taken to Douglas.

Wood in Letter 2 mentions another key problem of the newly created separation of Civil and Manorial aspects - who should do what - he notes that the Moars, who used to be paid by their avoidance of rents should now be solely concerned with their Manorial function whereas the Coroners who used to collect fines as well as some Manorial precepts should now restrict themselves to orders from the Civil administration. This necessary separation of duties and records saw no Sheading Courts held in 1765 with the first under the new arrangement in October 1766.

In Letter 2 Wood raises a point that would dog his administration - the reluctance to pay him or set up a mechanism by which money to pay salaries could be directly received from the Revenues gathered on Island rather than having it directed out of the money remitted to London - quite likely Lutwidge was not supportive in this aspect as it would reduce his importance - Wood notes in a later letter that he asked Lutwidge to raise this point with Treasury which he did.

Letter 3 mentions the use of the Chapel - this was St Mary's, on the Parade, which was a chapel-of-ease to Kirk Malew, constructed at the start of Bishop Wilson's bishopric; it was close to where its replacement, built in 1826 still stands (though no longer a church). It had a gallery for the Lord's Officers and space for the soldiers based at Castle Rushen - its chaplain also had a stipend from the Government.