[Proc IoM Nat History & Antiquarian Society vol 6 no 4 pp509/524 1964]

THE GRAVES FAMILY OF PEEL

RUTH SERJEANT

A DEPOSIT of papers in the Manx Museum Library,¹ from the estate of Miss P. D. Wood, has provided a fascinating glimpse into the ship building and trading family of Graves of Peel, who flourished during the nineteenth century, but who, consequent on the decline of the fishing and allied concerns at the end of the century, and affected, like many others, by the Dumbell bank crash of 1900, disappeared from. the scene, leaving only the memory of their great days to linger on in these documents, and in the recollections of some of the older inhabitants of Peel. The direct line of the shipbuilding family — from which Miss Wood was descended through her mother, Catherine Graves — has died out, but the name is still to be found in Peel, from descendants of other branches. ²

The name of Graves — as well as that of Greaves and Groves, of which it is the earlier version — comes from the word 'a greave' meaning a woodland avenue, graved. or cut out from the forest, and is found as a family name in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire and Ireland. In the journal, Genealogist of 1880, is a copy of the grant of arms in 1728 to a Richard Graves of Mickleton in Gloucestershire, which illustrates his connection to the Graves of Yorkshire, and traces other probable connections to Waterford in Ireland, where another Richard Graves had been sheriff and alderman before his death in 1724.³ The supposition that the Manx family originated in Ireland can be presumed from the obvious trading connections between the two countries, and from an entry in the Malew parish register for 1738, recording the burial of one 'Richard Graves, a young man from Dublin.' .

The founder of the Peel family, one John Graves, first appears in the town in 1740 or thereabouts. No entry in the parish registers has been found for his marriage to Jane Wattleworth, or for the baptism of his first-born child, but proof of them exists in the will, dated 1750, of a Mr. Henry Wattleworth, which records that he left 'to my daughter Jane, the house at the Cross, for her life, and after to her son Henry Graves:⁴ Jane Wattleworth, born 2nd February, 1710, was the grand-daughter of Archdeacon Samuel Wattleworth, for some years vicar of German. Subsequent children to John Graves and Jane Wattleworth recorded in the registers are Roger (b. 1749), William (b. 1753), and Thomas Joshua (b. 1756). Another child, also called William, was born in 1747, but died in infancy.

Of Peel itself at the time of John Graves' residence there, little information is available. In 1760 it is spoken of as a small town with 'an indifferent harbour' ⁵ and apart from size probably differed little in general appearance from Douglas or the other towns of the Island, the streets 'being very irregular and in some places extremely narrow and the houses crowded together without regard to convenience or uniformity.'⁶ In 1776 there was an attempt to improve town conditions by a law ordering proprietors of houses adjoining the streets to be responsible for the pavements; the inhabitants were to keep the streets clean, and no pigs were to be allowed to stray. The ecclesiastic returns for 1784 give the number of inhabitants of Peel as 1305, and the number of buildings as 253, of which two were breweries, one a free grammar school, another a mathematical school, still another an English charity school (Christian's) and one red-herring house. A study of John Corris's map of the town made in the same year shows it to consist of three main roads into the town — from Douglas, Ramsey, and Kirk Patrick — meeting at the Market Place, or Cross, where stood St. Peter's Church, and then continuing as one main street, Big Street, now Castle Street, down to the quay and sea-shore.⁷ Most of the buildings of the town clustered on the narrow streets between Big Street and present-day Factory Lane, but with others already beginning to spread out along the riverside and shore-line. Ten years later, the aspect of Peel had changed little. Robertson, in his Tour through the Isle of Man, in 1794, remarks '. . . the town is inert and solitary . . . the houses have a poor and miserable aspect... near the harbour are . . . some stately buildings . . . the people are poor but hardy.'

Nevertheless, in this 'inert and solitary' town, John Graves reared his four children. The family no doubt lived in the house at the Market Place, inherited by Jane in 1750 from her father, and still standing today, at the top of Castle Street, with its gable to the gates of St. Peter's Church, its back overlooking the old burial ground.⁸ Nothing is known of the trade or occupation of John, but as his son Henry was to become a shopkeeper in the Market Place, it is probably safe to assume that the business was originated there in some form, by his father.

Trade in the Island, after the Revestment Act of 1765, suffered much restriction mainly due to the introduction of the licence system by which importation of goods such as tea, tobacco, coffee, salt etc., was strictly regulated, and only possible on licences issued by the Board of Customs, London, resulting in Manx consumers being at the mercy of the few influential merchants who obtained these licences. But advantages of benefit to Manx traders did accrue from the English connection, and there is no doubt that from these stemmed the growth of the Graves' undertakings. Bounties were given on the export of cured herrings, as these did not compete with produce of Great Britain; duty free importation was allowed on salt and timber produced in Great Britain; on brown linen cloth, hemp and hemp seed, implements for use in manufactories, fisheries, and agriculture, produced in Great Britain and Ireland; and on cotton and naval stores from British plantations in America, provided they were carried in British ships. As Manx ships had, by the Revestment: become British ships, Manx merchants and traders were thus able to convey their imports and exports to and from the United Kingdom in their own craft.

Little has come to light regarding the everyday transactions of Henry Graves' business, but a few references survive in the accounts of Sir George Moore of Ballamoore, Patrick.⁹ In 1782, payment is recorded to Henry Graves of 7/11d. (British) for '19 lb. of fine Cheser Cheese at 5d. per lb.'; of 11/5d. (British) in 1784 for '4 Barrells of lime for Sir George Moore's use at 2/9d. 'per Barrell and portrage 5d.'; and in 1787 of 10/3d. (British) for '26 lb. of Roop at 4¾d. per lb That Henry was also an agent for importing is recorded in an account dated 1785, which sets out the various freight and duty charges payable on '2 Creats of Glass,' the total bill amounting to 17 / 10d: (British). These same Ballamoore accounts also reveal that Henry was not the only member of the family to be in business on his own - his brother William was a butcher supplying large quantities of beef to Sir George between the years 1780-1787, at the cost of 2½d. and 3d. per pound.

Henry died in 1797, and it is from the extent of the property he bequeathed in his will,¹⁰ that we can judge the success of his busines. At the time of his death, he had surviving six sons, John Thomas (b. 1781), Henry (b. 1783), William (b. 1784), Thomas Joshua (b. 1786), George (b. 1787), Charles (b. 1794), and three daughters, Margaret (b. 1780), Ann (b. 1795), and Jane (b. 1797). Six of these children were of his first marriage to Elizabeth Maddrell, who died in 1792 aged 42, having borne altogether twelve children. By his second marriage in 1793 to Judith Quane, heiress of the lands of Ballaquane, Dalby, he had the three children, Charles, Ann, and Jane.

To John Thomas and Henry, the two elder sons, was left the house, in which the family had lived until 1783. This house is still standing in the Market Place, being most distinctive with an outside staircase. The ground surrounding the house, known as the Big Garden, was also left to them, but Henry's share in the property depended on him allowing his sister Ann to 'peaceably possess and enjoy a house lately erected' on part of the ground. John Thomas likewise inherited the original Graves' home, at the top of Castle Street, provided he allowed his Uncle William to live in it. Other property left to them was a house and land in Castle Street later known as 'Kelly the Mormon's,'¹¹ and a piece of land at the end of the town on the Douglas Road known as Close Dan.¹² These two sons inherited the residue of their father's estate on condition that they resided in Peel and supported the family until all the children were of age.

George, the youngest son of the first marriage, was left £5 and a house and land at Boaley Spittal, which had been purchased in 1788 from John Cain, the shoemaker, for £60 (British), and William, the third son received £15, and a house at Red Gap, Castletown, which had been brought into the family by his mother. Margaret, the surviving daughter of the first marriage, inherited a house near the Market Place, which later became 10 Market Street.

To the children of his. second marriage, Henry left: to Jane £30 and some property 'lately purchased from Joseph Cannell' (but other wise unidentified); to Ann £25, the new house in the Big Garden, and another house adjoining the churchyard, then occupied by a Mary Witham; to Charles £25 'and part of the house purchased from John Cain of Largydhoo.' The other share in this house was settled on Henry's widow Judith, and through her marriage in 1804 to a Joseph Salmon, the property became known as 'Mrs. Salmon's House.' It still stands at the lower end of Castle Street, opposite the Ward Library, with two other similar buildings, Dale House, formerly the Royal Oak or Caledonian, and the Parson's House. All are stone built with large vaults and cellars.¹³The other property in Castle Street left by Henry, later known as 'Kelly the Mormon's', adjoined on to 'Mrs. Salmon's House.'

It was to Thomas Joshua, the next to the youngest son of his first marriage, that Henry left the family business and property connected with it, together with f10. Until he came of age it was to be in the hands of his two elder brothers, John Thomas and Henry. The business was carried on in property in Douglas Street known as 'Nicholson's,' which was also the family home, having been purchased in 1783. It was ' a long low house,'¹⁴ now demolished, which stood on the site of the present-day British Legion Club premises, at 6 Douglas Street. The eastern boundary of the property in 1783 was the house and concerns of a Thomas Quay, which Henry purchased sometime before his death in 1797, and the western boundary was the Duke of Atholl's property known as the Duke's Stables, which was pulled down when Parrs Bank, now the Westminster Bank, was built. With the acquisition ofall this property, which was to remain in the family for over a hundred years, Henry had laid the foundations on which the later flourishing business was built.

In 1807, Thomas Joshua came of age and assumed control of his inheritance. He had taken up the trade of sailmaker, and during the remainder of his life, to his.death in 1846, developed the businesses of timber merchant,¹⁵ fish-curer and boatbuilder.¹⁶The shopkeeping continued to. be carried on by John Thomas, and Henry became Collector of Customs in Peel.

The early years of the nineteenth century saw a great development in boatbuilding in the Island, and it flourished to such an extent that local opinion of the day considered it 'to have excited the alarm of our neighbours' (i.e. England). It had of course been carried on from much earlier days, turning out mainly fishing-boats of up to ten tons burthen, but only became a vital industry with the opening of bigger yards in Douglas, Ramsey and Peel in the 1820's and 1830's. By 1826, vessels of up to two hundred tons were on the stocks, and, during the years 1829-1832, twenty-nine vessels amounting to over two thousand tons were built in the Island. Peel was soon participating in, and flourishing through this boom. The Manx Sun of 30th May, 1834, reports that four vessels of one hundred and sixty-seven tons had been launched within the past fortnight — the John Henry, Paddy from Peel, Express, and Pelican — no doubt large-size fishing-vessels, and in 1838 the Manx Sun of the 15th June reports 'that sixteen new boats of very superior construction have been launched at Peel since the last fishing season, and more are nearly ready.'

The transition of the Graves family from general merchants and dealers to boat builders and owners came about initially, no doubt, through the practice of accepting shares in a boat as settlement of a trading debt; in the buying of shares in a boat as an outlet for the investment of capital; and as importers of timber for someone else's use, it is but a short step to commence using it for one's self.

The other flourishing industry with which Thomas Joshua Graves was connected was fish curing. It had been introduced to the Island during the eighteenth century, and by 1803 'not less than three hundred thousand barrels of herrings were packed, nearly all of which were consumed in Great Britain and Ireland.'¹⁷ Another outlet for export was the West Indies, where the cured fish was the major item in the diet of slaves on the plantations. This export trade had practically died out by the 1840's, due to the emancipation of the slaves, and the availability of other foods in the home market, but the original financial importance of the industry is interestingly illustrated in the marriage dowry agreement between Thomas Joshua Graves and John Cottier, the father of his wife, Elizabeth. The dowry was £100 (British) plus a feather bed and bedding, and part of the price is noted as having been paid in herring barrels.¹⁸

On his death in 1846, 'much and deservedly respected by all who knew him,'¹⁹Thomas Joshua left ten children, nine boys and a girl, two of them under age. His wife Elizabeth had predeceased him by thirteen years.

Henry, the eldest son, inherited the whole of the property and business — 'Nicholson's' in Douglas Street, with the adjoining properties; the sail-room in the house with the outside staircase in the Market Place; and all personal property such as fishing-boats and other vessels, furniture, implements, stock-in-trade, etc. Henry was to pay his brothers £50 each, and his sister £80, and was to support them until they were able to maintain themselves. This latter injunction would surely only apply to the two youngest as the others were all between twenty-five and thirty-five.

The succession of Henry Graves to the control of the business, ushers in the most influential and prosperous period for the family. He was already much experienced, as his father had lost interest in the business on the death of his wife in 1833, and we first hear of Henry in 1837 at the age of twenty-six, when he was travelling extensively on the Continent buying timber and merchandise. Letters from Germany to his wife Catherine Clucas, whom he married in 1836, throw an interesting and illuminating light on both business and social behaviour of the time — the latter particularly being noted on account of the Sunday amusements already prevalent on the Continent — no doubt in marked contrast to the sober church-going practices founded in Peel.²⁰

The year 1837 finds him in Hamburg, and he writes on October 2nd:

'You will see now I am in a foreign land. I arrived here yesterday evening, Sunday, at 4 o'clock in the evening, and I leave here this evening at 3 o'clock for Bremen by a coach, which is about 15 German miles, 44 English each. I will get into Bremen at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning... This is a very fine city, and a strange place, it is a beautiful country, and the people are remarkably civil, but it is the strangest place to me I ever saw. Yesterday, Sunday, was the day of all kinds of amusements, the most sinful, the shops were all open, theatre, ball-room, and all such things were publicly attended to. To the greater part of the inhabitants it is looked upon as a grand day of jubilee. I will endeavour to get done as quickly as possible at Bremen ... I have been fortunate on the whole since I left you with meeting with dispatch and agreeable travellers, there are 3 Englishmen in the house with me now but we are all going in different directions from this place today .. . I remain, your ever dearest husband, Henry Graves.'

From Bremen, four days later, on October 6th he writes again to Catherine:

'I wrote you... from Hamburg which I hope you received. I have been from here out in the country looking at the wood, and can get plenty at the price I expected, but it is a misfortune that I did not get it sooner, as it is difficult to get a vessel . . . I have not got one yet, but I expect to get one tomorrow, or Monday. The vessels lie about 30 miles from here which makes more difficulty. I have a good deal of timber picked out, and if I get a vessel, I can leave here in a few days — they are very decent people I have dealt with. I have been often at their house, and might be very comfortable, but am wishing very much for you, and home again... This is a remarkably pleasant place, and beautiful weather. I have been enquiring the price of good mahogany chairs, they are uncommonly cheap here, but I think I will not get any this time. The best are 8/- each and they are all the same. Looking glasses too are uncommonly cheap, but I have little enough money, as I doubt I will have to take a larger cargo than I intended. I will also take I think a lot of hams which are very good .. . Your ever affectionate husband, Henry Graves.'

Still in Bremen four days later, he writes on October 10th:

'I am now here a week today. I was fortunate to fall in with a very respectable house upon my arrival who deal very largely in the timber trade, went out to their place in the country that even ing, and although I did not find the timber altogether so suitable as I could wish, it would do as there was no better to be had this season, it seems to me a misfortune I did not get away sooner from home... Well I agreed on the price which was as low as I expected, and selected some of it out, came back again to Bremen next day in order to engage a vessel, [and] attended the exchange where Captains come and are engaged by brokers . . . he [the broker] could not get a vessel that day, but had no doubt he could get one in a day or two — day after day passes on, and still one cannot be procured . . . they do not like to come on so long a voyage so late on in the season, fearing the ice will set in before their return. I will wait a day or two longer, and if I do not succeed I will come home. Mr. Bley [the timber merchant] too has done his utmost but all in vain. There was a Captain this morning engaged to take it provided he could get a freight of iron back from Wales, which I thought was likely, but after going to exchange he could not get so high [a price] as he wanted. However, Mr. Bley has a vessel now in England which is expected here in three weeks, and he says if he cannot do better he will send her, he is uncommonly kind, indeed the people all here are kind, civil and polite. He lives in a house beautifully furnished, with his mother, brother, and three sisters . . . I am very often at their house, but still people here are no better than in Hamburg with respect to keeping the Sabbath, they righteously attend the Church (Lutheran), where there is service three times in the morning, beginning at 6 o'clock and ending at two or three. After, they attend all kinds of amusements, even the theatre. On Sunday I was spending the day at Bley's and . . . they asked me if I played cards. I said ''not on Sundays'? — ''why not on Sundays?'' — ''because it is not con sistent with our religion to do so.'' ''Well'' says a lady "I have heard that Englishmen will sit down and drink on Sundays, and sometimes get drunk; that, in our opinion, is far worse than sitting down to play cards.'' Well, after tea, cards were produced and they . . . played until supper time . . . after which they danced and sang... It was the most tiresome Sunday to me... The city is most beautifully laid out .. . with walks . . . all kinds of flowers . . . large trees . . . and beautiful shrubs . . . I remain your ever affectionate husband, H. Graves.'

In a postscript he adjures his wife not to mention to anyone his difficulty in obtaining a ship, as he would not like it to be known, obviously for business reasons. The outcome of this setback to his plans is not known, as here the letters for this trip cease.

The next record of his business travels occurs in letters of 1841, written again to Catherine, from Bremen. The first one, dated September 4th, is in journal form, giving the main events of his days from August 31st:

'Left Hamburg by steamer boat . . . for Harburg which is ten miles distance. Got into the diligence at 8 o'clock . . . the road being paved all the way to Bremen. Sept. znd. Picked out 200 pieces of oak timber . . . Sept. 3rd. Went to exchange to meet the different brokers to get the prices of different articles, as nothing can be done here without consulting brokers — find there is a sale of mahogany on Monday for which I.must stop. Sept. 4th. Engaged 20 carboys of spirits turpentine; bought 15 cwt. of cheese; 1 quarter of wheat; 150 lb. chocolate; ½ ton of molasses; ½ ton of rice; 15 cwt. of starch; 10 quarters of beans and peas; 1 ton of honey; 2 cwt. of hogs lard; ½ ton of butter, and picked out 70 pieces of oak timber, also 8 logs of mahogany . . . On Monday I intend to pick out the best of timber and leave Bremen for Hamburg in the evening, 5 o'clock.'

No other business records of the Graves' concerns appear to have survived and other sources of information can only give us at best glimpses of the ramifications of this extensive and flourishing business.

In 1851, six years after his father's death, Henry is listed in the census returns as a timber merchant employing thirty-six men. By 1861, this had risen to eighty-six men and one boy, and in 1864, the year of his death, 134 employees signed the letter of condolence sent to his widow.

This letter²¹ gives in detail the number of men employed in each department and leaves no doubt that Henry Graves was the largest single employer in Peel. There were twenty-one in the lower ship building yard; twenty-six in the upper shipbuilding yard; seven boatbuilders and blockmakers; seven in the sawmill; fifteen in the timber yard; five blacksmiths; eight sailmakers; two riggers; twenty three in the ropework; three coachmen and carters; eight masons and nine carpenters. Amongst these were four members of the family — his brother, John James Graves, foreman of the timber yard and a boatbuilder; his cousin, Henry Maddrell Graves, foreman of the upper shipbuilding yard; and this cousin's two sons, Alfred and John Thomas, employed as carpenter and blockmaker respectively.

In addition to the old family property inherited from his father, including the sail-room at the Cross, and the family home in Douglas Street,²² Henry owned a timber yard, sawmill and blacksmith's shop on land adjoining Peel gas-works, shipyards on the Quay (now the site of Quirk's coal-yard), and a ropewalk along the Neb. This rope walk was about 1,000 feet long, the spinning was done by hand, but the ropes themselves were made by machinery. The width varied from 1 inch to 6 inches, the widest being used for rope moorings, the narrowest for the top and bottom of nets. The lengths made ranged from 35 fathoms for the small ropes to 120 fathoms for the large ropes. Much of the heavy rope was exported, but the light rope was used mainly in Peel. There was a rope storage at the bottom of Station Road, approximately on the site now occupied by Kelly the seed merchant.

The shipyard turned out the finest schooners the Island ever possessed. They traded as far afield as the Baltic and Mediterranean, while the smaller craft — cutters and smacks of 80 tons' burthen — were used in the general coastal trade.

During these years, Peel was a thriving town and by the end of the 1850's ranked third in the Island. With between 100-150 boats in the harbour, the amount of money paid in wages rivalled even that of Douglas. From the 'inert and solitary town' of Robertson's Tour of 1794, it had developed into a place of 451 houses and 2,818 inhabitants.²³ This prosperity stemmed basically from the herring fisheries. Train, writing in 1845 ²⁴says, 'it is now the staple business with about seventy boats of 16-30 tons each.' The provision of gear and tackle of all kinds, the salting and transporting of the herring catch, and the building of more fishing- and other boats, all gave life and vitality to Peel and its concerns during these middle years of the nineteenth century.

Henry Graves (b. 1809 d.1864)

Henry Graves, while controlling his extensive and flourishing business, was also very much a Peel man, and worked for the interests of the town. He was a trustee of the Peel and Isle of Man Permanent Building and Investment Society, a shareholder in the gas and water works companies, a committee member of the Wesleyan Day School, and, through these and his influence as an employer, became a much esteemed and respected benefactor in the town. But all this could not be achieved without a price being paid, and ill-health dogged his steps for some years. He suffered from angina pectoris, but never theless persisted in his travels to buy timber — though journeying only as far as North Wales. On 1st November, 1859, he writes to his wife from Rhudland: 'We left Liverpool . . . for Chester, then to Holywell, walked to Dee Bank to look at timber about 2 miles, and it's wonderful, I never felt the pain in my chest .. .' Sometime during this year Henry also travelled to London, to consult a heart specialist.²⁵

But illness did force Henry into considering how his family would be situated if anything should happen to him, and previous to the trip to North Wales he wrote a short memorandum for his wife, dated 25th August, 1859, in which he set out his thoughts on the matter. 'Taking into consideration the large amount of money it takes to carry on the business, which has become so complicated, and so much out on the public that you cannot for sometime get in... I think you would better get out of it as soon as possible excepting the sail room which might perhaps be carried on as we have so many shares in vessels to be supplied with sails, and it would not involve much trouble or capital and Harry [his son, Henry Thomas, b. 1845] might perhaps in a short time attend to it — but this . . . I will leave entirely to your own judgement having implicit confidence . . .'²⁶ Having recovered enough to be travelling by the following November, this idea of curtailing the business was put in abeyance and things proceeded as before.

Of all the boats built by the Graves ²⁷— and the output is stated to have been one a fortnight at this time — perhaps the most famous is the Vixen, which, with 37 adventurers aboard, sailed to Australia in 1853 in search of gold. Not only was she built by the Graves, but she carried four members of the family among the thirty-seven. Henry's two brothers, Thomas Joshua and John James, and his cousin Henry Maddrell Graves were eventually to return to the Island, but another cousin, Robert Graves, remained in Australia and died there in 1891. The Vixen, too, eventually returned to the Island, and on 2nd April, 1864, was lost off the Calf of Man, in a gale, at almost the same spot where, ten years previously, she had had her last view of the Island at the commencement of her long voyage across the world. Whether the shock over this loss accelerated Henry Graves' death is not known, but nine days later the news of his sudden demise, at his home at Peveril Terrace, as reported by the Mona's Herald of 20th April, 1864, 'created consternation in the town. of Peel . . . the people . . . are only now becoming able to comprehend the possibility of a vacuum having been created in their little community which it will take a long time to fill. . .' The paper also contains a long and eulogistic account of the funeral and character of the deceased, and testifies as to the esteem in which Henry Graves was held. '. . . In addition to the immediate relatives and personal friends... a great number from other parts of the Island attended .. . rich and poor were present . . . no procession of this character .. . had ever before been seen in Peel. During the past week the principal shops in the town were partly closed, and on Saturday, although it was market day, some entirely shut up; while the flags at the Custom-house and on all vessels in the harbour were hoisted half-mast high.'

The long funeral procession must indeed have been a sight not seen in Peel before, containing as it did the total employees of the Graves' business, numbering approximately 140 men, as well as relatives and friends. Some of the employees bore the coffin on its journey from Peveril Terrace to the cemetery, the last token of respect they could give to 'one who was at all time to the men . . . in his employ, a friend that might be trusted . . . His public and private character, his counsel and experience, rendered him. essentially a benefactor. . . it may be said that ''while he had opportunity he did good unto all men'... his private life was a pure and simple one, and to those who enjoyed his friendship the loss is irreparable.'

To his family and business concerns also, the loss was irreparable. His widow, Catherine, was left with five children all under age, the eldest, Henry Thomas being only nineteen. Christian Ann, the youngest, was fourteen, and Thomas Joshua, Elizabeth Jane and Catherine were eighteen, seventeen and sixteen respectively. In spite of his forebodings six years before, Henry had not curtailed his business commitments, and by his wil.l²⁸Catherine his wife was to carry on his affairs until the children reached the age of twenty-four, and could inherit the property left to them. She was to enjoy the residue of the estate, and, as Henry had anticipated this to be a considerable amount, she could make further provision for the children if necessary. A valuation of the children's inheritance alone, made at the time, amounted to £8,400, so it can be seen that Henry died a comparatively wealthy man.

The timber yards, shipyards and sail-room were inherited by Henry Thomas, together with the old family home in Douglas Street, let to John Fayle, baker, and the adjoining property, bought in 1853, and let to Thomas Cottier, draper. Other property — Lace's field, Cholmondley field, a house in Market Street, Dawson's concerns and Gawne's concerns in Douglas Street — were left to the other children with shares in the Peel Gas Works, Waterworks, and Building Company.

If the first half of the nineteenth century brought trade and wealth to Peel and its inhabitants, the second half saw the decline of the town, gradual at first, but gathering momentum, until by the turn of the century Peel harbour was no longer crowded with fishing- and trading-boats, and of the once flourishing shipyards, the most famous one, Graves, was a coal-yard. The advent of steam, and the adverse circumstances brought about by the decline of the fishing industry, all contributed to this decline. One event of 1870, at a time when boat orders were good, had an almost equally disastrous result: an out break of fire in the Graves' sawmill almost completely destroyed a newly-arrived consignment of timber. It was insured, but for nothing like what would compensate for the loss. No reason was ever found for the fire, and no blame was attached to the workmen. It was current in Peel and reported in the Mona's Herald, 31st August, 1870, that the fire was the work of a spiteful debtor who had received a bill from Graves — and not for the first time! Another more pleasant occurrence of these years, which brought credit to the Island in general, and distinction to Henry Graves in particular, was the Great International Exhibition of Fisheries, held in London from May to October 1883. In a covered space of 300,000 sq. ft. everything con nected with sea and fresh-water fishing was gathered together. The Isle of Man, in company with Hawaii, the West Indies, Portugal, Greece, Italy, France and Austria, occupied. an exhibition court in a large pavilion. Though the exhibits were few in number compared to other countries, constant attention was drawn to the Manx stand by 'the overhanging Manx arms, displayed on two large medallions, and a good-sized banneret.'²⁹ In a class for fishing-vessels, three entries out of a total of six were from Manx yards. Models of a dandy-rigged boat were submitted by Henry Thomas Graves, Joseph Qualtrough of Port St. Mary, and Qualtrough & Company of Douglas. A gold medal was awarded to the Graves entry, and a diploma was also obtained by Henry Thomas for samples of rope used in mackerel fishing and in the rigging of the dandies. At the Liverpool Exhibition in 1886, the most imposing sight was a full-scale model of the Eddy stone Lighthouse, and pride of place next to it was taken by the lugger Manx Maid, built in the Graves yard. She was sailed from Peel to Liverpool and conveyed through the streets on a trolley, watched by crowds of people, and her impressiveness as an exhibit was marked enough to call forth an appreciative paragraph from no less a paper than the London Times.³⁰ The medal awarded to the lugger must mark the last high-water mark in the fortunes of the Graves ship building yard.

Like his father, Henry Thomas concerned himself with the interests of Peel, and the decline in his own business and of the town generally, made him aware of the need for the development of Peel as a watering place. In pursuance of this, he was the instigator and promoter of various schemes, and served in various capacities on committees and boards. During his term as member for Peel on the Harbour Board, work on the west quay and bridge, and on the roadway leading to Peel Castle was carried out, and his retirement from this board was occasioned only by a new requirement that members must be mem bers of the legislature — a political step for which he obviously had no liking. He served on the first Board of Town Commissioners set up in 1883, and saw a complete system of town drainage effected during his term of office. Other projects with which he was associated were the building of the Marine Parade, by the Peel Building and Investment Company, and the inauguration of a steamship service between Peel and Northern Ireland, which was later taken up by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. During these difficult years he also devoted much attention to the fishing industry on which so much depended, sat as a member of the Commission investigating schemes for the improvement of the industry, and was one of the original directors of the Peel Fishing Company, which did much good work before being wound up in 1900.

The family circle of the Graves did not reflect the continual change taking place around it, as from 1864 until 1900 it remained virtually unchanged — only one member, Catherine, leaving it in 1873 to marry.

Members of the Graves family in the drawing-room at Woodville Peel c.1895

Woodville, a large pleasant square house, on Tynwald Road, at the edge of the town, was the family home from 1886, on lease from the owner, the Reverend Henry Denning, till bought outright in 1896 by Mrs. Catherine Graves.³¹ Built in 1869, this house had had a previous tenuous connection with the family, having been owned at one time by Dr. T. A. Wood, who became the husband of Catherine in 1873. Photographs, now in the Manx Museum Library, taken in the drawing-room of Woodville, show us an intelligent, cultured and lively family group. Growing up with all the advantages accruing to a home supported by an established and flourishing business, they possessed the intellect and the leisure to pursue the cultural interests of the day. Elizabeth Jane particularly was deeply interested in literature and the arts, and developed a talent for story writing, especially about things Manx. She became part of a circle of people with like interests, at the centre of which was the Brown family: T.E., the Manx poet, and his two daughters, Dora and Edith. The thirteen letters to Miss Graves, from the poet, published in 1900.^{32 contain discussions on literature and philosophy, with one or two
written in the Manx dialect, in which Miss Graves, together with that other well-known Peel writer, Miss Sophia Morrison, took such delight.}

Reminiscing in 1950, Miss Dora Brown wrote: 'The Graves family at Woodville were all quite unique. Miss Graves reigned supreme .. . her Manx stories were famous, told in broad Manx dialect at all kinds of tea-parties . . . the family were splendid Manx story-tellers — each had their own special one or two, and very amusing they were.'³³ In a letter to Elizabeth herself, she told her that '. . . with your stories [and] your conversations — you possess the quality of discrimination and interest in character.'³⁴

Henry Thomas worked hard to keep this family circle together, but the decline in fishing and shipbuilding by 1900 was almost total. A breakdown in his health occurred early in the year, accelerated no doubt by the calamitious news of the failure of the Dumbell Banking Company, which brought ruin to many Island businesses and created panic among the populace. He recovered sufficiently to journey to Douglas to stay at the house of his sister Catherine, wife of Dr. T. A. Wood, but there had a relapse and died on March 13th. The death, five days later, of his mother Catherine Graves, at the age of ninety one, rings down the curtain on this history of a Peel family. In the long span of her life, Catherine had participated in the rise and decline of the family fortunes, first with her husband Henry, then with her son, Henry Thomas. She was possessed of a vigorous intellect, and, even at her death, could vie with one 20-30 years her junior, and was well respected in Peel for her generosity to the poor.

Both Henry Thomas, who was unmarried, and his mother died intestate, and the heir-at-law was Thomas Joshua, surviving brother and son. Tossy, as he was called, was the greatest dandy in Peel, always immaculately attired in spats, well-pressed trousers, fancy waistcoat, velvet jacket, and sporting a buttonhole.³⁵ Unfortunately, however, he had no business ability and does not appear to have played an active part in the business undertakings. In the next two or three years the major part of the properties was disposed of. Woodville, the family home, was given up, and Elizabeth Jane and Christian Ann went to live at Albert Terrace, Douglas, with their sister, Catherine Wood. The timber yard on Mill Road passed into the possession of a Walter Quayle, and Neakle and Watterson set up a boatbuilders' business on part of the old Graves' yard on the Quay., The smithy, near the timber yard, was bought by a James Watterson, who had been head smith for the Graves.

With the subsequent death of Thomas Joshua in 1912, of his sisters in later years, and finally of Miss P. D. Wood in 1960, this once influential and interesting family passes from the scene of Peel life, to be recalled only from the worn gravestones in St. Peter's church yard, near the little house which was the first family home; from the family vault, in the new Peel cemetery; and in the story of the Vixen, the most famous of all the ships built by the Graves.

Footnotes

1 Manx Museum MS. MD 148.

2 C. W. Bardsley: Dictionary of English and Welsh surnames, 1901.

3 Sir John Maclean: 'The family of Graves,' Genealogist, v. IV, no. 34.

4 Archidiaconal wills, Liber primus 1750: German and Peeltown, no. 15:

5 A. W. Moore: History of the Isle of Man, 1901, v. 2, p. 568.

6 Ibid., Pp. 564.

7 M.M. map PE.11.S.

8 M.M. MS. 5518 C.

9 Bridge House papers, M.M. MS. 4921 C.

10 M.M. MS. MD 148-4. .

11 M.M. MS. 334 C.

12 The location of Close Dan is not given in Henry Graves' will, but is stated in a sale notice in the Manx Sun of 23rd September, 1809

13 M.M. MS. 5518 C.

14 M.M. MS. 334 C.

15 Pigot: Directory of the Isle of Man, 1824.

16 Ibid., 1837.

17 Atholl papers, 145(2nd)-2.

18 M.M. MS. MD 148-6.

19 Mona's Herald and General Advertiser, 10.6.1846.

20 M.M. MS. MD 148-19/3r.

21 M.M. MS. 5459 C.

22 He moved from here to 1 Peveril Terrace sometime in the 1850's — and the Douglas Street property was let to John Fayle, baker.

23 Thwaites: History and Directory of the Isle of Man, 1863.

24 Train: History of the Isle of Man, 1845.

25 M.M. MS. MD 148-216.

26 M.M. MS. MD 148-25.

27 Lack of records makes it impossible to compile a list - ones known are, apart from the Viven, the Kate, Western Maid, Mona's Pride, Ben my Chree, F.S.G.

28 M.M MS. MD 148-13.

29 Isle of Man Times, 19.5.1883.

30 The London Times, 11.5.1886.

31 Peel Town Commissioners Rate Books.

32 Letters of T. E. Brown, 1900, v. II. contain discussions on literature and philosophy, with one or two written in the Manx dialect, in which Miss Graves, together with that other well-known Peel writer, Miss Sophia Morrison, took such delight.

33 M.M. MS. MD. 158.

34 M.M. MS. MD. 148-60.

35 Description supplied by Mr. Tom Dodd, of Peel.

Summary Genealogy of the Graves family of Peel*

1. JOHN Graves b. c. 1717 d. 1775.
m. Jane Wattleworth c. 1740-1744 (b. 1710 d. 1791).
had issue: Henry (q.v.) b. c. 1744 d. 1797; William b. 1747 d. 1751; Roger b. 1749 d. 1783; William b. 1753 d. 1803; Thomas Joshua ). b. c.. 1756 d. 1816. .

2. HENRY Graves Db. ¢. 1744 ad. 1797. .
m. 1st Elizabeth Maddrel] (GO. &. 1756 .d. 1792).
had issue: Jane b. and d. 1777; William b. 1778 d. 1780; Catherine b. 1779 d. 1780; Margaret b. 1780 d. 1826; John Thomas b. E78i d. 1833: Henry b. 1783 d. 1833; William bd. 1784; Thomas. Joshua (q.v.) b. 1786 d. 1846; George b. 1787; James b. 1788 d. 1790; Robert b. 1789 d. 1790; Elizabeth D. 170% ad. 176%.

m. 2nd Judith Quane. .
had issue: Charles b. 1794 ad. 1808; Ann b. 1795 d. 1866; Jane b. 1797 d. 1820.

3. Thomas Joshua Graves b. 1786 d. 1846.
m. Elizabeth Cottier 1809 (6. 1788 d. 1833). .
had issue: Henry (q.v.) b. 1809 d. 1864; Thomas Joshua b. 1811 d. 1812: Thomas Joshua 6. 1813 d. 1877; William b. 1814 d. 1848; John James b. 1816 d. 1864; Mary Ann b. and d. 1818; George b. 1819 d. 1852; James b. 1821; Edward bp. 1823 d. 1907; Charles b. 1825 d. 1906; Christian b. 1827; Samuel Francis D. 1830,

4. HENRY Graves b. 1809 d. 1864.
m. Catherine Clucas 1836 (b. 1809 d. 1900). .
had issue: Elizabeth Jane b. 1843 d. 1931; Henry Thomas (q.v.) b. 1845 d, 1900; Thomas Joshua b. 1846 d. 1912; Catherine b. 1848 d. 1932;Christian Ann b. 1850 d. 1916.

5 Henry Thomas Graves b. 1845 d. 1900. died without issue.

* A fuller family tree, compiled by the author, is in the Library of the Manx Museum and National Trust.