[From Manx Note Book, vol iii,
1887]
MANX WORTHIES
JAMES WILKS
VICAR-GENERAL
AMES WILKS WAS BORN IN 1719, BUT NOTHING IS KNOWN OF HIS PARENTAGE, AND NOTHING OF HIS EARLY LIFE TILL 1742, WHEN HE WAS
ORDAINED BY BISHOP WILSON, AND APPOINTED CURATE OF ST. GERMAIN'S, " WITH power to dispose of the Glebe and all other profits
to the best advantage." As there was no school in that parish he at once interested himself in the matter, and obtained
a piece of ground near St. John's, where it was ultimately built. In 1745 he became vicar, and in the same year he
was sent by the Bishop to Dublin to see after some money left to the Academic Fund under Bishop Barrow's will, which
had been invested in that clt),. Part of the interest of this money had not been received for some time past, as appears
from a letter* of Bishop Wilson's to Mr. Kean, of Clontarf, soliciting his aid in the matter, of which Wilks was the bearer.
On his arrival in Dublin he received the following letter from his Bishop:-
Bps. Court,
june 7th, 1745.
Mr Wilks,
I hope this will find you safe in Dublin There was a short state of
the case in wch you are concerned, left behind,
wch I gave Captn Murray, the day after you went to be sent
by the first, to you I must desire you to get my Cousin Bate to make
a Flaggon wch will hold a full gallon, with a Spout. for the use of
the Sacramt - with a Dish of 14 or 15 inchs broad - and two light
Plates, to carry the Bread upon, all of the best pewter, with this
Inscription upon them -The gift of Mrs Catherine Halshal to God and
the Altar of Kk Maliew, A.D. 1745-and place ym
to my account.+ Your church is provided for, for a few
Sundays, and shall if need be, be taken care of afterwards . . . . .
. My kindest respects to Mr Kean, and to Coz. Bate. I pray God give
you good success and a safe return.
I am yor affect Freind (sic) and
Brothr;
"Tho: Sodor &
Man.
"To the Reverend Mr Wilks.
"Recomended to the care and freindlye of Mr Peter Quirk of
Peel."
His mission was evidently successful, as Bishop Wilson ordered the
following statement to be recorded-
"I do entirely approve of what has been done by
the Rev' J. Wilks, with the advice and assistance of my friend Mr E
Kean, in the recovery and settlement of the £250, part of the
Ac Fund, which same Mr Kean declares in his letter to me
tohave been in great jeopardy, but that the same is now sufficiently
recovered - In consideration of Mr Wilks' trouble upon the affair
besides his expenses I look upon Five Pounds to be a moderate
allowance."
In 1750 he was made Episcopal-Registrar, and in 1752 Vicar of
Michaeel . He was very intimately connected with the Bishop, who, in
his later years, greatly depended upon him. As surviving Curator of
the Bishop's will, to which he had been a witness, he carried out his
instructions respecting his funeral, in 1755. A good idea of James
Wilks' straightforward and yet cautious character is obtained from a
letter which he wrote at this time to the Rev. Philip Moore, Rector
of Ballaugh, who was endeavouring to get a dispensation to hold both
the Rectory and Douglas Chapel:-
" As you are so plain with me, touching the affair
of Ballaugh, I must be plain with you. I own my surprise that you
should desire the favour of a dispensation. To me it appears plain
that every minister ought to reside among the flock committed to his
charge. If you consider the present state of the Church and the fatal
consequences which may attend such a precedent being introduced I
dare say you have his Lorship's character and the good of the Church
too much at heart to desire such a favour. I hope you will excuse my
interfering on your behalf, but be assured that neither will I
interfere to your prejudice."
He went to London in 1755, and again in 1756, in connection with
the Chancery suit against the Earl of Derby for the recovery the
Impropriate Tithe. He kept a diary of these journeys and the business
transacted. On his first journey he set out from the Island on the
21st of March, about 10 p.m., and continued at sea till 3 a.m. on the
24th, when he was put ashore on the Sunderland sands, six miles below
Lancaster. He crossed the river in a boat, and, after walking upwards
of a mile, procured a horse to take him to Cockeram. Next day he went
on to Preston, and reached London on the 29th. The day after his
arrival he dined with the Duke of Athol, who asked him many questions
about the Island and the Bishopric, and a few days after introduced
him to Dr. Hildesley, Vicar of Hitchin, whom he had appointed to
succeed Bishop Wilson. The Bishop then entered into a long
conversation with him, and was much pleased with what he heard.
On his first going to London it was agreed upon that he should be
paid £25 10s., and 6s. a day for every day beyond 40, and in
case of his death, his widow, (Margaret Woods, daughter of the Rev.
J. Woods,) was to receive £8 per annum. She, however, died
during his absence. He afterwards married Elizabeth, daughter of
William Christian, of Ballamoar, Jurby, who survived him. In the
minutes of Convocation, held at Michael, 1756, the following entry
occurs relative to his second journey:-
"Whereas Hugh Hammersley, Esq., solicitor for the
Clergy and Schoolmasters in the cause depending in the H.C. of
Chancery against the Earl of Derby by letter bearing date April 17,
has requested that the Rev. James Wilks would forthwith proceed to
London in order to attend the settling of the Accounts before the
Master in Chancery. We are truly sensible of the services the said
James Wilks may be of in the Premises, and have so far prevailed with
the said Mr. Wilks to undertake the same.*'
This time he was paid 10s. 6d. for expenses every day he was
absent and the compensation for his trouble and loss of time was to
be decided by the Bishop, the Receiver, and Comptroller, "with such
annual provision for his children in case of death as they think
proper."
On his way via Liverpool, he called at Crosby, and had a long
conversation with Mrs. Halsall, respecting her intended charities to
the Island.
In 1766, he made another journey to London on Ecclesiastical
business, when he had an interview with the Archbishop of York, to
whom he represented the deplorable state of the Island, where there
had been a very bad harvest, and told him that two representatives of
the people had come to town, to solicit some favour from Parliament.
He laid before his Grace the heads of several branches of trade which
would benefit the people and no way prejudice the Revenue. The
Archbishop and the Bishop of Durham promised to do what they could,
but it was late in the Session, and Parliament was embarrassed with
North American affairs, so nothing was then done. However, in the
next year, an Act was passed for the encouragement of trade and
manufactures. Disputes had arisen between some fishermen and the
clergy about the fish-tithe. The fishermen appealed from the decision
of the Governor to the King and Council, and James Wilks had to go to
London to assist in the defence of the Clergy.
At this period disturbances and riots were frequent in London,
caused by a constitutional struggle, in which John Wilkes was the
most conspicuous character, so that James Wilks was frequently
questioned as to his relationship to his namesake. Referring to this,
he says-
"For my own part I would wish, for the present, my
name was any other than Wilks, for wherever I have occasion to tell
my name I am stared at and asked whether I am not a relative of the
'Great Wilkes,' as he is called."
By the Statute law of the Island it had been enacted that-
" Every master of a fishing boat shall cause all
fish to be brought above the full sea-mark and there to pay truly the
tithe, and if they will not truly pay then the master shall make 5
shares of the fish and the Proctor shall appoint to be divided what
share he will. The master must divide. The Proctor shall choose in
that order because it hath no life."
In 1643, this was confirmed by a decree of Lord Derby, agreed to
by the Officers spiritual and temporal and four men out of every
parish ; and again, by the Commissioners, sent by Charles Earl of
Derby, to settle affairs in 1660. But the fishermen seemed to have
thought that this law had been affected, if not superseded, by the
King taking possession of the Island ; as one ground on which they
claimed exemption was-
'' That the fish had been caught on his Majesty's
seas a great distance off the Island, and landed in his Majesty's
seaport of Peel, in which fishing they paid Custom."
James Wilks had the management and direction of the various suits
connected with the fish-tithe, all of which were decided against the
fishermen, and out of the sums paid in lieu of the tithe the clergy
who had contributed to their defence were re-imbursed, and the
remainder went towards paying him for expenses and loss of time.
In 1769, he became one of the Vicars-General, and in 1771, Rector
of Ballaugh. On his appointment there, he and the Vicar of German
perambulated a great part of the boundaries of their parishes,
attended by a large number of parishioners, and fixed the limits in
several doubtful places. He had taken part in the translation and
revision of the Manx Bible, which was first published in 1772. Bishop
Hildesley's death occurred in the same year, and James Wilks was left
executor with the Bishop's sister. The arrangements with the Bishop's
successor devolved a good deal of trouble upon him, chiefly with
reference to what was called the "Executor's Crop", before his final
settlement in 1775.
James Wilks died in June, 1777, and was buried in the old
Churchyard of Ballaugh. On his tombstone is the following
epitaph:-
Sleeping in Jesus.
Translated hence the good man never dies,
But like the day-star only sets to rise.
Rev. James Wilks,
Rector of this Parish and Vicar-General,
Aged 58 Years.
Was buried June 21st, 1777.
Next to Philip Moore, James Wilks may justly be considered the
ablest Manx Clergyman of his time.** Like him, he was the devoted
friend and assistant of both Bishop Wilson and Bishop Hildesley, and
like him he was possessed of some literary power, as will be seen
from the interesting account of "The Inhabitants of the Isle of Mann
and their Language," which will appear in
the next number of the Note Book.
S. N. HARRISON.
* Keble, 'Life of Bishop Wilson,' P.
870.
+ Mr. Charles Swinnerton writes to
the Editor with reference to the above dish--." Going one day into my
friend John McGhie's brass-moulding shop and seeing this plate rolled
up ready to be put into the crucible, I took it up and having read
part of the inscription engraved on the rim I bought it and got a
copper smith to beat it out to its original shape. I then found the
inscription to be exactly as stated in Bishop Wilson's letter. The
flaggon and other plates were melted down."-[This gives a vivid
idea of the care taken of old church plate in the Isle of
Mann.-ED.]
** William Walker was earlier, and John Kelly
somewhat later.
