[From Manx Quarterly, #16,1916]

The Story of St. Matthew's Church, Douglas,

Of the early Chaplains of St. Matthew's, them is one to whom a special reference should be made, viz., the Rev Philip Moore. He was appointed Chaplain in 1736, and appears to have had a large, interesting, and useful association with the church, as the tablet on the wall of the interior shows. The memorial was placed on the east wall of the old church in 1785, and removed to the new church at the time of its erection. It runs as follows: —

Sacred to the memory of
'THE REV. PHILIP MOORE,

Rector of Kirk Bride and Officiating Minister of the Chapel of Douglas. His education was completed under the auspices of good Bishop Wilson ; and he made a grateful return for this singular advantage by contributing to the virtuous instruction of youth ; being over 40 years Master of Douglas School. He was likewise principally concerned in revising the memorable Translation of the Sacred Scriptures into the Manx Language ; for which. by his learning, he was eminently qualified. He was born in Douglas, September 2, 1705, and died there. January 22, 1783. This monument was erected as a testimony of friendly esteem. at the expense of the Rev Thos. Wilson, D.D., son of the Bishop, Prebendary of Westminster, and Rector of St. Stephen's, Wallbrook.

It would appear from the above that the duties of the Chaplaincy were not, in those far-off days, of a very trying or onerous character, otherwise the position of the Chaplain could not have been a very enviable one, as he seems to have been also Rector of Kirk Bride at the time of his death. Indeed, at a later date when the Chaplain lived at the appointed house in New Bond-street, the probability is that his educational duties as Master of the Grammar School to some extent interfered with his ministerial duties as Chaplain of St. Matthew's. If that was the case, it would account for the following picture which is given of the place in the first quarter of the 19th century, by one who claimed to have lived in the Chaplain's house: — "We lived in the Chaplain's house, situated in a very narrow, dirty street, which was dignified with the name of New Bond-street. The house was a long building with vaulted cellars beneath, which were let to a. grocer as a wine and spirit store; the rent formed part of my father's income. I have a rather indistinct recollection of the arrangements of the house, but they were not very comfortable. Some of our neighbours were very drunken, wretched people, of whose nightly brawls I have a very lively recollection. Our surroundings were of a mixed character. In front of the house was a low public, at the back there lived a lady of aristocratic manners; she was taken to church every Sunday in a sedan chair, and the sight of the chair, with the two stalwart bearers in knee-breeches going down the street, was looked forward to as one of the chief excitements of the week. St. Matthew's is a very plain building. I should think it accommodated about 300 people. There was in a part of the gallery a very grand square pew, covered with a canopy and surrounded with curtains. This was the pew set apart in old times for the Duke of Athol or Lord of the Island; but before my time the Athol family had sold their rights to the Government, so the Duke's pew was empty, but we looked at it with a feeling of awe. There was no, gas-light then in Douglas, and the chapel was lighted with candles. which Henry Fazzard, the sexton, snuffed at intervals, but which before the end of the sermon grew very dim and sweated and spluttered abominably. The Chaplain was one of the lowest of the, low Churchmen, who took such liberties with Church rules as would make most low Churchmen of these days stand aghast. I never heard him read the Athanasian Creed. He took not the slightest notice of Ash Wednesday or of Lent. I do not that he always had service an Good Friday : Holy Thursday was like any other day; and as to honouring the Saints by the observance of the days appointed the Calendar, he would never have dreamt of it." How often have we heard the " good old days " which some would fain revive! Thank God there had been days in the past; but, better still, the future had in store for St. Matthew's a complete recovery from this condition into which it had fallen, nay, the future was to witness so great a recovery that the Old Church was not to be sufficient to accommodate its worshippers or to satisfy their ideas of what was fitting as a sanctuary of the Most High God. — " Manx Church Magazine," for April.