Print from
ILN showing declaration of
results in first election for House of Keys in
1867
Designed by John Robinson and built by his brother Henry Robinson (a partnership that produced many of the early Victorian buildings in Douglas).
Originally built as the 'Oddfellows Hall' just in time to house the 1841 Annual Moveable Conference of the order. However it proved too much of a financial burden for the shareholders and was sold shortly afterwards by the coronor.
Renamed St George's Hall - 'it contains an elegant hall which is in constant use for lectures, concerts. and other entertainments, it is capable of seating five hundred persons ... The theatre, which was formerly held in St. George’s Hall, has recently been held in the large room above the Wellington Market '[Slater's directory 1857].
It became the couthouse by 1857, (though it seems courts were held in it earlier whilst still St George's Hall) replacing the dilapidated one on the Pier (North Quay), which role it kept (though severly cramped and out of date) until the late 1990's when the new courthouse complex was completed.
