Edward "Ned" Maddrell (1877-1974) of Cregneash, widely regarded as the last native speaker of the Manx language.

His death closed a decline the census had been measuring for seventy years. The proportion of the population returning a knowledge of Manx was 8.1 per cent in 1901, 4.8 in 1911, 1.5 in 1921 and 1 per cent in 1931. By 1951 it had dropped to 0.5 per cent, and no language question was asked in 1981. The revival that followed, helped by government funding for classes, had brought the figure back to around 2 per cent of the population by 2001.

Recordings made of his speech in the mid-twentieth century remain a central resource for the study and preservation of Manx.