British public fund which became directly connected with Manx finances through the compensation granted to the Duke of Atholl in 1805.

The Duke had petitioned Parliament for further compensation following the 1765 transfer of sovereign rights in Mann. A House of Commons committee reported in June 1805 that the claim had been established and initially recommended that further compensation should be charged on the revenue of the Island.

That proposal was opposed. Parliament instead passed 45 George III c.113, granting an annuity to John, Duke of Atholl, and the heirs general of the seventh Earl of Derby and charging it on the Consolidated Fund of Great Britain rather than directly on Manx revenue.

The annuity was calculated as one quarter of the gross annual customs revenue then arising in the Isle of Man and was payable quarterly. The Act also provided a method of recalculating the payment if existing Manx customs duties were later repealed or altered.

A Manx Society commentary later stressed the distinction between charging the payment on the Consolidated Fund and charging it directly on the Island’s revenues, noting that Parliament had previously directed surplus Manx customs revenue towards purposes connected with the government and benefit of the Island.