The Cursing Stone at Raby Keeill is located in the parish of Patrick on the Isle of Man, near the site of an ancient keeill (chapel). Cursing stones are a feature of Celtic tradition, believed to bring misfortune upon those against whom they were turned, and several examples survive at early Christian sites across the Island.
You are a customs officer at Douglas harbour in 1755. Ships are arriving from Rotterdam, Bordeaux, and Barcelona. Every cargo is entered legally through the Duke of Atholl’s customs house. Every duty is paid. Nothing you see is against Manx law.
But you know — everyone knows — that those eight boxes of Bohea tea will be on a wherry to Lancashire by midnight, and the three tons of brandy will never see a British customs house.
The Duke profits from the duties. The merchants profit from the trade. Your family depends on it. What do you do?
Each family member plays a different role: the customs officer, the merchant, a cooper’s wife, the Duke’s agent, a revenue cutter captain from Whitehaven. Each has a situation to resolve. There are no right answers. That’s the point.
A Civil War fort north of the Ballure stream is mentioned in 1643 and listed in the inventories of 1694, 1702 and 1713 as the Danes' Fort. This name is thought to be significant and it may have re-used an earlier Iron Age/Viking earthwork. By the mid 18th century 'only the vestiges of the ramparts and a few old unserviceable cannon' were seen. There is no evidence that the fort was renewed in 1757.
From this it has been conjectured that this may have been the site of an Iron Age or Viking promontory fort. The site has been lost to development and coastal erosion. It was intact in 1820 according to Oswald who described it as being similar to that at St Marks 'the circular redoubts of both being high and strong and enclosed by a ditch'.
The Deemsters are the judges of the Isle of Man, an office of great antiquity in Manx law. Traditionally there were two - the Deemster of the Northside and the Deemster of the Southside - who administered justice according to Manx common law and custom, and who served as members of the Legislative Council. Their role in "deeming" (declaring) the law gave the office its distinctive name.
Treasury correspondence and supporting affidavits concerning John Dexter, an Isle of Man tenant-farmer who attempted to report smuggling activities to British customs authorities. The document includes sworn statements from local witnesses defending John Quayle (Comptroller) against allegations of ill-treatment, and Dexter's petition requesting employment in His Majesty's Customs service after being forced to flee the island.
A collection of Treasury documents (T 1/439/156-160) concerning John Dexter, who attempted to inform on smuggling operations on the Isle of Man but had his letters intercepted by smugglers. The file includes a covering letter from the Customs Commissioners, affidavits from two witnesses (Margaret Quirke and Mary Cain) defending the treatment of Dexter's wife during her confinement, and Dexter's own petition seeking employment in the Customs service as recompense for his loss and service to the Crown. The affair illustrates the dangers faced by informers, the dominance of smuggling interests on the island, and the vulnerability of Crown officials.
The bishopric that served the Island from the Norse period onward, answering to its own traditions and serving its own people. The name Sodor derives from the Norse Sudreyjar, the Southern Isles (the Hebrides). The bishop held a seat in Tynwald. The diocese maintained the accommodation between the Christian faith and the older world. After the Revestment, the patronage of the bishopric was transferred to the Crown in the 1829 settlement, valued at £100,000, meaning the Bishop of Sodor and Man was now an appointment made in London for reasons that had nothing to do with the Island.
The Night Man, a familiar spirit peculiar to the Isle of Man, though bearing a faint resemblance to the Irish Banshee. One of the two familiar or household spirits known on the Island alongside the Lhiannan-Shee. While the Lhiannan-Shee was a guardian, the Dooinney-Oie was a warning spirit whose appearance foretold danger or death.
Lieutenant Hawkes of HMS Maria arrived at Douglas while the herring fleet was in port. Norris Moore, the High-Bailiff, asked his intentions. Hawkes assured him he did not intend to impress any fishermen or interfere with the fishery. The fishermen, on that assurance, continued their work. On the night of 17 August, Hawkes broke his word. The result was what forty-six years of accumulated grievance had been building toward — the fishermen fought back. It was the one time the Manx people responded to the machinery of extraction with significant physical resistance. The Admiralty's eventual reply described the fishermen's conduct as very improper. The men were eventually released. The terror of impressment continued.
The site of a series of small mounds recorded by P.M.C. Kermode. Dr Larch S. Garrad was of the opinion that they were shieling mounds, but their origin remains unknown.
The Drowning Pool and the Phynnodderee's Pool are located in the parish of Lonan on the Isle of Man. The Phynnodderee is one of the most distinctive creatures of Manx folklore, a hairy, supernatural being said to perform agricultural tasks for farmers but shunning human contact; the pool associated with it in Lonan is traditionally held to be its dwelling place.
An academic monograph examining the organization, activities, and political influence of the East India Company's home government in London during the 1784-1834 period. Covers the Board of Control, the Court of Directors, and interaction with Parliament and the Ministry, including detailed analysis of Directors' elections, Proprietor meetings, and the evolution of Company power within British governance.
Comprehensive scholarly monograph examining the East India Company's role in British politics from 1700 to 1784, with particular focus on the Company's internal power struggles, Parliamentary interventions, and the constitutional and regulatory changes culminating in Pitt's East India Act. Directly relevant to understanding the political context of the 1765 Revestment and the broader relationship between Parliament, the Crown, and trading corporations.
In January 1771, the Keys were consulted about stationing an East India Company regiment on the island. The response was divided, and the division told everything about the impossible position Manx people occupied. On one hand, the money soldiers spent would prevent further emigrations of useful hands — the island was so poor that even a garrison's pocket money would help the economy. On the other, the troops would be recruited from gaols and the dregs of mankind, undisciplined though armed among a defenceless helpless people. A defenceless helpless people — the Keys' own words, six years after the Revestment. The proposal was not implemented.
An academic paper by Dan Bogart examining the evolution of the East India Company's monopoly privileges from 1600 to 1813 through the lens of institutional economics (North-Wallis-Weingast framework). Analyses how rule of law for elites and perpetually lived organizations emerged, with particular attention to political instability, fiscal capacity, and the interplay between Crown/Parliament and the Company. Directly relevant to understanding EIC interests and institutional context surrounding the 1765 Isle of Man Revestment.
An economic history paper by Dan Bogart (UC Irvine) analysing the East India Company's monopoly through the lens of institutional transitions from limited to open access orders. Covers the Company's charter (1600), intermittent threats from interlopers and forced loans under the Stuarts, consolidation under the Restoration, and final loss of monopoly in 1813. Directly relevant to understanding the political-economic context of the 1765 Isle of Man Revestment and comparative institutional development.
Wilson's courts had jurisdiction over morals, marriages, wills, tithes, and church discipline. Punishments included public penance at the church door, dragging through water, and standing in a white sheet. The courts were a parallel legal system operating alongside the civil courts, not subordinate to them. The Hampton case, the Mary Hendrick adultery case of 1715, and the imprisonment of the Clerk of Rolls all demonstrate two systems of authority in constitutional tension. This was the healthy functioning of a small polity, not a theocratic overreach.
Between the late eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries, thousands of Manx people left the island — for Ohio, for Cleveland, for Virginia, for Australia, for everywhere.
The ships that carried them have names: the Chile, the Curler, the Ocean, the Fanny, the Jane, the Ann. The places they built have names: Steubenville, Cadiz, Monroeville.
Did anyone in your family leave? Talk to the oldest people you know. Check the records (ManxBMD, the Manx Museum archives, the website’s Emigration section). If you find a connection, map the journey — from which parish to which ship to which destination.
If you don’t find a family connection, adopt one of the documented emigrants and trace their story instead.
Chapter from a 1900 History of the Isle of Man covering the post-Revestment period (1765–1830), focusing on the fourth Duke of Atholl's efforts to recover lost rights and revenues, his disputes with the Tynwald Court and Keys, his appointment as governor in 1793, and the final purchase of his remaining rights by the Crown in 1825–1828. Extensively annotated with contemporary sources and parliamentary records.
A detailed historical chapter analysing the impact of the 1765 Revestment on Isle of Man governance, focusing on Treasury control (1765–1793), the appointment of the 4th Duke of Atholl as governor (1793–1826), his disputes with the Keys and Tynwald Court over manorial rights and revenue, and the eventual Crown purchase of his remaining rights (1825–1829). The chapter covers constitutional tensions, smuggling revenue, and comparative administrative approaches.
A detailed historical chapter examining the immediate and long-term effects of the 1765 Revestment on Isle of Man governance. It covers the shift from hereditary lords to Treasury control, the contentious relationship between the 4th Duke of Atholl and the Tynwald Court (1793–1826), parliamentary disputes over compensation, and the eventual Crown purchase of the duke's remaining rights. The chapter includes extensive discussion of constitutional tensions, revenue disputes, and the comparative prosperity of the island under different regimes.
A scholarly historical chapter analyzing the consequences of the 1765 Revestment Act for Isle of Man governance. It examines the transition from hereditary lordship to Crown control, the subsequent appointment of the 4th Duke of Atholl as governor in 1793, his disputes with the Tynwald Court and Keys over manorial rights and revenue, and the eventual purchase of his remaining rights in 1825–1829. The text provides extensive detail on constitutional conflicts, parliamentary petitions, and the role of the Keys in resisting ducal authority.
Chapter 1 from a 1900 history of the Isle of Man, covering the period immediately following the 1765 Revestment Act. Analyzes the effects of English Treasury rule, the appointment of the 4th Duke of Atholl as governor in 1793, and his protracted disputes with the Manx Keys over manorial rights, revenues, and constitutional authority, culminating in the Crown's purchase of his remaining rights in 1825–1829.
This is a substantial chapter from a published history examining English rule over the Isle of Man following the 1765 Revestment and the subsequent governorship of the fourth Duke of Atholl (1793–1826). It details Treasury mismanagement, the Duke's petitions for compensation and additional rights, parliamentary disputes, the 1791 Commission enquiry, his appointment as governor, conflicts with the Keys and Council, and the final purchase of his remaining rights in 1825–1829. The work directly addresses constitutional power dynamics, revenue disputes, and the conflict between hereditary lordship and Crown sovereignty.
