About Historically Manx
This site originated as a digital reference companion to a series of books, examining events and people in Manx history. But the deeper the research work went, the clearer it became that the Island’s history needed a platform to make it more accessible to everyone. The site needed to maintain rigorous research standards, but it also needed to find a way to open up the amazing stories from the Island’s past to anyone, young or old, in a way that was engaging and accessible.
The site now holds thousands of records — people, places, events, laws, folklore, traditions, language, emigration, military history — all cross-linked with connections between them. There’s a bespoke Manx-English translation tool, a map of interesting places on the Island, and an activities section for younger visitors.
The site is built on Omeka S, a specialist software designed specifically for linking historic material. The academic rigour is there, but the aim has been to make it friendlier than a cold encyclopedia, with a level of interconnectivity that lets you follow whatever interests you. In other words, a Manx history, culture and heritage rabbit hole that anyone can follow.
Every record tells its own story in full, and links seamlessly to everything around it so you can understand the context. Follow a person to the places they lived, the laws they shaped, the books that describe them, the primary sources that document them.
The ambition is to be the front door to Manx history: the place where someone who knows nothing about the Isle of Man can arrive, start exploring, and think, “I had no idea this happened — and there’s so much more here.” The more this resource can work alongside what Culture Vannin, Manx National Heritage, and the wider Manx heritage community are already doing, the better it will serve the Island.
Where it is going
The site launched with the material gathered during several years of research. But it is only the beginning.
A project is underway to transcribe the Bridge House Papers — the letter books and business records held by Manx National Heritage — which will open up a rich seam of eighteenth-century Manx commercial and social history. Further transcription projects will follow as resources allow.
The Activities section will grow to include teaching resources, family activities, and materials for home educators — because the Island’s story deserves to be told to the Island’s young people.
The long-term goal is to work in partnership with Culture Vannin, Manx National Heritage, and other Manx institutions to bring this history to life in a way that is approachable, well-sourced, and genuinely useful — to researchers, to teachers, to visitors, and to Manx people who want to understand the story of their own island.
About this project
Historically Manx is an independent heritage project, researched and built on the Isle of Man. It has no institutional affiliation, carries no advertising, and is funded solely by its creator.