References and further reading
References and further reading
Founded 1979. Publishes quarterly Journal - see Index
and copies of journal held on this website.
Meets, 7:30pm, every third Friday of the month at Union Mills Methodist Church hall, (Union Mills is some 3 miles out from Douglas on the Peel Road)- visitors are always welcome. It also operates a library above Christian St, Peel (almost opposite the bus terminus near the Cathedral) where members are welcome - check opening hours first.
Has extensive list of publications of Memorial Inscriptions, Burial Registers and indexed 1851 and 1881 census records.
See their new Web-site< http://iomfhs.im/>
for addresses etc. of current membership secretaries & some on-line data
(there may still be additional information on thier old page - <www.isle-of-man.com/interests/genealogy/fhs/index.htm>.
The Manx equivalent of the British Museum, National Art Gallery
and British Library all rolled into a single organisation! Founded in
1886.
![[Manx Museum Library Extension]](../../towns/douglas/zmmlib.jpg)
Its main site in Douglas occupies what was Noble's Hospital, opened
in 1886 and converted to house the Museum in 1922. The Library, which
houses a priceless collection of documents, is housed in a 1960
extension to the building, giving five floors of Library Stacks.
A short guide to other, possibly useful, holdings is given by Miriam Critchlow in Beyond the Microfilm readers in FHS Journal Vol 11.sp pp4-5
The Museum publishes Sources for Family History Public Information Sheet #4 which is a free, 4 page, introduction to Museum holdings.
The Manx Museum and National Trust
Douglas
Isle of Man IM1 3LY
Tel +44 (0)1624 648000; Fax 648001
E-mail <enquiries@mnh.im> but response can be slow as all fax, post and email enquiries are dealt in order of arrival by the staff who also have to man the counter for personal callers - see also www.imudeum.im for access to on-line (pdf only) version of the very useful Manx Museum Library Factsheets
Opening Hours: 10 am to 5 pm Wednesday to Saturday - there is no admission charge for either the Museum or for using the Museum Library. The library is closed for the last week in January for stock checking etc (the Museum remains open).
![[General Registry]](../../towns/douglas/zrgstry.jpg)
The General Registry incorporates the Office of the High Court and
the Companies, Deeds, Probate, Land and Civil Registry.
Its functions include the issue of summonses and processes for all
divisions of the High Court, the incorporation of companies, the
making of grants of Probate and the registration of deeds and
documents leading to title to real estate in the Island.
A guide to its holdings can be found in Records held in the General Registry
FHS Journal vol 11.sp pp45-47
Certificates can be obtained by post, but please give the details you know as
simply as possible. The name, approximate date and the parish if known should
be given; for marriage and death certificates state the occupation.
Please remember when writing for information keep letters simple and to the
point, print the details known on a separate piece of paper to your letter and
state clearly the information you require. Remember that no information can
be given except in the form of a certificate and that civil
registration only existed in full from 1878.
Web site - <http://www.gov.im/registries/general/civilregistry/welcome.xml> has a guide to what they do and the costs involved.
The Registries, Deemsters Walk, Bucks Road, Douglas IM1 3AR
It comprises:
Companies Registry (Tel: 685233 Fax: 687004).
Deeds Registry (Tel: 685250)
Land Registry (Tel: 685249 Fax: 685296)
Civil Registry (Tel: 687038 Fax 685976)
Public Records Office: Unit 3, Spring Valley Industrial Estate,
Braddan (Tel:613383 . Fax: 613384)
A guide to How to start on your family tree also gives some of the 'theological' background as to why the Mormons are interested in Family History. It also helps explain why most Roman Catholic records (and those of certain other denominations) are not released to them.
You may also be interested in Gunnison's 1852 History of the Mormons and my introductory comments thereupon.
I guess it is one of life's little ironies that although the Mormons preach it is solemn mockery before God, that ye should baptize little children [Book of Mormon Moroni 8:9] it is indeed the baptismal records of children that are so valuable!
William Cubbon in Island Heritage recalls how a visit by a granddaughter of George
Cannon, Miss Ann Cannon, in 1926 led in 1944 to the request to microfilm all historically important books in the Record
Office. At that time some 250 rolls of microfilm were taken recording some 350,000 separate pages some dating from 1417
- many other documents were filmed in a latersession in the 1960s. It is the availability of these microfilms that allows
much research to be done off island - however be warned that many records need considerable experience to read the handwriting.
An excellent guide to the LDS films is
given by Alison Glenie and included, by permission on this site.
These are centres, generally co-located with Mormon Temples or other meeting places, which have a collection of computer/microfiche records and other support for tracing your family history. Most are in North America though a growing number are now opening elsewhere, see Mormon pages for list. A small charge is normally made for film hire.
The International Genealogical Index is produced by the Church of LDS and lists all births/baptisms and marriages extracted from various registers. It does not index deaths/burials. Now computer based it is regularly updated - the complete IGI for the Isle of Man is available on some 15 microfiche and can be bought for a few dollars (see guide to the LDS films ). Selective printouts or disc copies (names/parishes) are also available at FHCs. Most major public libraries in the UK will have the fiches.
An on-line version of the IGI (+ other vital records) is now available www.familysearch.org - at times the service is swamped and access may be rationed.
However useful the IGI is as an index, or finding tool, you should still confirm entries from the microfilms of the parish registers. Entries in the IGI (especially the latest on-line version) may also arise from entries both in LDS records (e.g. 'sealings for the dead') or from 'patron submitted data' - both should be treated with great suspicion, many are totally erroneous and indicate wishful thinking for 'records that should be there'. Even the parish register details are a 3rd generation transcription as they derive from the Rolls Office 1910/1911 compilation of transcriptions of parish registers and not directly from the registers themselves - see information on Batch Numbers.
Those in print may be obtained from any of the Island bookshops. Several of these may also stock secondhand copies of out-of-print items.
The Manx Family Tree: A Beginners Guide to Records in the Isle of Man 2nd edition 1994 (ISBN 0-9523963-0-0) edited by J. Narasimham, N. Crowe and P. Lewthwaite. A 3rd edition 2000 is now available - it provides an excellent guide to what records are available and how to obtain and interpret them.
Ancestral Trails (ISBN 0-7509-1418-1) by Mark D. Herber Sutton Publishing/Society of Genealogists 1997 (reprint 1998) is an invaluable reference to British (mainly English) sources. As a guideline to what is available and where to find it, I have not seen its equal - should be on the bookshelf of anyone researching any family with English connections.
There may well be more such family histories - I would appreciate any notification; A major problem is however their lack of availability; usually published in small runs for family use they are often not taken even by the major copyright libraries. The Manx Museum and the IoM FHS will usually have copies (for consultation not loan) of those published on the Island. A.W. Moore started collecting material on Old Manx families, some of which appeared in Manx Note Book - a transcription with many additional updates/corrections was done by Joyce Oates and is available on-line and covers many of the names mentioned below.
Some of these contain extensive biographies of leading families in
the Parish - those by the Radcliffes are particularly
recommended.
For a guide to each of the parishes see my Parishes
section.
Some histories of specific organisations often contain lists of personnel as well as short biographies of key people
A.W.Moore IoMSPCO 1830-1904 especially chapter 5 with biographies of Captains
Currently the key collection of individual biographies is A.W. Moore's Manx Worthies which covers many of the key people in Manx public life who had died by c.1900. A Master list of all biographies on my site is available - see also Memorial Notices in Manx Quarterly
An updated collection is promised as part of the millennium collection to be published under the auspices of the Centre for Manx Studies.
Manx stamps (UK stamps are not valid on mail from the Island) can
be obtained from:
IoM Post Office
Philatelic Bureau,
P.O.Box 10M,
DOUGLAS,
Isle of Man IM99 1PB
Tel +(0)1624 686130; Fax +(0)1624 686132 or e_mail stamps@po.gov.im
Besides their usual sales for stamp collectors, they will also supply
stamps for postage to UK & Europe or elsewhere. They will supply
via a credit card order - just tell them for what purpose you need
the stamps. It can be considerably cheaper than using IRC's.
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Any comments, errors or omissions
gratefully received The
Editor |
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