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The Editor
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© F.Coakley, 2023
A Calendar is a date-ordered sequence of summaries of the many documents sent to or produced by the Offices of the various Secretaries of State.
In the 4 published volumes the summaries of the various documents are numbered which appear as the references (nn.) in the following extracts
Though references to the Isle of Man appear throughout the Calendared papers before 1765, they are few and far between; however in 1765 this changed with the decision by the British Government to force the sale of the regalities to the Crown - the Revestment.
...Amongst the domestic incidents was the transfer of the Isle of Man from the Duke and Duchess of Athol to the British Crown . Papers more or less touching on these events will be found hereafter described; and though there may be little addition made in them to the history of the period, yet these authentic materials are well worthy of perusal . The papers relating to the Isle of Man show the measures adopted on taking possession of that Island by the Crown . They include the instructions to the Governor, divers letters from him, together with replies from the Secretaries of State. One of the most interesting is No. 2058. A memorial (No. 2103) sets out the different officers of the Island, and their duties, as well as much other information.
During 1766 and following years the Island is referenced many times, though it was considerbly low down in the interests of Westminster as it dealt with troubles in Ireland and the growing problems with the colonies in North America. The discussion in the preface is considerably longer, though the selection of topics seems curious.
The Crown had taken possession of the Isle of Man, as was mentioned in the last volume. Governor Wood details his proceedings in relation to the new acquisition. He sends an important letter on 28th Jan. 1766, giving the nature of the revenue, and other interesting particulars. He was anxious to ascertain the extent of the rights of the Crown, as well as what he was to give up to the Duke of Athol. (30.)
Major Pennington, a young gentleman on whom it had been necessary to hold a court-martial, gave the Governor great concern. (76, 96.) The Major was blamed by the Secretary-at-War, who directed him to make a proper submission to the Governor, but the latter was instructed to give all orders to the troops through the Major. (133.) The Governor replies that he never had given any orders relative to the troops but through the Commanding Officer. (140.) In addition to the Governor's other troubles, he had not received a farthing salary, nor funds for any service whatever, from the 17th May 1765, when the Island was vested in the Crown, till 14th Aug. 1766, and all the public entertainments formerly allowed by the late Lords Proprietors had been defrayed at his own expense. (116, 245.)
The inhabitants complained much of want of employment, and sent a deputation to London to represent their grievances. The best remedy the Governor could suggest was the promotion of agriculture and manufactures, and he started a society for that purpose, called " the Manx Society." ( 125.) As the Governor had been informed that the deputation were making representations to the Treasury as to the manner in which the government of the Island was conducted, he took the opportunity to relate how he had carried out his duties, and makes the very satisfactory statement that there had been no felons. He said he had no funds, but he would pay charges out of his own pocket rather than suffer the public business to be interrupted. (183.) A very unsatisfactory appointment the Governor must have had, for, after having filled it for fourteen months, he takes the liberty, on 28th Aug. 1766, of asking what his appointments are worth, in order that, if he cannot have his salary at present, he may regulate his expenses and form his plans accordingly. (258.) He had not yet obtained a settlement on 10th Oct. 1767. (573.) In one of his letters he mentions a scheme to annex the Island to the county of Cumberland, which was causing the greatest consternation. (441.) In September 1768, the Governor's salary and that of the Attorney General had been settled, and the Governor made proposals for the salaries of other officials likewise to be fixed . His letter gives in addition information as to the duties, &c. of the officers. (1000.)
The Governor on 8th Feb. 1769 forwarded a petition of the " Keys of the Isle," with his warmest recommendation. The principal gentlemen and merchants had had a meeting to promote a scheme for the repeal of certain restrictive clauses in the late Acts relative to the Island . The people were most loyally attached to His Majesty's person and government both in Church and State, al though rents had fallen in the trading towns. The merchants were asking that the Island should be put on the same footing as Ireland. (1116.)
."..while, farther north, another little dependency, the Island of Man, makes known to us the troubles and woes which were assailing it...".
For information relative to the Isle of Man the letters from and to Mr. Wood, the Governor, are those to be chiefly consulted. From them we learn that the first effect of the closer connexion with Great Britain into which the little Island was brought in 1765, an effect, which continued unchanged to the end of 1772, was one of great detriment to its commercial prosperity. From the moment it became vested in the Crown it began to decay. The restrictive clauses in the Acts of Parliament relative to the Island (see previous volume, No. 1116) occasioned great distress, the rents in the trading towns having, in 1769, fallen (so it was said) above 15,0001. a year. Numbers of the principal inhabitants (104 ) sought some more favourable scene for their operations, and the emigrations of the people (105) were so alarming in the Governor's eyes that he thought if some measures of relief were not soon adopted there would be no people left capable of carrying on any business. He again and again made these and similar representations to the Secretary of State, but all the answer he received was (193) that his letters had been transmitted to the Treasury, and it is not certain that he even had the satisfaction of knowing that (198 ) his representations had been there 'read'. Nothing else in the way of relief seems to have been done for the islanders in 1770. In 1771 a second memorial came from the Keys, setting forth "the great distresses of 25,000 loyal Protestant subjects." The state of things then obtaining is thus described (p. 202) . The inhabitants, reduced to the utmost extremity of despair, were daily emigrating to foreign kingdoms to seek a livelihood, the houses and buildings in the town were uninhabited and falling into decay, the "infant" manufactories declining for want of circulating cash , and everything in an apparent state of desolation . An attempt to establish the trade of herring curing was ineffectual, "owing to the laws of Britain". For five years the Keys had maintained Commissioners in London to solicit the affairs of the Isle, and to obtain relief from the penal statutes, but without effect ; and now, it is pathetically added, their funds being exhausted, and they without a representative or friend in the Great Council of the Nation , there was no other resource left to them but to lay some of their grievances before the Governor and implore him to represent their situation before the Throne. To this appeal again came the answer (562) copies sent to the Lords of the Treasury," with a promise of the earliest information of any resolution that might be framed upon them. But none of the papers in this volume tell of any such resolution having been come to, though His Majesty's good intentions towards the people of the Isle (520) had been signified to them as far back as March 1769, and an assurance then given that their request would receive proper attention when it was brought before the Lords of the Treasury .
Several of the Governor's letters enter minutely into a description of the duties and jurisdiction of certain civil offices in the Island, e.g., those of the water bailiff in Nos . 607 and 806, and of the deemsters in No. 1145 . An account of a good deal of the procedure of the courts of justice is also given in the letter last mentioned, with a description of the Governor's judicial functions. He had applied for the appointment of a lieut.-governor to occupy his place on necessary occasions. After a while certain arrangements were determined on (193 ) , all the charges of which were, however, to be borne by the Governor himself. Mr. Wood some time after (p. 447 ) represents how hardly this condition would bear upon him. His salary ( 204 ) was 6001. a year, without ( p . 447 ) any additional fees or emoluments, and with this he had to support his public character, paying nearly rack rent, not only for his house and every other accommodation, but also for a chapel, the King allowing only 251. a year to the chaplain. Even if this salary had been paid regularly , there would have been something to put in the opposite scale ; but it was not. At the end of 1772 (1536) there was owing to him , in common with the rest of the civil establishment, three years' salary, and no one can be surprised that as the end of the third year was approaching he asks leave to "mention" the fact. In addition to this Mr. Wood had not been allowed one farthing for his expenses in entertainments, &c., upon taking possession of the Isle for His Majesty,"which the King commanded him to do with all the solemnities the importance of the occasion required!".And it is also to be presumed that he was not reimbursed any of the expenses connected with the holding (203) of the Tynwald Court on old Mid summer Day, a ceremony "necessarily" passed over since the Isle had been vested in the Crown, for want of funds, solicitations on all sides not to withhold from the inhabitants their ancient and favourite custom. "For ages past" the Sovereign Lord, or his representative, had annually on this day appeared at a congress of all his people on a hill in the centre of the Island, "anciently erected for the purpose", and there promulgated the laws, and done a variety of business for the good government of the Isle . This was the Court of Tynwald. The day was a "jubilee" to the whole country, at the Lord's expense, and had always been held in the highest esteem and veneration . The revival of it in 1770 is said to have given the utmost satisfaction to "about 10,000 present, and universally to the whole Island" .
The papers connected with the Isle of Man relate in a great measure to the circumstances of the officers who administered its affairs, eg. to the arrangements necessary upon Mr. Wood, the Governor, taking leave of absence from his duties. His case would appear to have been somewhat hard, his salary having been paid by no means with regularity (244).
Other papers are concerned with the appointment of the law officer known as Attorney-General of the island. For this appointment, Mr. Lutwidge, the Receiver-General, earnestly advised that "a man of abilities and clear of local attachments," or one at any rate free from any connexion with the Duke of Athol, the late proprietor of the island, should be selected. He suggested that a salary sufficient to tempt an English barrister to take the office could be raised by abolishing the office of one of the Deemsters, and appropriating his salary in aid of that of the Attorney- General. In connexion with this proposal, there is a memorial from the Receiver-General, explaining the jurisdiction of the Deemster's court, which points out the evils of too many opportunities of litigation (p. 267).
Mr. Lutwidge's proposals were adopted (755), and a barrister of considerable experience appointed. The Lieut.- Governor subsequently urged a reconsideration of the question of reducing the number of Deemsters (903), stating that much inconvenience had followed this step.
Papers subsequent to the end of 1775 have not been calendared - however by about this period the 4th Duke of Atholl following the death of his father had started his attempts to regain some of the rights due to his family that he claimed had been unduly removed by the Revestment and thus the Atholl Papers again provide much information - as also do the Treasury Papers.
The Abstracts have been split between two files
There are further files dated between 1776 and 1788 that are to be found in SP 48/2 which have not been calendared. Later documents can be found in the HO 98/63-82 series
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Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received
The Editor |
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