In one sense nothing on these pages is new!
They are designed to reflect my antiquarian/archival interest in things Manx and thus tend to be 19^th Century or earlier.

What is listed here are new arrivals to the site - many other small additions, corrections etc are not noted.

1 Jan 2008

• A long period between updating this page - many additional will summaries + other Parish Register transcriptions have been added + the usual corrections/updates to many pages
• Selections from Ramsey Church Magazine (1896-1901) have been added (some further material by T.E. Brown to be added)
• Several more years of Portraits from Examiner Annual have been added (now almost complete upto 1930)
• An account of Thomas Street Sunday School
• Several more villages as in 1868 O/S have been added
• Castle Rushen disbursements 1711-1744

3 Dec 2006

• More wills + summaries of many. The 'missing' Lonan & Marown marriages + Ramsey (Ballure) burials
• Various articles from the Manxman
• More on the Organs on the Island
• John Quine's Novel 'Captain of the Parish'
• A W Moore's 'Douglas 100 years ago' (i.e. Douglas in 1804)
• + the usual considerable amount of small additions to most sections, tidying up, minor corrections + additional cross-linking (some 10% of pages appear to have been modifierd in some way)

3 March 2006

• Updating this page seems to have been forgotten - however there have been many additions/updates to the site in the last 11 months (some 15% of the pages have been altered in some way) - the main additions are detailed below
• The Letters of T.E.Brown (3rd ed 1900) are now online though with a few corrections needed to correct the Greek quotes
• Many additional wills have been added including summaries for all Arbory wills between 1700 and 1750 (those for Santan and German are in preparation), various Parish Register transcriptions (Santan, Patrick Arbory) have been added arising from my research.
• A few extracts from presentments & from Lib Scacc have been added - again more to come
• Lists of the Poor of Douglas as reported in 1869 have also been added (again a little more to come)
• Significant parts of the 1911 report on the Constitution
• Some issues of the early 20th C magazine Manxman are on line
• List of WW2 dead as reported in Examiner Annuals - a start has been made on the photographs of WW1 Roll of Honour but these will be on CD-Rom, A few additional years of the Annuals have also been added
• Partial scans include the 1849 Letters of Bishop Shirley, the 1869 Ab-o'th'-Yate sketch (in Lancashire dialect) describing a trip to the Island plus several others

19 April 2005

• Tourist Guides - J Brotherston Laughton's Guide of 1842 (1847 edition) and the copiously illustrated Mates' guide of 1898 (1902 edition) though the CD-Rom version will be needed to fully appreciate some of the photo's
• The Portrait and Event sections of the Examiner Annuals are now virtually complete for 1898 through to 1923
• More Early Wills (again most courtesy of Joyce Oates)
• A start on the classic Manx Crosses by P.M.C. Kermode (his earlier Norse Heritage is also available)
• A few of the Manx Dialect plays and poetry by his sister Josephine ("Cushag")
• A selection from the Atholl Papers (mostly concerning events leading up to the Revestment)
• Various manorial rolls and composition books for Arbory (several courtesy of Wally Corrin)
• Many completions of missing material (eg in Mannin) & of course many enhancements to existing material
• On the CD-Rom are more transcriptions from German PR's and also an annotated 1841 census for Peel

24 Oct 2004

• More wills (most dating 1637-1695) courtesy of Joyce Oates
• Isle of Man Water-colours by Alfred Heaton Cooper
• Manx Melodies - poetry by "Cushag" (Josephine Kermode)
• Additional information on early Methodist Chapels
• Further transcriptions of German Parish Reg (CD-ROM only)

1 Sep 2004

• The three Manx Scrapbook's (full of Folk-lore) by W.Walter. Gill are now on line (though many more proof-reading corrections are to be done); his 4th Manx Scrapbook dealing with Anglo-Manx dialect is also online.
• More transcriptions from Parish registers are available (though most on CDRom)
• The selections from Examiner Annuals up to 1922 are now complete
• Listing of Soldiers 1671-1735
• Selections from Manx Wesleyian Methodist Church Record
• Selections from Esther Nelson's Island Minstrelsy of 1839

10 Mar 2004

• 12 Photographs dating from c. 1880
• Manx names from Ohio Censuses 1830,1840,1850,1860
• Hall Caine's novel The Deemster
• Many additions to other sections.

25 Jan 2004

• Mercantile Manxland, 1900 - a description of many of the Manx businesses of the period
• Andreas Parish Registers - Marriages 1666-1685; Baptisms 1666-1684 ; Marriages to 1757, Baptisms to 1740 & Confirmations to 1760 are on the CD_ROM; several other items linked to Andreas are linked to Parish Index page.
• Demography

16 Dec 2003

• The Manx chapters from Henry Cadman's angling tales - some delightful descriptions of Manx Countryside 150 years ago
• Manx Recipes from 1908 Manx Cookery Book
• Thomas Quayle's 1812 General View of Agriculture
• Mills Statutes of 1821 - many thanks to Ken Gumbley for letting me have these
• Several more volumes of Edwardian Examiner Annuals
• The Memorial Notices from Manx Quarterly now 99% complete
• c1907 Photographic View Album of the Isle of Man
• Many other sections have had various additions - see subject index or search page

25 Jun 2003

• Main site moved from University to this - considerable tidying up to bring pages up to HTML 4.01 standard as well as to improve accessibility.
• Complete text and music Manx National Music added; Manx Ballads also completed

6 Jan 2003

• Many more articles from Manx Quarterly - some 200+ (of 500) Memorial Notices added
• Many more Wills (courtesy of Joyce Oates) - including summaries of most in period 1680-1700

3 Dec 2002

• Garrison Roll dating from 1428 - record in English of accusations re mal-administration at Peel and Castle Rushen
• Memorial Notices from Manx Quarterly + many articles - more to be added over next month.
• William Cashen's Manx Folk-lore of 1912
• Jenner's interesting 1875 paper on the Manx Language
• Petit's 1846 description of Old Cathedral

11 Oct 2002

• Again much time spent on filling in gaps - the CD_ROM now has over 10,000 files (increase of 1,000 since June, 40% of which are a photo collection of tombstones; another 1,100 have been modified in some way)
• Manx Annals of Ninety Years Ago [1810-1820's]

5 June 2002

• Many more years of Manorial Rolls for Peel Cottages have been transcribed
• More chapters from Train's History of 1845 added
• Many missing sections/chapters that were awaiting scanning have now been added (eg in the various Manx Society or under Full Text version) - currently the CD_ROM version now has over 9100 files.
• Some additional short studies (eg that on Late Victorian 'Photographic' Albums) added, generally accessible from the Subject catalogue pages

28 Feb 2002

• 1704 Composition Book for Castletown Cottages + manorial Roll for various years.
• Manx Annals of 90 years ago - various excerpts from George Goodwin dealing with 1810's and 1820's
• Two early guide books - Oswald's of 1831 and the IoM part of 1822 Strangers' Friend

8 Jan 2002

• Many more Wills are now on-line (some 600+)
• Transcriptions of many Manorial Rolls for Peel Cottages (1539-1816) - also the 1760-1784 Book for Castletown Cottages.
• Some History of Public Houses in Peel
• A section on Cemeteries and Graveyards including the 1869 report
• Much of the 1737 House of Stanley by J Seacombe
• Robert Paterson's Manx Antiquities of 1863
• For those with the CD-ROM version an interactive large scale plan of Peel has been added to those of Castletown and North Quay Douglas.
• Many other small additions/corrections or general tidying up.

3 Oct 2001

• Thanks to Joyce Oates for a transcription of A.M.Moores Old Manx Families, MI's noted c.1910 from a number of parishes and a collection of transcribed wills (some 150+ are on-line)

10 May 2001

• Much tidying up in readiness to move to www.manxnotebook.com - 1506/1511 Manorial Roll completed except for 3 tables, many more pages of 1792 report added, some 50% of Moore's monumental 1900 History,
• William Hudson's Recollections of an Old Manxman [1906] dealing with his life lived around Castletown is an engaging read.
• Manx Notes and Queries is being added (about 33% complete)
• Various texts connected with WW1 are now on-line - IoM in the Great War; How the Manx Fleet helped in War and St Stephen's House dealing with the WW1 Internment camps.
• Numerous other additions, corrections etc especially to Subject Catalogue pages - many other texts have been started with completion in near future.

1 Nov 2000

• A fair amount of the 1792 Commissioners' report is now on-line - however as it is over 1000 pages (of late 18th printing) it will be some time before completion.
• A start hs been made on the Poems of T.E.Brown. - as many of these use the 'Anglo-Manx dialect' I also intend to put A.W.Moore's Vocabulary of the Anglo-Manx Dialect on-line.
• A number of interesting cout case are reported in Advocates NoteBook of 1847.
• The guide section from the excellent 1874 Jenkinson's Guide is now on-line
• A survey of Island education and a history of K.W.C. is given in E.C.Owen's "100 Years of Education".
• Many other smaller additions, corrections and/or improvements have been made in many sections.

8 Jun 2000

• William Kennish's Mona's Isle of 1844 gives a fascinating account of country customs in the 1820's and 30's.
• Town customs of some 70 years later were denounced from the pulpit in Morals of Douglas
• The various dance halls so vigourously denounced are covered in various pages on the Palace and Derby Castle. Other tourist attractions on Douglas Head are also illustrated
• To return to an earlier age and more serious matters - the translation of the scriptures into Manx under Bishop Hildesley was the all too brief flowering of the Manx Language - Weedon's 1799 Memoirs of Bishop Hildesley are now partially complete.
• The parish pages have been re-organised to give easier access to information - that for the 'cinderella' parish of Santon will give a flavour when all is complete.
• Mannin is now 90% complete (a few short stories missing) - many early papers from the IoM Natural History and Antiquarian Society are also available as are many of the fascinating collection of previous unpublished documents in the pre-war issues of Journal of Manx Museum.
• A master list of all biographies available on my site is also nearly complete - many more subject pages have also been added to my catalogue pages..

3 Jan 2000

• A.E. LaMothe's Manx Yarns of 1905 is another book of anecdotes by a lawyer (in a similar vein to the later A N Laughton's Reminiscences of 1916)
• Nessy Heywood was A.W.Moore's last book (published posthumously) and gives a biography of Hester Heywood, sister of Peter Heywood (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame).
• The short IoM section from Holden's Directory of 1814/5 (information from 1811) is also now available; other directories added include IoM Examiner Directory for Douglas of 1887. A start has also been made on the Register of King William's College, 1835-1905.
• The IoM sections of Sir George Head's A Continuation of a Home Tour, 1837, and Lord Teignmouth's Sketches of the Coasts.. of 1836 are now online and give a fascinating account of Manx life at this period.
• An earlier account of the Island is given in Denton's account of 1681; several other early papers published in Yn Lioar Manninagh (precursor to Proc IoMNatural History and Antiquarian Society) are now available as well as indices to these journals.
• Other interesting oddities are the 1877 Scheme to Restore Peel Castle and Cathedral;
• Much tidying up of the pages has also been done - all links from the indices to the IoM Family History Journal will now take you to the actual article (only a very few articles remain to be scanned - generally for issues I do not have a copy).
• The Subject Catalogue has been added to and a master index to all on-line biographies is under construction.

29 Oct 1999

• Many more texts (see index) - ranging from small (but useful) Story of St Matthew's, Douglas and History of Presbyterianism on The Island through to a major section (that dealing with mining) of Lamplugh's Geological Survey
• Browns 1881 directory (complete Directory section plus the very useful account of Island affairs from 1840 through to 1880); the 1894 directory is also available. The directory of tradespeople from the various Quiggin guidebooks from 1836 are also available. See my discussion on directories for complete list.
• Several further topics have been added to my genealogical topics section - these include diseases, disasters and a rewritten emigration page.
• Two extended essays - Rise of Manx Methodism and Manx Emigration to Ohio are also on line.
• Many more volumes of the Manx Society publications are now on-line - see full list
• Other work has been on early libraries on the Island; the early history of the various Friendly Societies and photographers on the island.

21 May 1999

• Several texts have now been completed (scanning errors excluded) - these include Moore's Folklore of IoM,and History of IoMSPCo; Radcliffe's Ellan Vannin. Many others have had scanning errors corrected and/or additional links made to other pages. For full list see index
• Moore's Manx Note Note is now complete - a few missing headings and tailpieces will be added shortly.
• Various missing numbers from the IoM Family History Society Journal have now been added and some of the earlier, badly scanned, issues corrected.
• More volumes in the Manx Society series have also been completed, these include: Antiquitates Manniae Vol 15 and Records of St Marks Chapel Vol 28. Considerable sections from Oswalds Vestigiae, Vol 5 and Blundell's History vol 22 have also been completed. These and several other volumes will be completed over the next few weeks.
• Some of these volumes support some planned work to be done on the Manx Keeils and Crosses- although I don't intend to devote much of my site to Archaeology I am interested in the changes in attitude towards ancient monuments and will concentrate on this aspect
• Other sections continue to see changes, e.g. Rosser's History of Wesleyan Methodism is now complete and an extended article on the Rise of Man Methodism, 1775-1850, based on a lecture I gave at the Cathedral in March will be added shortly

18 January 1999

• For family historians Pigot's IoM Directory of 1825 is now online - this is almost the oldest (a Manx section was published as part of the Irish Directory in 1823). (The 1837 edition has not been forgotten but this is becoming more of a retype than a scan)
• Mona Miscellany vol II (Manx Soc vol 30) is also almost complete - this included the Douglas Householder list as well as a genealogy of the Greenhalgh family.
• At long last, Moore's Manx Worthies is now complete, though some files, currently over 50 Kbytes, may have to be split for easier downloading.
• Another of A.W.Moore books - Diocesan History of 1893 is now on-line (though some chapters await linking of footnotes) - this has been possible thanks to Mr K Gumbley who gave me his scanned version.
• A key player in the Manx church in the 1830's was Benjamin Philpot (Archdeacon and Vicar General) - I have given the Manx chapters from memoirs of him in Our Centenarian Grandfather
• To balance the scales and pay unto Caesar what is Caesar's (or should that be Quayle's ?)- Clay's Currency (Manx Soc vol 17) which covers the history of Manx Coinage and banking.
• Also on the banking theme is P.G.Ralfe's Sixty Years of Banking.
• Ralfe was a keen ornithologist and observer of the Manx countryside in the first part of this century - I have scanned his description of the Island from his Birds of the Isle of Man.

23 December 1998

• A fair amount of A.W. Moore's Manx Ballads 1896, has been scanned , including some of the music (though these can be quite large GIF files)
• 1896 also saw the publication of the 'rival' Manx National Songs by W.H.Gill - a start has been made on this so it is possible to compare Moore's original Manx with Gill's parlour-room Englished version.
• To complete the musical scene a copy of A Book of Manx Songs as issued to Manx Troops in WW1 is also included (gives words of Ellan Vannin and Manx National Anthem).
• As many of these ballads also appeared in the Manx Society publications a good start has been made on Vol 16 Mona Miscellany.
• Otherwise much of my time has been spent tidying up the site, completing a few more page-sets and publishing a CD-ROM of my web site.

24 November 1998

• Most of my time was spent preparing a paper on the 1851 Religious Census - delivered to the Manx Methodist Historical Society on the 7th Nov.
• At the last Manx Book Auction I managed to acquire a rather well worn copy of Rosser's History of Wesleyan Methodism on the IoM which is currently being scanned in.
• Two further texts to help support my survey of churches etc. - one on the 17th century Maughold Quakers and the second an excellent history of the 19th Century Presbyterian community in Douglas which contains much biographical material. The pages on the non-conformist churches are currently being rewritten and expanded.
• Wm. Cannell's Guide to the Isle of Man, 1843 gives a good description of Douglas c.1840 and also includes a directory of Douglas Tradespeople.
• Additional chapters were added to Pigot's 1837 directory and other partially completed texts.

26 October 1998

• Much time has been taken up with providing a frames-based index to most sections (not quite complete as of yet) and in tidying up, and better indexing, many other pages - the small icon at the bottom of many pages will switch into this mode. For those who do not like frames the existing (& new) pages will still work as before.
• Complete text of 1911 version of Sophia Morrison Manx Fairy Tales is now available. Other Anglo-manx books intended to be added are Egbert Rydings Manx Tales and I.H.Leney Shadowland in Ellan Vannin
• The 1819 edition of Lex Scripta (i.e. the Laws and Statutes of the Island) has been started.
• over 95% of the Manx Note Book (ed. by A.W Moore) 1885-7 is now available - minor editing + correction will be done over the next few weeks.
• Much of the tidying up is prior to the production of a CD-ROM version of these pages (now some 1000+ pages!) - should be available mid/late November (i.e. in time for Christmas) at a estimated cost of £10 (or $15) + pp. E-mail for further details.

27 August 1998

• The page on the Coastal Path has now been considerably expanded - my recent holiday on the Island has allowed me to take more photos which will be added over the next few weeks.
• A Six Day's Tour through the Isle of Man, 1836 - presumed author was John Welch architect of many of Bishop Ward's churches. This is an entertaining, and at times rather caustic, view of the Island.
• A brief biography of another larger than life character, Rev Robert Aitkin, has been added to my Methodist people pages.
• Sections from two more directories - Pigots 1837 and Brown's 1894 - have been added; more to follow over next few weeks.
• More sections added to the genealogical sections e.g. a brief section on newspapers and on illegitimacy. Other sections have been updated.

10 June 1998

• An Account of the Isle of Man, 1808 - the author is stated to be Nathaniel Jefferys but is probably Mr Bell of Newcastle - possibly the first guide book to the Isle of Man.
• History of the Mormons.., 1852 by J Gunnison - an early and balanced account of the early days in SaltLake City - background material for my emigration pages.
• Curry's account of the Story of Primitive Methodism in the Isle of Man, 1903-4 is also available; as are two transcribed PM reports to Conference for 1835 and 1840. Additional material has been added to various chapel histories etc.
• Additional material has been added to various pages concerned with genealogical search e.g. Manx Newspapers

5 May 1998

• The remaining sections of Feltham's Monumental Inscriptions are now complete.
• Lady Sarah Murray's account of the Potato Riots of 1825 is added - I intend to add more background to this period in Manx History.
• A start is made on the Australian emigration - a letter by Thomas Cain written from Adelaide in 1840 names several other early Manx settlers

19 Apr 1998

• Thanks to the dedication of Alan Cleary Kelly's Manx Grammar is now available
• A significant part of Wood's Account of the Isle of Man of 1811 is now available - the remainder and an index will be completed shortly.
• The earlier Tour through the Isle of Man, 1794 by D. Robertson is now complete - minor typos to be corrected.
• The emigration section now includes a section on background to the Mormon inspired emigration of 1841/4.

8 Apr 1998

• Waldron's A Description of the Isle of Man of 1726 in the edition with notes published by the Manx Society is now scanned in (a few figures to be added). This account, indicating either great credulity or possibly 'mickey taking' at the Manx expense, is a source of many of the folktales retold in later years.
• Considerable extra material has been added to the Ohio emigration section - see Manifests of Emigrant Ships, 1826/7 as a convenient departure point.

15 Mar 1998

• A significant amount of tidying up - Claris Home Page though not exactly want I want has allowed a considerable amount of checking and correction to be done
• Feltham's Tour of 1797 is now virtually complete - a most useful document surveying the Island at the end of the 18^th Century. Links have been added to other pages as appropriate
• The earlier Tour through the Isle of Man, 1794 by D. Robertson is partly available - completion soon
• High Baliff Laughton's Reminiscences published 1916 but referring to 1850-1880 life in Douglas is well worth reading for its amusing asides on Manx Legal life.

7 Mar 1998

• Several new arrivals - the complete directory from Thwaites 1863 Isle of Man Directory and Guide is now available; I don't intend to add the historical section as this adds little being based entirely on other secondary sources (in particular Cumming's 1861 guide). Each parish also included a potted history of the parochial charities derived from the 1831 Isle of Man charities. As this is also now on-line I do not intend to copy these sections. However I will add the various town and parish guides.
• As mentioned above the Isle of Man Charities of 1831 is also on-line. This is a useful historical document - in particular for the state of Manx schools c.1825.
• A considerable amount has been added to the emigration section of the Genealogy sources section - in particular dealing with the 1820's emigration to Ohio.

23 Dec 1997

• To paraphrase T.E.Brown
  • I'm here at Surrey, grinding at the mill
    My feet for thrice nine barren days have trod;
    But there are rocks and waves at Scarlett still,
    And gorse runs riot in Glen Chass - thank God!

  End of semester marking has delayed most plans but there is a little more on the Genealogical records, plus the start of a few more texts including

  • S Walpole Land of Home Rule 1893
  • E Callow's rather nationalistic (though historically much less accurate) From King Orry to Queen Victoria 1899 and
  • T Talbot's translation of the 1511/1515 Manorial Roll

30 Nov 1997

• Most of the pages on sources for Genealogy. There is still more to do do but I hope to finish them shortly.
• A couple more chapters of 'Moore's History - those on the Land Settlement, Agriculture and Mining.

20 Nov 1997

• Mostly tidying up, however a brief description of each parish, taken from Brown's IoM Directory of 1894, has been added to the parish page.
  A start on a long term project to add both the gazattteer and maps from Woods Atlas of 1867 has been made with Santon Parish.

6 Nov 1997

• 'A History of the Isle of Man' by A.W.Moore - the 'classic' history of the Island - with some 1000+ pages and footnotes this will take some time to complete. Although a two volume paperback reprint is available I have added hyperlinks. Currently just the Introduction is scanned; further chapters will be added at regular intervals.

3 Nov 1997

• 'Castle Rushen' by Armitage Rigby; full-text - illustrations to follow shortly

27 Oct 1997

• From the Parish Records - Malew added in section on Manx Note Book - covers period 1620-1670 - remaining sections to be added shortly

23 Oct 1997

• Old Historians of the Isle of Man - scanned text of Manx Society vol 18; currently Camden's History, Bishop Wilson's Histories and Groses 'Antiquities' are complete. The remainder will be added as time permits.

22 Oct 1997

• Daniel King's wash drawings of 1643-51. These show 17th century Castletown, Douglas and Bishopscourt.