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© F.Coakley , 2026
[from A.M Harrision's Descriptive List of Insular Societies]
The earliest Manx association for which records of operation have survived, the Douglas club was the most northerly branch of the nineteen lodges of the quasi-Masonic craft listed in Peter Dickenson's book, A candid enquiry into the Principles and Practices of the Ancient and Honorable Society of Bucks, published in 1770. Cambridge, Bombay, Liverpool and Douglas were the only lodges outside the London area and a Liverpool connection may well have been involved in the establishment of the Bucks in Douglas, though this is nowhere documented. From its disorderly beginnings in the early 1700's the Society developed into a primarily convivial association, enjoying craft mysteries and ritual, with a minor element of welfare provision for members, and, on the Island, a general patriotic commitment under the Crown to advancing the trade and prosperity of the Island.
The registers of members reveal a mixture of Manxmen and expatriates operating together with ease, a mingling of Manx establishment, expatriate trading community and post-Revestment Crown Officials in positive social relationships. The Society was an important, though diminishing, cohesive social force and net-working institution until its disappearance from public notice in the newspapers. Its records end in 1818.
M.N.H.L., Society records, M.M.Mss., 876B;
Isle of Man newspapers, passim.
W. Cubbon,'The Antient and Noble Order of Bucks, the Douglas Lodge, 1764-1818', ProcsIOMNHAS, vol.v, no.1(1942-46) pp.63-91
see Fraternities; list of Members
Phillip Moore is reported as writing to Bishop Hildesley in 1763 mentioning the Bucks Room and a turtle feast thereat.
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Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received
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