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© F.Coakley , 2026
[from A.M Harrision's Descriptive List of Insular Societies]
Agitation against the self-elected House of Keys, the parliament of the Island, started after the revestment of sovereignty in 1765, when in 1775 and 1791 petitions were unsuccessfully presented to the Manx government for its reform into an elected assembly. The cause was not forgotten but no serious moves were made until the passing of the Reform bill of 1832 made the subject of parliamentary reform a positive issue of Government, and the return to the Island of Robert Fargher, a Manx printer with experience of London life and progressive political ideas, to lead the radical reform movement with his newspaper the Mona's Herald , founded in 1833.
The crisis of 1837, when the Island and the British Government were engaged in a bitter dispute over the assimilation of Manx customs duties with those of Britain, which at one stroke prejudiced the economy of the Island by raising the cost of living and threatened all cherished pretensions to national identity and sovereignty - possibly by annexation and incorporation into the United Kingdom - was a fresh impetus to political action. A Manx National Delegation left for London and the British Government's proposal was eventually dropped, albeit through external circumstances rather than the presentation of the Manx case.
What seemed a victory on the economic front, however, inspired a fresh wave of franchise agitation and a further petition of over 3,000 names was presented to the Governor who rejected it .
In 1844 reform activity started again when Peel readjusted the punitive duties on goods imported into the Island and abolished the harsh licensing system, thanks to the advocacy of the Manx interest in the Commons by Dr. Bowring, the tariff reformer and M.P. for Bolton. His triumphal visit to the Island shortly afterwards in early October was immediately followed by the setting-up of the Northern Association in Ramsey on October 14th.
The source for the history of the association is its minute book, from October 1844 to March 1847, an unprovenanced accession to the Manx National Heritage Library in 1970, which in its remarkably detailed records gives a dramatic account of the operation of a pioneering political society. The action started with a drive for members in the Northern parishes, the setting up of of parish delegates and culminated in the preparation of a memorial to the Queen 'seeking the advantage of popular representation in our insular legislature' and the election of four members to present the petition to the Governor
For the first time a mention was made of the Douglas Association (which had also risen spontaneously at the same time but is known only through Ramsey"s minute book) and contact was made with them. The idea of an Island-wide operation was proposed. Douglas proposed that the Ramsey Committee should should work in Peel and the western parishes, and join the Douglas committee in Castletown to canvass the southern parishes. Ramsey passed a resolution that the Douglas and southern delegates join with the Ramsey committee and the delegates of the Northern parishes to form a committee for the whole Island, a proposal which was unanimously accepted by the Douglas committee.
The Douglas committee was then requested to meet the Ramsey committee and the
Northern delegates at Ramsey, bringing with them signatures to petitions and
all relevant papers. Douglas responded, to the amazement of Ramsey, that it
was unnecessary for Douglas delegates to be put to the trouble of travelling
to Ramsey and from then on attitudes hardened with amazing speed. The period
of cooperation lasted just over a month and the Northern committee having resolved
that no communication should be made with Douglas delegates who had returned
'evasive and jesuitical answers' proceeded with their petition alone.
Petitions for the Douglas and Castletown areas were, in spite of the rift, presented to the Governor, along with that of Ramsey, but in spite of the names of 5,261 property-owning males they were a total failure, shelved by the Conservative Government. In 1845 Douglas and Ramsey came together with another petition relating to the refusal of the Northern Association's Col. Campbell, to serve in the Keys, though an elected member. Relations were civil, and matters were jointly considered but the two bodies gradually diverged, the Ramsey leader, William Collister, joining the self-elected House of Keys in 1847, and the Douglas Committee, influenced by Robert Fargher, the activist, moving to more forceful public action.
The Association divided on holding a public meeting in Ramsey Market Place on 20 March 1847, the last entry in the minute book. Other reformers took their place but it was another twenty years before the first progress to electoral reform was made.
M.N.H.L., Minutes of Meetings of the Association to secure representation of
the people in the legislature by election by ballot, October 14th 1844 to March
20, 1847, MD290/2;.
Isle of Man newspapers, especially, The Isle of Man Times, 1847, Shirrefs
and Russell.
R.E.C.Forster, 'The Reformist movements in 1837" ProcsIOMNHAS vol vi, no.3, 1963;
R.E.C. Forster, 'The Deputation to London in 1837" J.M.M. vol. vi, no. 84, 1964;
A. M. Harrison, "Reform from the North, 1844-1847', ProcsIOMNHAS vol. viii, no. 4, 1982., pp.402-412
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