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© F.Coakley , 2026
[from A.M Harrision's Descriptive List of Insular Societies]
The oldest Chamber of Commerce, defined as 'an association which aims at becoming representative of general commercial interests', in the British Isles, was established in Jersey in 1768. Nearer the Island, Dublin's Chamber of Commerce was founded in1784, Manchester's in 1794, Belfast's in 1796, Birmingham's in 1813 and Liverpool's in 1851.
The Association of Chambers of Commerce, founded in 1860 and supported by subscriptions from constituent members 'contributed much to give Chambers of Commerce on the whole a national Importance' and concerned itself , among other things, with the statutory background of United Kingdom commerce. While the United Kingdom limitation of the association made it of little direct application to the Isle of Man, its work, coinciding with the resort boom of the Island and Douglas in particular, was a force in the Manx initiative in setting up the Douglas Chamber of commerce in 1870,'associated with the Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom.'
The objects of the Association were
1). 'to take into consideration all measures calculated to promote, extend,
and protect the trading interests of the Town and Port, excluding all party
politics, general or local' and
2). that 'the Chamber shall consist of Bankers, Merchants, Manufacturers and
others interested in the trade and commerce of the Town and Port.'
William Fine Moore (father of A.W.Moore, the historian) a major manufacturer of sail cloth with heavy involvement in the Steam Packet Co. and the Isle of Man Bank Ltd., and many other Manx commercial interests, was president and Henry Bloom Noble, one of the foremost businessmen of the Island was Vice-president. The Council of 16 was made up of prominent Douglas businessmen and traders.
Knowledge of the Douglas Chamber was derived from its Rules and Regulations in the collections of the Manx National Heritage Library and the newspapers have not yet been searched for further information. It is, therefore, not possible at the moment to judge its performance nor to know how long it was active.
M.N.H.L., Douglas Chamber of commerce, Rules and Regulations and By-Laws (Douglas.
1870);
Isle of Man newspapers, passim Publications:
'Trade Associations', Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol, pp. edition
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