History of the Isle of Man
James died in 1736, and the suzerainty of the isle passed to James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl, his first cousin and heir-male. In 1764 he was succeeded by his only surviving child Charlotte, Baroness Strange, and her husband, John Murray, who (in right of his wife) became Lord of Mann. About 1720 the contraband trade greatly increased. In 1726 Parliament checked it somewhat for a time, but during the last ten years of the Atholl regime (1756 - 1765) it assumed such proportions that, in the interests of the Imperial revenue, it became necessary to suppress it. With a view to so doing, Parliament passed the Isle of Man Purchase Act 1765 (commonly called the Revestment Act by the Manx), under which it purchased the rights of the Atholls as Lords of Mann including the customs revenues of the Island for the sum of £70,000 sterling, and granted an annuity to the Duke and Duchess. The Atholls still retained their manorial rights, the patronage of the bishopric, and certain other perquisites, until they sold them for the sum of £417,144 in 1828.
Up to the time of the revestment, Tynwald had passed laws concerning the government of the island in all respects and had control over its finances, subject to the approval of the Lord of Mann. After the revestment, or rather after the passage of the Smuggling Act 1765 (commonly called the Mischief Act by the Manx), the Parliament at Westminster legislated with respect to customs, harbours and merchant shipping, and, in measures of a general character, it occasionally inserted clauses permitting the enforcement in the island of penalties in contravention of the acts of which they formed part. It also assumed the control of the insular customs duties. Such changes, rather than the transference of the full suzerainty to the King of Great Britain and Ireland, modified the (unwritten) constitution of the Isle of Man. Its ancient laws and tenures remained untouched, but in many ways the revestment affected it adversely. The hereditary Lords of Mann seldom, if ever, functioned as model rulers, but most of them had taken some personal share in its government, and had interested themselves in the well-being of its inhabitants. But now the whole direction of its affairs became the work of officials who regarded the island as a pestilent nest of smugglers, from which it seemed their duty to extract as much revenue as possible.
Some alleviation of this state of things happened between 1793 and 1826 when John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl served as Governor, since, though he quarrelled with the House of Keys and unduly cared for his own pecuniary interests, he did occasionally exert himself to promote the welfare of the island. After his departure the English officials resumed their sway, but they showed more consideration than before. Moreover, since smuggling, which the Isle of Man Purchase Act had only checked – not suppressed – had by that time almost disappeared, and since the Manx revenue had started to produce a large and increasing surplus, the authorities looked more favourably on the Isle of Man, and, thanks to this fact and to the representations of the Manx people to British ministers in 1837, 1844 and 1853, it obtained a somewhat less stringent customs tariff and an occasional dole towards erecting its much neglected public works.
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Modern period
After 1866, when the Isle of Man obtained a measure of at least nominal Home Rule, the Manx people have made remarkable progress, and at the present day form a prosperous community, with tax haven status and a declining tourist industry.
The Isle of Man was used as a base for Alien Civilian Internment camps in both the First World War (1914-18) and the Second World War (1939-45). During the First World War there were two camps, one a requisitioned holiday camp in Douglas and the other a purpose built camp at Knockaloe in the parish of Patrick. During the Second World War there were a number of smaller camps in Douglas, Peel, Port Erin and Ramsey.
The early 20th century saw a revival of music, dance, and the Manx language, but this proved only partially successful, as the last native speaker of Manx died in the 1970s. In the middle part of the twentieth century, the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera visited, and became so distressed at the lack of support for Manx that he immediately had two recording vans sent over. As the century progressed, the Manx tourist economy declined greatly, as the English and Irish started flying to Spain for package holidays. The Manx government responded to this situation by making the island a tax haven. While this has had beneficial effects on the Manx economy, it has had its detractors, who have pointed to corruption in the finance industry and money laundering. This has given the biggest impetus to Manx nationalism in recent years, spawning the parties Mec Vannin and the MNP, as well as the now defunct Fo Halloo (literally 'Underground'), which mounted a direct-action campaign of spray-painting and attempted house-burning.
The 1990s and early 21st century have seen a greater recognition of indigenous Manx culture, such as the first Manx language primary school, as well as a general re-evaluation of the island's economy.
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See also
- King of Mann and the Isles (1079 - 1164)
- King of Mann (1164 - 1504)
- Lord of Mann (1504 - 1765)
- Act of Settlement 1703
- Governor of the Isle of Man (1696 - 1828)
- Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man (1773 - present)
- Wimund - 12th century, first Bishop of the Isle of Man, war-lord
- Internment camps in the Isle of Man
- Extinct animals from the Isle of Man
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References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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Sources
- ^ A New History of the Isle of Man Volume 1 - The Evolution of the Natural Landscape. edited by Richard Hiverrell and Geoffrey Thomas pp295-296 (1st Edition)(2006) Liverpool University Press ISBN 0-85323-587-2
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External links
- The Story of Mann - Government site with a collections of links on Isle of Man history.
- manx geneaology - information about the geneaology of the Isle of Man from isleofman.com
- the manx notebook - A vast electronic compendium of all matters, past and present regarding the Isle of Man at isleofman.com
- History of Isle of Man
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