NEWSLETTER Autumn 2019 Editor – Douglas Barr-Hamilton London Manx assemble in numbers All roads led to Holborn and the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel on the first day of June and a couple of dozen members of the London Manx Society got together for their annual lunch that has been held there for a number of years, even before it changed its name from the Bonnington. Those attending were Elaine Abraham, Douglas and Margarita Barr-Hamilton, Robin and Voirrey Carr, Stewart Christian, Bryan and Sheila Corrin, Mike and Pam Fiddik, Colin and Edna Flint, Maron Honeyborne, Margaret Hunt, Alastair Kneale, Wendy Kneen, Peter and Sally Miller, Margaret Robertson, Sam Weller, Jim and Sue Wood with its guest of honour John Callow and Melissa. After an excellent meal, Dr. Callow, a Manx writer and historian gave a fascinating and informative talk providing an insight into the life of the Manx people under the 7th Earl of Derby, "Yn Stanlagh Mooar," especially during the English Civil War when they were subject to near absolute rule, conscription into the army and, through neglect of the land, near starvation: suffering that helped islanders to see themselves as a nation. A brief ceremony followed in which Bryan Corrin, the society's president for the past three years handed over the office to Alastair Kneale and then a raffle in which Bryan won the top prize, again generously donated by the IOMSPCo, that will enable him and his wife Sheila to take their car to the Island and enjoy Ellan Vannin itself and not just the song with which the afternoon closed. Summer Cooish in Cambridge Not having yet returned from a trip to be on the Island for Tynwald Day, the Society's new president Alastair Kneale missed its traditional Tynwald Cooish again held at the home of Sally and Peter Miller in Cambridge, this year on 13th July. Our secretary also missed the afternoon. With no prior warning, he suffered what the doctors called, "Arthritic flare" in his right knee and was admitted to the North Middlesex Hospital where he was detained for four days while the swelling and pain reduced but, after a couple of weeks back at home, made a complete recovery. Indeed, he says that the knee is better than it has been for years. Most of the usual guests were able to get there fortunately and had a most enjoyable afternoon, the great company fed by delights brought by the guests themselves and wonderfully augmented by Sally and Peter. Those present were Stewart Christian, Bryan and Sheila Corrin, Rose Fowler and her grandson, Maron Honeyborne, Fran Higson, Peter Nash, Sam Weller and Maureen Wigley. DBH Mhelliah This year's Mhelliah will be Monday 14th October with the service again being held at St Bride's Church, Fleet Street starting at 12 noon and led by society member and lay reader Nick Alexander. After the service we shall saunter to the nearby Punch Tavern for lunch. There we will enjoy the tavern's pub lunch having advised Sam Weller by Wednesday 9th October and undertaking to pay him £20 per person to cover the main course, juice, coffee or tea. Desserts, sides and other drinks will not be included in the £20. Main courses need to be pre-selected by the previous Thursday (10th) so confirmation of attendance should be given to him before then please. An application form accompanies this newsletter with contact details. DBH Cleveland Manx Society In our last newsletter we mentioned that the North American Manx Association had lost contact with the Manx community in Cleveland, Ohio and asked if any London member knew any member in the city. We have heard of none. It would be a shame if all trace of descendants with Manx ancestry were lost for, as John Quirk points out in his book, "The Manx Connection," published in 2007, the Cleveland Manx are the oldest ethnic group in America dating back to 1851. Indeed, their arrival might be well before that as J H Kinvig's history of the island tells of the influence of Manxman, Dr. Harrison, at one time on the medical staff of the British army, who travelled in the area in around 1820. Later he returned to the Island, where his brother, Rev. J. E. Harrison, had become Vicar of Jurby in 1818, a living he held until 1858, and gave him very encouraging accounts of the district on the south side of Lake Erie foreseeing a prosperous future for it. It was a time when many small farmers and labourers, particularly of the northern parishes of Jurby, Andreas and Bride, as well as Kirk Michael and the area round Peel, were finding life very difficult owing to adverse economic and social conditions affecting agriculture and fishing, not least Bishop George Murray, nephew of the 4th Duke of Atholl, imposing the tithe on potatoes that led to riots in November 1825. That same year the Erie Canal was opened and it became possible to travel by boat from New York to Albany on the Hudson River and onward by canal via Rochester to Buffalo on Lake Erie and then on the lake to Cleveland. It's likely, therefore, that they were easily persuaded by these stories of new lands in America awaiting development and many decided to emigrate. Kinvig records the diary of one Thomas Kelly who left the Island on 6th July, 1827 along with his father, sister, wife and five daughters and ten other Manx people. Their aim was to seek fortune in the New World. Kelly records how the previous day he had made a special journey to see ‘the ancient ceremonies on Tynwald Hill and secretly took from its lowest round one little handful of that earth which has seen maybe, and heard, more history than any other spot on the Island.’ Their journey to New York from Liverpool took 63 days and they needed another seventeen to reach Painesville, Ohio, travelling via the Erie Canal. He writes that passing through Rochester they had ‘a joyful meeting’ with several Manx people, proving that other emigrants had already preceded them on this route. Other surviving documents tell of Thomas Kelly who left Doolough (Dollagh Mooar?) Farm, Jurby, in 1827 and of Daniel Caley, also of Jurby, who left in 1831. The Isle of Man Examiner of Saturday, August 7th, 1897 carried an interview with a visiting American academic, Henry Hanby Hay, who told them how two years earlier he had met lawyer, Mr W Sheldon Kerruish and had been told the origins of the Manx community in Cleveland: too long to reproduce here, it is available in full at the Manx iMuseum and well worth reading. However, it suggests that a Manx clergyman (name forgotten) visited the site of Cleveland before the opening of the Erie Canal then returned to the Island to recommend the opportunities in the area. Hay states there were eighty Manx families in the area in 1826 with an equal number joining them the following year. He recalls how, later, he had met Manx folk there named Caine, Cannell, Corlett, Creer, Curphey, Gawne, Gill, Kelly, Kerruish, Kneale, Quayle, Sayle, Teare and Watterson, If their descendants are still living in or near Cleveland, Ohio, I'm sure the North American Manx Association would love to hear from them. DBH Sources: John Quirk, J H Kinvig, Isle of Man Examiner Ramsey Pier: closing in on first stage Over the past few weeks another big operation has been successfully carried out on Queen’s Pier, Ramsey. Corroded iron girders having been replaced with new steel over the first bank holiday weekend in May, some thirty new larch beams were craned into their approximate position onto the pier’s first bay, a similar number of rotten old timbers from the second bay having been removed: a big lift operation carried out once again with the help of Isle of Man Heavy Crane Services Ltd. Project manager Stuart McKenzie said that Restoration Trust volunteers would now be able to fix the new beams in place ahead of the wooden stringers going down followed by the decking being laid. This will complete the restoration of the pier’s first bay: a landmark which Mr McKenzie expects will be reached a little before the end of this year. Another important milestone took place last week when the newly-installed steel passed its formal inspection. Meanwhile fundraising continues apace with the Trust not far short of the £50,000-60,000 needed to order replacement steelwork for bays two and three. Fundraising for this community project has involved some innovative ideas including schemes to sponsor a plank and sponsor a stanchion. All the materials required to complete the first bay have been purchased but the volunteers are still waiting for all of the 36 cast iron grids to be returned from being refurbished. All the planks and all 38 stanchions for the first three bays have now been sold out. Sponsors receive a certificate and an inscribed plaque. The last two stanchions were sponsored by the Clague family from Belgium whose great, great grandfather owned the foundry in Ramsey which cast much of the pier deck’s iron furniture. A major fundraiser took place at Harbour Bistro in East Quay in mid August which raised in excess of £6,000 towards the pier’s restoration. The Queen’s Pier Restoration Trust signed a five-year lease with the government in July 2017 to begin work on bringing the long-closed Victoria landmark back to life. This lease and the subsequent granting of planning consent covers the restoration of the first three bays which forms phase one of the project.