m - Isle of Man Today

A m ILLENNIUm PORTRAIT 

A R T H U R C A L E Y 

In a glass case in a corner of the Manx Museum there is the iron cast of a huge 

hand along with a pair of unbelievably big boots. We are told that they 

belonged to Arthur Caley, the Manx giant, who was 8ft 2in tall and weighed 

590lbs (nearly 43 stones) in his gigantic prime. 

Arthur is an almost mythical figure today. By and large we know that he earned a 

living in the freak shows that were popular in the 19th century and earlier but 

which would outrage today’s politically correct sensibilities. And that’s about it. 

There is, however, a truly remarkable tale to tell in 

Arthur’s life, a tale of faked death and fraud and 

the living of a new life unrecognised on the other 

side of the world. Arthur led a double life in fact 

and both of them were larger than life. 

His story is best told in the Journal of the Manx 

Museum of 1962-63 in an impeccably researched 

article by Ruth Serjeant called ‘The Mystery of 

Arthur Caley the Manx Giant.’ The mystery was 

that Arthur had apparently died in 1852 or 1853 

and then became one of the most famous circus 

giants in America under the name of Colonel Ruth 

Goshen who really did die in 1889. 

Arthur was born in Sulby in 1824. He grew into a 

very big boy early in life; at 22 he was 7ft 6in tall 

and weighted 21 stones. When the 1851 

population census was taken in the Island in April 

of that year he was still living at home. But by July 

1851 he had left home and the Manchester 

Guardian reported that he was on public exhibition 

in the city. 

A rather shadowy figure called Cashen, almost 

certainly Manx, was apparently managing him and 

after Manchester Arthur went to London and then 

to Paris, from where his death was reported in the 

Manx Sun of January 15, 1853. It was said that he 

had succumbed to a surfeit of high living. 

In fact by this time a Frenchman called Etienne 

Lefevre was involved with Arthur’s management. 

Cashen was discredited by Lefevre as a man who 

had defrauded Arthur. But events were to show 

later that Arthur had not died at all. In Paris his life 

had been insured for £2,000 by his exhibitors. It 

was a sum worth faking a death for. At his funeral 

there was only a log in the coffin. 

It was some time after this that Colonel Ruth Goshen was billed in America in 

Barnum & Bailey’s Circus as the youngest of a family of 14 giants born in 

Jerusalem. They knew all about hype in those days and Arthur had been given a 

completely new identity and a new career as a freak. He was also known as the 

Palestine Giant and the Arabian Giant. 

But Arthur Caley the Manx Giant was, to all intents and purposes, dead. 

Colonel Goshen had a long and successful career and towards the end of his life 

was living in the rural community of Clyde, New Jersey, where he was a famously 

flamboyant figure given to dressing up in a scarlet plush jacket and a huge black 

sombrero. He was also given to telling anybody who would listen about his 

fantastic adventures in a lifetime adventure – but only as Colonel Goshen. 

It was what the newspaper records showed after 

his death that led Ruth Serjeant to the inescapable 

conclusion that he was none other than the ‘late’ 

Arthur Caley. 

On his deathbed he confided in the minister who 

attended him that he had been born in the Isle of 

Man, not Jerusalem. (The minister, incidentally, 

was James Lefevre; if it was a coincidence it was 

an unlikely one). It also emerged that Colonel 

Goshen had been the same age as Arthur Caley. 

But perhaps the clincher was the fact that in his 

will one of the beneficiaries was a Mrs Margaret 

Gelling of Rochester, New York. Arthur Caley 

had a sister called Margaret who married Robert 

Gelling in 1835. It is not known for sure if this 

couple emigrated to America but many Manx 

people did in the 1830’s and 40’s. 

And when she died the Rochester Democrat and 

Chronicle reported that she had been born in the 

Isle of Man and she had the same birth date as 

Margaret Caley. 

But the photograph accompanying this article sets 

the seal on it. It is a studio portrait taken in New 

York and the addition to the caption in ink by an 

unknown hand must have been done out of 

complete certainty. 

It is also a matter of record that Arthur was 

married and he and his wife had an adopted 

daughter. But this was in his life as Colonel Ruth 

Goshen, or Goshon. Has Arthur Caley any 

descendants still living today, perhaps in the Isle 

of Man.? 

His parents were Arthur and Anne Caley, they lived 

in Sulby and they had 12 children altogether, many 

of which might well have gone on to live and die there. 

So, is there anybody up in Sulby these days who is, well, a bit of a big feller and 

goes by the name of Caley? 

Terry Cringle 

Photograph courtesy of Manx National Heritage 

K C M Y 

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August 1999m 

m anx 

illenniumPart 2000AD 

Eight 

A l o o k b a c k i n t i m e a s w e a p p r o a c h 

t h e n e w m i l l e n n i u m 

If sold separately – 50p 

Manx 

National 

Heritage 

Eiraght Ashoonagh 

Vannin 

Fort Anne, South Quay, 

Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 5PD 

Telephone 01624 649649 

S H I P 

M A N A G E M E N T F O R T H E N E X T M I L L E N A R Y 

An Isle of Man Newspapers Publication 

sponsored by The Midocean Group of Companies

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2 anxmillennium 

manxmillennium 

23 

Peter Kelly writes 

As we accelerate ever more quickly 

towards the end of the century, we 

should take some time to reflect on 

the rich heritage of the Isle of Man and some 

of the characters who have helped shape the 

local culture. Important figures from the 

Island’s past have featured in each issue of 

this Midocean-sponsored millennium 

supplement and the focus is on a man whose 

boots would be hard to fill. 

Arthur Caley was known as the Manx Giant 

and was more than eight feet tall and weighed 

nearly 43 stone. Read about his eventful life 

on the back page of this issue and then pay a 

visit to the Manx Museum in Douglas where a 

pair of Arthur’s enormous boots can be found. 

Thinking big in terms of international shipping 

activities yet maintaining the closeness of the 

family business is a balance we strive to 

achieve at Midocean. At the start of the year, 

we acquired our 100th vessel. We know have 

120 vessels and we have just reached another 

milestone - the number of employees at our 

Fort Anne headquarters now numbers more 

than one hundred. 

We are proud of the fact that a high 

percentage of our workforce is local and 

therefore already deeply involved in Island 

life. A social club was established to build on 

this solid foundation and is going from 

strength to strength with several fund raising 

events for charity already under its belt. So, 

we are satisfied that the continuing expansion 

of Midocean can be accommodated within a 

close-knit community, with benefits for 

everyone involved. 

I hope you enjoy the eighth edition of Manx 

Millennium. 

Christos Ashiotis 

Managing Director 

The number of calls 

following the publication 

of edition 7 were less than 

usual but I think I posed fewer 

questions than usual. In this 

edition you will find 50 views, 

taken mainly from magic 

lantern slides and glass 

negatives but a handful from 

photographic prints. 

I have introduced some 

photgraphs taken by Mr 

Southward which centre 

mainly on the north of the 

Island. In the September 

edition the majority of the 

views will come from the 

Southward collection with the 

remainder being from 

photographs given to the Manx 

Museum Library of recent. 

Unlike the photographs that 

appear in my weekly 

‘Nostalgia’ column in the 

Manx Independent it is 

possible to order photographs 

from the Manx Millennium 

series. Simply go along to the 

Manx Museum Library and 

quote the number which 

appears with the caption to the 

view in which you have an 

interest. 

It is suprising but since this 

series began in January 

readers have discovered 

photographs of themselves, 

their children, their partenrs 

and their grandparents not to 

mention their houses or the 

street in which they were born. 

The first piece of information 

related to previous editions 

brought to my attention was 

the identity of J.W. Birch who 

handed in to the Manx Museum 

photographs taken in the 1950s 

of such things as power 

stations, brickworks, river 

widenings etc. It transpires 

that he was a PhD., and 

sometime lecturer in 

Geography at the University of 

Bristol. In 1964 he published a 

book entitled “The Isle of Man 

- a Study in Economic 

Geography.” In his photograph 

of the widening of the Sulby 

River on page 5 (B) of the last edition the 

digger driver’s name should have read 

Craine not Crowe (my writing I’m afraid). I 

wonder how many readers realised that the 

photographs of Douglas beach on page 3 

(A) was printed in reverse - it was alright 

on the original printout. 

(A) 

(B) 

(C) 

(D) 

(E) 

(F) 

On page 6 (C) the photograph 

of the Ramsey Quayside 

brought a comment from two 

northside readers that the 

railway lines only went as far 

as the bend by the Mitre and 

not as far as the fish steps as 

quoted in an authoriative 

railway book. 

The cottage at the top of page 

8 (D) was described as Jenny 

Nell’s which is was how it has 

been catalogued of recent but I 

am advised that it should read 

Jemmy, that is Jemmy son of 

Nell. 

The mill on page 11 has been 

identified as being at Sir 

George’s Bridge, Abbeylands. 

On page 12 (E) was a view of 

the green at Maughold. It 

transpires that the three 

children in the photograph are 

the daughters of Mr Craine 

the grave digger who lived in a 

house next to the vicarage. 

Beneath the sundial is Janie, 

on the grass is Lily and 

walking towards the church is 

Jessie. 

The old cottages on page 14 

(F) include Mona Cottage 

which is the one with the 

integral door surround. This 

was suggested by the late Tom 

Cashin to have been one of the 

original houses of the village, 

its floor level is about a foot 

below street level. The shop 

and house built by Daniel 

Kelly dates from 1910 and the 

house was for Daniel himself, 

it did not become the vicarage 

until many years later. It 

ceased to serve that purpose in 

1980. 

Finally the ‘Old Chapel’ on 

(G) page 16 (F), which is 

described in ‘A History of Kirk 

Maughold’ by William and 

Constance Radcliffe. The site 

was purchased in January 1836 

and a school house was 

erected on the site. This is the 

building in the photograph. 

This was prior to the erection of Christ 

Church at the Dhoon in 1854-5 and so the 

school room was used as a temporary 

chapel as well. 

Now read on and enjoy the pictures. 

K C M Y 

Mr Southward’s camera has 

captured Ned Quayle on 

his father’s (R.E. Quayle) 

delivery cart, On the vehicle it 

says family grocer and the 1894 

directory lists Edward Quayle as 

being grocer, wine and spirit 

merchant of the Market Place, 

Ramsey. The question is, where is 

the row of whitewashed cottages? 

Southward Box 1 No 8 

West Craig Brickworks is 

the subject of this 

Southward photograph of 

which the glass negative is held 

in the Manx Museum Library 

There were other brickworks at 

Regaby Beg, Ballacorrey and St 

Judes. This particular brickworks 

was stated in 1900 with the 

intention of producing 5 million 

bricks a year as well and 

drainpipes, roof tiles, ridge tiles, 

floor tiles etc, It employed 14 men 

and finished bricks were loaded into 

stiff carts to be taken to Sulby 

Railway Station for shipment to 

Douglas. Southward Box 1 No 9

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This photograph was taken on 18th August 

1934 by D. L. Hemmingway of Co. 

Armagh and shows the boating pool on 

Douglas Promenade. I included it partly 

because the size of the pool is now much 

reduced but mainly because it shows an art 

deco light fitting which you don’t see very 

often in photographs. A short while ago a 

carrier bag full of old newspaper cuttings was 

left in my porch, included was a special 

supplement from the Isle of Man Examiner 

issued in conjunction with the opening of the 

new Loch Promenade and Marine Gardens on 

23rd June 1934. From that I can tell you that the 

shelters at either end of the model yachting pond 

were built by W. E. Hampton Cowell of 

Westminster Terrace using stone from the 

Ballajora quarry with roofs of pitch pine covered 

in sheet copper. The same firm also built the 

Filterhouse for Douglas Corporation Water 

Department in Greenfield Road. The other 

shelters on the promenade were built by Creer 

Brothers. Photo No 8 

The ‘Great Snow’ of 1895 didn’t 

just happen in Ramsey and 

Castletown; here we have a very 

rare shot of what happened in Douglas. 

True the snow is not so deep as some of 

those drifts that have appeared in 

photographs in other editions of ‘Manx 

Millennium’ but here we have it on 

Douglas Promenade. Taken from a faded 

print given to the Manx Museum by the 

late Percy Coupe on 20th July 1963, the 

cameraman has captured snow 

clearance so the horse tram can get 

through. We tend to forget that they were 

once a means of public transport rather 

than a tourist attraction. It linked the 

electric railway with the town so shoppers 

could come in from Ramsey, Maughold, 

Lonan and Laxey. Even the people of 

Onchan would descend Summerhill or 

Port Jack to get the horse tram into town. 

Faint in the background is the Douglas 

Bay Hotel which opened in 1894 and was 

lit by electricity supplied by the electric 

railway company. PG/510/3 

This different view of 

the Ellan Vannin has 

come to the Manx 

Museum collection of recent 

via Tony Pass. On board 

appear to be territorial 

soldiers, the pantechnicon 

possibly containing the tents 

and camp gear. It is when you 

see views like this that you 

realise how small the ship was 

and how little the 

accommodation for passengers 

for, like the Ben-my-Chree of 

today, she was built to be the 

winter daily runner of 

passengers and cargo on the 

one ship gap. Photo No 5 

To many readers this old boy will 

be familiar although I thought 

this particular close up of him 

was a bit different. Notice how his 

braces are only held on one button each 

side and see how the wallpaper is torn 

where it has been pasted over the rough 

walls of the cottage. The subject of this 

view is John Kinnish, born in 1839 and he 

lived in a thatched cottage on the road 

into Ramsey at Ballure. Near the 

entrance was a stone horse trough which 

is still visible particularly in the winter 

months when the foliage dies down. After 

Hall Caine’s book ‘The Manxman’ was 

published Cowen the Ramsey 

photographer was commissioned to take 

photographs to illustrate an American 

version (see page 14 Edition 7 and page 8 

Edition 6). John Kennish or as he was 

known by his nicknames ‘Jackie Hoodin’ 

or ‘Jackie Ballure’ was photographed as 

‘Old Pete’ or Peter Quilliam and his 

cottage became the home of Hall Caine’s 

character. MNH/pic/4238 

Work stops for the 

photographer in this 

print 

entitled 

Knocksharry Mill Day. The 

farm is considerably larger 

today than it was when the 

photograph was taken, now it 

has a new range of farm 

buildings as well as a new house. 

Perhaps there is a reader who 

can identify the traction engine, 

mill and maybe even the workers 

Photo No 1 

An unusual subject for a photograph but it was 

taken by P. M. C. Kermode the Ramsey 

advocate who became the first Director of 

the Manx Museum in 1922 when it opened but he 

had been Secretary to the Manx Museum and 

Ancient Monuments Trustees from 1896. The chairs 

are lined up outside the ancient farmhouse at 

Claghbane, Maughold. The chair on the left is a 

jointed chair which bears the inscription MC 1685 

and bequeathed to the museum trustees by Miss 

Christian of Baldromma, Maughold. The chair in 

the centre also bears an inscription although this is 

not jointed apparent in the picture. ‘J.C. 19 March 

1723’. This could well be carved to commemorate the 

birth of a child who was to receive the chair. The 

chair was donated to the Manx Museum by the 

Kermode family of Claghbane. The remaining chair 

is also a jointed armchair of probable 18th century 

origin but I invite your comments. MNH/pic/4309

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The title to this view 

is a ‘Manx Wedding’ 

but no further 

details are given as to 

where or when. There’s a 

lot of hat raising and 

cheering going on. There 

was a Manx Wedding at 

Lezayre as part of the 

Heritage Year (1986) 

celebrations put on by the 

Lezayre Heritage 

Committee. Many will 

recall a Manx Wedding in 

Laxey in the 1950s – 

probably to coincide with 

the centenary of the great 

Laxey Wheel in 1954. Some 

of the customs still take 

place at everyday 

weddings. It used to be a 

custom for newly married 

couples in Douglas to walk 

around the lighthouse at 

the end of the Red Pier 

then the quayside hobblers 

would hold a rope to block 

their passage until the 

groom coughed up some 

coins. The rope and 

throwing shining pennies 

was used as recent as 7th 

August this year when 

Joanne Garrett and John 

Kelly were married at St 

Mary’s Church. Returning 

to the photograph, can any 

reader identify the location 

of this event? 

MNH/pic/4324 

Iassume the centre post into 

which the large wooden gates 

fastened actually lifted out when 

they went to launch the lifeboat. This 

lantern slide view shows the Douglas 

lifeboat house of 1896 which was built 

to the designs supplied free of charge 

by Mr Rennison the architect. He 

came to the Island at the time of 

designing the Villiers Hotel just over 

20 years earlier and designed many 

of the entertainment buildings in 

Douglas as well as houses, shops etc 

etc. He was probabl;y the most 

prolific architect of his time yet he 

lies in an unmarked grave in the 

Borough Cemetery. The previous 

lifeboat house was a traditional stone 

built building and was located on the 

shore at Harris Promenade roughly in 

line with where the Sefton now stands. 

This building is in the Harbour 

Commissioners’ yard on The Approach 

Road which leads to the Battery Pier. 

There was a slipway set against the 

harbour wall at The Croak and the 

lifeboat, which weighed 11 tons, had to 

be pulled across the road and then 

lined up with the slipway. When she 

returned from service it took six pairs 

of horses to pull her back up. In 1924 a 

new lifeboat house (the present one) 

was opened almost directly opposite 

this building. MNH/pic/1002 

The subject matter of this lantern 

slide given to the Manx Museum in 

1952 by Major Harris is ‘Dick 

Curphey, fisherman of Douglas’ A note 

on the slide says he was going around 

with a basket of fish on his back 30-40 

years ago. Whether this meant 30-40 

years before 1952 or before the slide was 

taken is hard to establish. Perhaps 

there is a reader who can advise or tell 

something more about Dick Curphey 

MNH/pic/4222. 

Aschool sports team, enough 

players for rugby but it is a 

football in the hands of the lad in 

the middle. On the jumpers are the 

initials VCFC which stands for Victoria 

College Football Club and on the back of 

this recently donated photograph it says 

1882-3 season. On the floor is an animal 

skin and a bowler hat but why I don’t 

know. The Victoria College was in Victoria 

Road, Douglas. According to Canon Hinton 

Bird’s book ‘An Island that led’ a history of 

Manx Education it was founded in 1881 by 

Richard Farrell BA LLD. He had 

previously been vice principal of a large 

London school and in setting up the college 

was assisted by J.H. Hopkinson of Lincoln 

College, Oxford. Canon R. D. Kermode, 

well known vicar of Lezayre up to the time 

of the second world war was one of the 

early pupils here who went on to 

Cambridge. By 1884 the exam results 

from Victoria College outperformed King 

Williams College! Farrell retired in 1892 

and the college eventually closed in the 

first decade of the present century 

Photo No 4.

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Douglas is the location of this picture 

below which is taken from an album 

of snapshots recently given to the 

Manx Museum and which is yet to be 

properly catalogued so here is a preview for 

you. It shows Barrack Street so named 

because of the presence of a barracks at the 

far end of this thoroughfare where it met 

Hanover Street which is now called Lord 

Street. The pedimented building on the left 

was built in 1839 as St George’s Church Infant 

School and Sunday School. Many will recall it 

however as the Barrack Street Mission Hall. 

Today it is the Tardis nightclub. The houses on 

the right were demolished in the late 1950’s 

early 1960s to make way for the Shaw’s Brow car 

park Photo No 7 

This lantern slide has been catalogued 

as turf cutting in Ballaugh Curragh. I 

have to admit wondering if this is 

totally correct. Thirteen men in the middle 

of the working day cutting turf in one spot – 

no wives or children helping, no areas staked 

out, no piles of peat drying. Also the low lying 

land was usually owned by somebody where 

as the mountain lands are where most of the 

peat was dug. I did wonder if this was the 

digging of a drainage ditch or something 

similar. Perhaps there is a reader who can 

recognise the background which may help 

identify what is there now. MNH/pic/4320 

It’s a parade, it’s at 

Ramsey, it’s heading 

towards the Swing Bridge 

from the Mooragh Promenade 

and it’s a goat carriage but 

beyond that I am lost. The 

man alongside the vehicle is 

wearing a sash which may give 

a clue – could it have been part 

of the Oddfellows parade or 

maybe the May Day parade? 

There’s an interesting collection 

of buildings on the quayside in 

the background prior to the 

erection of the Steam Packet 

warehouses. This is a Southward 

photograph printed from one of 

the many glass negatives held in 

the Southward collection. 


From the same family album awaiting 

cataloguing comes this snapshot of a 

young lady sitting on a capstan at 

the end of the old bridge at Castletown. In 

the background on the left are the 

warehouses on the Irish Quay with Bridge 

House beyond. I have included this view for 

the benefit of those hell bent on giving 

Castletown the international heritage look 

with paving blocks, bollards, bus shelters 

and litter bins to match. Here we have what 

a Castletown gas lamp should look like with 

the supporting rods to each corner and the 

tapering lamp standard. The photograph 

also captures bollards, albeit supporting 

chains but this is what was to be found in 

Castletown not Cardiff or Coventry. 

Photo No 6 

Another Southward photograph 

entitled ‘Mother and Terry in 

front garden’. Terry is 

presumably the dog in mother’s arms 

and the house is in Bowring Road, 

Ramsey. Another glass negative in the 

Southward collection is labelled 

Myndon Ville, could this be what in the 

1851 census was described as Minden 

Cottage or what is now called Minden 

House? If that is the case then the 

decorative gagte has now gone. I 

expect the house on the opposite side of 

the road should be the real guide to 

which house it really is. 

Southward Box 1 No 4

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Ihave not seen many photographs of 

men down mines but this view shows 

Le Neve Forster, Chief Inspector of 

Mines. The label on the lantern slide says 

the view was taken down Foxdale Mines. 

Notice the thickness of timbers used as pit 

props and the constant presence of water 

under foot. Notice also the candle held on the 

hat by a lump of clay. Perhaps there is a 

reader who can advise about the pipe 

system above his head. MNH/pic/4346 

Another views of Tynwald 

fair but one taken from a 

photographic print. The 

original photograph is believed 

to have been taken by Sophia 

Morrison about 1910. Sophia 

was the author of the little book 

‘Manx Fairytales’. Notice how 

the centre house was at that 

time the place for teas and 

coffees. The ladies in the 

foreground are standing on the 

raised ground around the base 

of Tynwald Hill. 

Photo No 2 

Apostman by a postbox is the subject of this glass negative 

held in the museum library as part of the Southward 

collection. The title on the negative is ‘P.M. Corlett 

postman at letterbox opposite our gate’ Philip Murray Corlett 

was a son of Philip Corlett, Sadler and Harness maker. P.M. 

also worked as a sadler as well as being a postman. His 

brother John was a miller and brother Thomas Edward was a 

coach builder. The family shop existed next to the Ramsey 

Town Hall for many years and ledgers showed how some work 

was done on a barter basis being paid for over a period with 

farm produce. Skins were imported from England as well as 

purchased locally. Pony hide was bought as well as cowhide and 

dog skin was used to make waterproof tobacco pouches. The 

first pillar box to be erected in the Isle of Man in December 1858 

was opposite Albert Terrace at the junction with Osborne 

Terrace in Douglas. The second box was a wall box placed in 

Sandy Road, Ramsey, (later renamed Bowring Road in February 

1859.) This could very well be that box of 1859. The photograph was 

taken by Mr Southward who was a distant relation to the Corletts. 


An interesting child portrait but 

no name for the photographer. 

The young lad is John F. 

Crellin, son of J. C. Crellin MHK of 

Ballachurry, Andreas. The boy is 

dressed in an especially made uniform 

of the Manx Fencibles. The first corps of 

Manx Fencibles was raised in 1779 and 

subsequent Corps in 1793, 1795 and 1803. 

The picture dates from considerably 

later. MNH/pic/4342 

Afamiliar sight for northern residents is the former 

town hall at Ramsey which was demolished in 1972, 

following an outbreak of dry rot. Now its replacement 

lego building is to be demolished and replaced by a pseudo 

Victorian building but few modern buildings that try to 

look old can achieve the same ‘presence’ as the real thing. 

Look carefully at this building which, with the exception of 

the semi-dormer windows, is not balanced either side of the 

central doorway. One side has a projecting oriel bay 

window at first floor level, the other includes a fire station 

which housed a horse drawn fire engine. When the fire 

engine was changed the arched brickwork above the door 

was removed and replaced by a straight lintel at a higher 

level so that the new engine could get in. The town hall design 

was the subject of an architectural competition which was won 

by a Mr Berrington who received the £10 prize. This was in May 

1888 and by August 1889 the building was handed over to the 

commissioners. On the first floor windows behind the 

decorative street lamp can be read the words ‘school 

committee’ The clock which fitted the circle in the central 

pediment was added in 1911. Southward Box 2 No 15

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Mr Southward has 

c a p t u r e d 

‘Bateman in 

Coburg Road’. He has 

also captured a ‘To let’ 

sign on a property 

(perhaps it is yours) for 

which you have to apply to 

George Kay the architect 

who originally set up in 

Ramsey and later opened 

an office in Douglas. 

Whoever Bateman was I 

don’t know except he 

appears to be a delivery 

boy for John Kermode of 

London House, the red 

brick building in 

Parliament Street, 

R a m s e y . 


Another mining photograph 

which was taken at Foxdale. 

The information provided on 

this glass slide is ‘Miners and 

mining students at miner’s office 

(not company’s office) Foxdale 

1899’. On the left is Captain J. Lean 

and the large man beside him is 

Mr John Nicholls an engineer who 

later took over the Onchan 

Laundry from Mr Thomason and 

turned it into the Onchan Steam 

Laundry. On the right is Captain 

W. H. Kitto (the man with the 

watch chain) and beside him 

Captain T. Callister. The natural 

reaction of people is to comment 

how clean the men lok but you 

have to bear in mind they were 

mining for lead ore in rock – not 

coal. Maybe your grandfather or 

great grandfather is in this group. 

MNH/pic/4348 

This view shows the 

lighthouse at Douglas 

which was built in 1832 by 

the Harbour Commissioners and 

over twenty years later taken 

over by the Northern Lights. It 

was replaced in 1892 by the 

present lighthouse but the two 

were meant to have stood side 

by side until the new one was 

No indication as to the location 

of this photograph but the 

subject matter – sheep 

shearing is quite obvious. The men 

are holding shears or ‘joushes’ in 

Manx. Some of the sheep have a 

reversed leter E marked on them if 

that helps identify the flock. Local 

sheep often had their ears clipped in 

different ways to signify ownership. 

It is interesting to see the untethered 

grey horse in the background – 

seems more of a gypsy thing than 

Manx farmers in the hills. 

MNH/pic/4349

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From the Southward 

Collection of glass 

negatives is this view of a 

refreshment tent at the Sulby 

Fair of unknown date but 

probably in the first decade of 

this century. It’s hard to imagine 

a licenced tent at such a country 

event. Does any reader know who 

L. Knowles was – a publican? a 

licenced grocer? 


Acontrast to many of the fine 

houses on the Island is Mrs Mary 

Gilrea’s sod cottage at Jurby 

photographed in 1897 and produced by 

Mr Stubbs. The walls are made of turf 

sods stacked on top of one an other but 

it relied on the thatch throwing the 

water off the building. Notice how the 

thatch is taken up the chimney stack 

and how the roof is really hipped 

compared with the usual gable 

arrangement for a stone built cottage. 

Sod cottages were undoubtley 

indigenous for when the roof fell in 

the walls could wash away and 

everything would return to the earth 

MNH/pic/4230 

Ithought I would include this TT view 

which has the title ‘TT Start 1922’’ as 

I have always been amazed at the 

cantilever of the control box designed to 

give the best all round view of the 

start/finish area. It looks like a 

megaphone hanging out of the left hand 

window and is it a siren on the platform 

edge between the windows? What is that fan 

type thing over the starting rider – an 

umbrella or something to keep the seagulls 

away? Somehow a lot has changed and very 

little has changed in 77 years. Notice on the 

left the trophies are on display throughout 

the races. MNH/pic/4354 

One of the many regattas to be 

held on the Mooragh Lake at 

Ramsey was captured for us by 

Mr Southward. We don’t know what 

everyone is looking at but certainly 

there are a lot of them. I was taken by 

the young ones sitting on the edge of 

the lake which I don’t think I have seen 

before. The Mooragh Park with its 12 

acre lake was laid out by the Ramsey 

Town Commissioners and on 11th 

August 1887 Spencer Walpole the 

Lieutenant Governor cut the first sod. It 

took three years to construct the park to 

the designs of Mr E. Thomas at a cost of 

£4,650 Southward Box 2 24A 

I 

never tire of finding 

another view of Tynwald 

Fair with something 

different hidden away in some 

corner or other. In this faint 

lantern slide (which I hope 

can be darkened before 

printing) there are various 

stalls set up, covered and 

uncovered. Over on the left is 

a solid canopy with the word 

‘potatoes’ clearly viable. 

Could this be ‘Hot Potatoes’? 

If so then there is nothing new 

under the sun. In the 

background the old Tynwald 

Inn at one time called ‘The 

Junction’. Notice the complex 

of cottage, house and stable. It 

would be interesting to know 

what the large banner or 

poster is over on the right. 

This Cowen photograph or 

glass slide to be more precise, 

was given to the Manx Museum 

in 1953 by Sam Bennett of 

Ramsey. MNH/pic/4362

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What a marvellous title on this 

lantern slide ‘Waiting for the 

King at Ramsey’ This of course 

was Edward VII who arrived in 1902. I 

have seen views of the King and Queen 

being pulled along the pier in a carriage 

by sailors before it was hitched up to 

horses at the landward end but I have not 

seen the welcoming party before. The 

location is the end of the Queens Pier at 

Ramsey I can but assume that the 

Chairman of the Commissioners is H.C. 

Kerruish JP and with him is Mr James 

Bell,Town Clerk, In the background the 

people of Ramsey pack every inch of space 

on the pier. Does it take the visit of another 

monarch to galvanise those in charge to do 

something about opening up the pier to the 

public again? MNH/pic/4232 

The Royal Visit of 1902 features again in this magic 

lantern slide given to the Manx Museum in June 1953 

by Sam Bennett of Ramsey. After arriving in Ramsey 

the King and Queen drove to Bishopscourt then on to Peel and 

a visit of the Castle. From there it was to Cronkbourne for tea 

with the Speaker of the House of Keys A. W. Moore. After that 

it was down to the Manx Electric Railway Station at Derby 

Castle for a tram ride to Ramsey and back on the Royal Yacht. 

Following this visit of 1902 Onchan changed the name of their 

Marine Drive which ran from Derby Castle to Groudle in 

commemeration of the visit to King Edward Road. In 

commemoration of the visit, this view however was taken in 

Braddan at Cronkbourne, the house designed by Ewan Christian 

the great Victorian architect for the Moore family. The 

conservatory on the right has since disappeared although its base 

remains. What is of interest to me is the fact that the woodwork 

on the porch is painted white whereas you would expect it to be 

black. The King raises his hat as the carriage turns in the 

drive MNH/pic/4228 

Sandcastle amongst 

the seaweed on 

Douglas beach in this 

Edwardian lantern slide 

and not a bathing costume 

in sight. Notice the small 

buckets on the left for 

making sand castles, no 

bright colours and patterns 

on them, they are just 

miniature zinc buckets. In 

the background on the left 

a group of people are 

gathered on the bulwark to 

listen to the minstrels. The 

Central Hotel shows up 

behind, the tallest building 

in Douglas at that time 

MNH/pic/1040 

It’s more a case of 

walking across the 

decks of the boats in 

the bay than in the 

harbour in this early view 

of Peel. There is just a 

short timber breakwater 

projecting from the Sally 

port of the castle. The 

breakwater running out 

from the East Quay has a 

small light beacon on the 

end whilst on the other side 

of the harbour a gantry is 

being used to lower the 

blocks in position to make a 

harbour wall. Beside the 

hut is a vertical steam 

boiler and also visible are 

railway tracks for the 

constructional traffic. 

MNH/pic/467 

Another view of the 

Sulby Fair which 

appears to be an all 

men, all cattle event. If the 

object was to sell cattle there 

is no ring or pens, it seems a 

very unorganised event but I 

am sure it worked. Perhaps 

the thatched cottage in the 

background helps to identify 

the location of the field. 

Southward Box 3 No 32

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Afine close up of Clifford Earp’s 

Napier in the Gordon Bennett Trials 

of 1905. The view was taken at the 

Ramsey Control and forms part of the 

Southward Collection which contains 

other views of this great event. This was 

the second year the event had been held 

and readers may be astonished to learn of 

the course. Starting on Quarterbridge 

Road the cars travelled south to 

Castletown via Ballasalla; then to 

Ballacraine passing through Foxdale, Kirk 

Michael and then turning off at Ballaugh to 

travel through Jurby and on to Ramsey via 

Sandygate, then it was over the mountain to 

Cronk-na-Mona, Willaston and back to the 

start via Bray Hill. Quite a course when you 

consider the state of the roads then. 


The title on this lantern slide 

commercially produced by Graystone, 

Bird of Bath is ‘Getting ready to sail’. It 

is taken alongside the Victoria Pier and the 

ship full of passengers is the Mona’s Isle 

whilst berthed next to her is the four 

funnelled Ben-my-Chree II. Beyond is the 

Red Pier with its fine lighthouse around 

which newly married couples would walk. On 

the other side of the harbour the terraces 

designed by John Welch, John Robinson and 

others. Between the two pairs of funnells on 

the Ben-my-Chree can be seen the former 

Imperial Hotel, later Imperial Buildings, the 

headquarters of the Isle of Man Steam Packet 

Company. Behind the mast of the Mona’s Isle 

can just faintly be seen the roof of Hengler’s 

Circus, a permanent building of timber 

construction and the reason for the title 

Circus Beach which has since been covered 

with demolition material from the Douglas 

Bay Hotel and elsewhere before being paved 

over. MNH/pic/468 

Another 

lifeboat 

but this time we 

move to 

Castletown for this 

view of the lifeboat in 

the square. Is this the 

‘Thomas Black’ which 

served from 1896 until 

the station closed in 

1922 or is it the earlier 

boat? On lifeboat day 

the boat was brought 

into the square but 

that would be 

accompanied by 

bunting and seaweed 

hung from ropes. 

Notice the man with 

what I take to be a 

maroon launcher on the 

extreme right. Don’t 

overlook the sundial in 

the background that 

gives the time in various 

places throughout the 

world as well as, so it is 

said, the time of night 

by the light of the moon. 

This glass lantern slide 

once belonged to Canon 

Spicer and was given to 

the museum library in 

1952 by Mrs Riggall 

MNH/pic/3722 

Elsewhere in this edition is a 

photograph of ‘Old Pete’ 

well this is the interior of 

his cottage at Ballure on the 

outskirts of Ramsey. The cottage 

was thatched but it is interesting 

to see that the underside of the 

roof was partially boarded. The 

decoration above the fire place 

opening are advertisements for 

Holbrook’s Sauce but undoubtedly 

they brought a bit of colour to the 

collage interior. The light patch 

on the left is either a large 

skylight or, as local tradition has 

it, a hole has been made in the 

wall and roof to let additional light 

in so that the photograph could be 

taken. On the shelves to the left, 

rosie bowls can be seen between 

the other crockery. On the right 

the table appears to be piled up 

with newspapers but it looks as if 

the cottage wall behind this had 

been wallpapered ‘Old Pete’ died on 

20th September 1906 and his funeral 

was attended by a great multitude 

of people MNH/pic/1018

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Areturn to Douglas for 

this G.B. Cowen 

lantern slide of the 

Castle Mona and the sands 

in front. I wonder if Cowen 

took this views or whether 

in fact he copied another 

photograph a little older 

than his usual views. On 

the right is a grass 

embankment which was 

the location of a gun 

battery used in connection 

with others on Onchan 

Head and Douglas Head to 

protect the bay and harbour 

of Douglas. Notice there is 

no promenade with railings, 

no row of shops and the 

wing of the hotel on the 

extreme left has not yet been 

raised in height to provide 

more accommodation for 

guests. The building was only 

a private residence for the 

first thirty years of its life 

and it has been a hotel for 

167 years. Don’t forget it was 

the first Casino in the Isle of 

Man but the days of 

‘Pandora’s Box’ might be 

better forgotten. The 

photograph was given to the 

Manx Museum Library in 

1960 along with many more 

by Mr David Craine 

MNH/pic/4114 

Do you recognise the location of this 

photograph? It is the junction of Bowring 

Road with North Shore Road, Ramsey. The 

building on the right is now the North Shore Post 

Office but when this photograph was taken by Mr 

Southward it was the shop of Mr Arthur Faragher. 

The note on the negative tells us the young men are 

E. Simkiss and G. Halliday but that’s all. Notice the 

way in which the street lamp is in the road rather 

than on the pavement or the parapet as the locals 

would say. The tapered and fluted lamp standard 

featured a lot in Ramsey and elsewhere. This 

building and Teare’s the butchers on the other side of 

the road were like bookends forming a portal to 

Bowring Road but they really needed to be part of 

larger terraces to be more architecturally 

impressive. Southwards Box 2 No 30A 

The title on the glass lantern slide is 

‘Walker’s School, Ballacorraige’ and 

that’s it. The slide was produced by 

Lizars, Optician of Glasgow so thinking caps 

on and tell me where it is, what’s there now, 

who was Walker and in deed anything else 

that you can MNH/pic/4112 

Here is another magic lantern slide 

which I feel may have come from the 

Harbour Board at one time. It shows 

the construction of the lighthouse on the 

Chickens Rock. The original is rather faint 

but a terrific record of the event of all those 

years ago. Hopefully one day photographs 

will turn up of the work that was 

undertaken on shore for the granite used in 

its construction was brought from 

Dalbeatie in Scotland to Port St Mary where 

a large workforce of stone cutters produced 

blocks that dovetailed together. They were 

assembled dry to check everything was in 

order and then shipped out to the rock. The 

first 32 feet above the rock is solid granite 

then the entrance door and seven storeys upto 

the lantern machinery room. The light was lit 

for the first time on January 1st, 1875 and the 

cost all those years ago was close to £70,000. 

MNH/pic/480 

Another puzzler for you. It is obviously a 

lime kiln and limestone blocks have been 

used in the construction. It is not the lime 

kilns at Scarlett (see page 22, edition No 3) so it 

is Port St Mary or maybe af Jefferson’s quarry? 

Your views would be appreciated. MNH/pic/1690 

Train and tram buffs will have seen views 

similar to this before, it is on the summit of 

Snaefell but don’t think it was the original 

hotel, it isn’t. This was the station building, the 

refreshment building was on a lower level with a 

path between them. Soon this had to be replaced 

by a boardwalk, presumably on account of soil 

erosion. Higher than the station building was the 

actual summit where a platform was 

constructed and there was an official guide 

from whom you could purchase special 

postcards. MNH/pic/869

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There are a limited 

number of cable car 

pictures and here we 

have a good one taken at the 

base of Victoria Street. In the 

background the magnificent 

Villiers Hotel as designed by 

Rennison the architect who 

came to the Island from 

Stockport. The cable cars 

worked on exactly the same 

principle as those in San 

Francisco and it was an urban 

form of transport. The route 

from the Jubilee Clock was up 

Victoria Street, Prospect Hill, 

Bucks Road, Woodbourne Road, 

York Road and them down 

Ballaquayle Road and Broadway 

to meet the promenade at the 

Villa Marina. The final decent 

was considered too dangerous 

and after a very short time the 

cars only went as far as Stanley 

View on Ballaquayle Road. 

MNH/pic/873 

I 

selected this lantern slide of a 

uniformed gentleman with a pier and 

lighthouse in the background 

because it presented a challenge. On the 

belt and knitted into the jumper are the 

initials R.V.L.C. and on his armband a 

crown. What did the initials stand for, 

what were the dates painted onto the 

slide and where was the pier. My initial 

thoughts were that the photograph was 

taken from the jetty at the end of East 

Quay in Peel and that the lighthouse was 

on the end of the Castle Jetty. Quite by 

accident when going through Constance 

Radcliffe’s excellent book ‘Shining by the 

Sea’ there was a photograph of a man 

standing by a wooden tripod used for 

‘breechers-buoy’ rescues, behind was a 

cart and all around was equipment for 

lifesaving. This view, which was possibly 

enlarged to show the lighthouse was in fact 

the top right hand corner of that on page 90 

of the book. From that I can tell you 

however that the man is Thomas Arthur 

Corlett an advocate and an officer of the 

Rocket Brigade in Ramsey. Formed in 1864 

it was entitled ‘Ramsey Volunteer Life 

Corps’. That explaind the initials. T. A. 

Corlett lived from 1851 to 1878 and I wonder 

if the dates on the slide related to the life of 

the lighthouse. The south pier was raised in 

height in 1845 and a stone lighthouse added 

to replace a wooden one the same year. In 

the background is the ‘Abernathy’ part 

timber constructed extension to the North 

Pier of 1863-64. MNH/pic/470 

I 

had three views of this 

shipwreck from which to 

select one of the lantern 

slides for publication. I 

though this was the more 

dramatic even though one of 

the others showed the ship 

before she began to break up. 

This slide was given to the 

Manx Museum in 1952 by 

Major F. C. Harris. The ship 

is the ‘Argo’ which was on 

passage from Bordeaux to 

Glasgow with a general 

cargo in December 1905. She 

struck the rocks at Meary 

Voar near Santon Head. The 

crew spent the night trapped 

on the vessel but the next 

day all fourteen were taken 

ashore. The heavy seas soon 

broke the ship into three 

MNH/pic/3729 

What a way to launch a 

lifeboat! Look closely 

and you will see there 

are two men on the boat as it 

is tipped into Ramsey 

harbour in this Midwood 

lantern slide. The first 

lifeboat house is believed to 

have been a wooden hut on 

land owned by the Harbour 

Commissioners, the arrival of 

the ‘Two Sisters’ in 1868 saw 

the building of a stone lifeboat 

house a little north of the 

present building on the South 

Promenade. This was an ideal 

location for launching straight 

out on to the beach and in to 

the sea. In February 1895 

there was a blizzard as well as 

a heavy sea and a schooner 

had grounded on Ramsey 

beach close to the boathouse, 

It proved difficult to launch 

the lifeboat in the usual way 

and so she was hauled around 

onto the quayside where a 

lamp standard had to be taken 

down to facilitate the launch 

into the harbour. The lifeboat 

suffered damage to her bow 

which was quickly covered 

with a piece of tin but 

afterwards it was discovered 

that 13 planks were in fact 

damaged. This photograph is 

not however of that launch for 

there is no snow, no blizzard, no 

overcoats and something of a 

heat haze. So if this is after 

February 1895 why did they try 

it again after the damage the 

first time! The view was given 

to the Manx Museum in June 

1953 by Sam Bennett of Ramsey 

MNH/pic/3736

m - Isle of Man Today

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