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News Archive

October 2024
  • Collecting the Contemporary – The Allan Milner Collection (1910-1984) 7 October 2024

    The Manx Museum has been collecting art for the people of the Isle of Man for over 100 years. Over this time art has changed dramatically. The invention of photography meant artists no longer wanted or needed to capture the world figuratively, which led to an explosion of new artistic movements. Formal landscapes paintings and […]

September 2024
  • Spotlight on Manx National Heritage’s printed poetry resources 19 September 2024

    As we draw near to Manx Litfest 2024, it is timely to draw attention to the poetry resources cared for by Manx National Heritage Library and Archives. Based at the Manx Museum, Douglas, our library has been collecting Manx printed and manuscript resources for over a century. We hope the content is of help and […]

October 2023
  • Preparing for the Art Gallery Rehang 11 October 2023

    An ambitious new rehang of the National Art Collection at the Manx Museum is underway.  The gallery will include a high proportion of art work that has either not been on public display before or has not been on display for over twenty years. The redisplay will include a large sculpture wall, a grand salon […]

September 2023
  • The wreck of the Clan MacMaster 29 September 2023

    30th September 2023 marks 100 years since the Clan MacMaster was wrecked in Calf Sound. In some of the worst fog ever experienced by the crew, the cargo ship Clan MacMaster was on her way from Glasgow to East Asia, via Liverpool.  She was carrying a real mix of general goods – coal, cotton, whisky, […]

  • Social History Collections on iMuseum 11 September 2023

    Over the last year Manx National Heritage has been working hard on making as many Social History records as possible available on imuseum.im. Completed in August, we have managed to add over over 1,700 new records to our iMuseum site! When Manx National Heritage evaluated the number of records available on iMuseum last year, we […]

August 2023
  • Celebrating 100 Years of the Manx Grand Prix 22 August 2023

    This year the Manx Grand Prix celebrates its centenary, so let’s take a look through the Manx National Heritage collections using the historic newspapers (1792-1960), motorsport biographies and photographic archive, all available through iMuseum. In The Beginning We’ll begin with a Peel City Guardian report from that first race. The Amateur Motorcycle Championship, as it […]

  • MUSEUM100: one hundred years of the Manx Museum 14 August 2023

    Manx National Heritage’s MUSEUM 100 exhibition and podcast celebrates the centenary of the Manx Museum. The exhibition features a kaleidoscope of over 150 objects and treasures from the Manx Museum’s collections, many of which are on public display for the first time. In a series of Manx Radio podcasts, Manx Museum workers discuss the objects […]

May 2023
  • George V’s Coronation Day in the Isle of Man (22 June 1911) 4 May 2023

    King George V and Queen Mary were crowned at Westminster Abbey on 22 June 1911. Peel City Guardian, 24 June 1911, p.17 The Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man Lord Raglan proclaimed Coronation Day a Bank Holiday and like most bank holidays, “Coronation Day broke grey and unpromising in weather.” (Mona’s Herald, 28 June […]

April 2023
  • Edward VII’s Coronation Day in the Isle of Man (9 August 1902) 27 April 2023

    King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were to be crowned at Westminster Abbey on 26 June 1902.  Shockingly, a few days before the Coronation, Edward suffered a life-threatening appendicitis which meant it was cancelled.  With the King’s health still in the balance, the finance committee of Douglas Town Council was worried – not about arrangements […]

  • Victoria’s Coronation Day in the Isle of Man (28 June 1838) 22 April 2023

    Queen Victoria was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 28 June 1838, aged 19. George Hayter, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons In the weeks before the big day, talk in the newspapers and over breakfast tables in the Isle of Man was whether the island was prepared or cared to celebrate.  A letter from ‘A Loyalist’ […]

  • Second World War Internment Museum Collections 10 April 2023

    At the start of 2023 Manx National Heritage added over 320 records (around half with images) from our Second World War Internment Museum Collections onto our iMuseum. These records all relate to the material culture within the internment camps on the Isle of Man during 1939-1945. Here’s what Katie King, Curator of Art & Social […]

  • First World War Internment Museum Collections 3 April 2023

    At the start of 2023 Manx National Heritage added over 270 records (around half with images) from our First World War Internment Museum Collections onto our iMuseum. These records all relate to the material culture within the internment camps on the Isle of Man during 1914-1918. Here’s what Matthew Richardson, Curator of Social History at […]

March 2023
  • The Atholl Papers: Project Finale 28 March 2023

    You may be wondering what happened to all those blogs that I promised on the papers of the 4th Duke of Atholl, in my last post, all the way back in May 2022 (a promise I’ve now sneakily erased)? Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to explore the 4th Duke’s era with you, the size […]

  • John ‘Warwick’ Smith watercolours of the Isle of Man 22 March 2023

    Watercolourist John ‘Warwick’ Smith was born in Irthington, Cumberland on 26 July 1749.  He was one of the most famous watercolourists of his day. In the 1790s he was commissioned by the 4th Duke of Atholl, John Murray (1755-1830), then Governor-in-Chief of the Isle of Man, to complete a series of watercolour drawings of the […]

January 2023
  • Social History Collections – Unlocking Objects From Our Stores 23 January 2023

    October 2022 saw the opening of MUSEUM 100, an exhibition celebrating the centenary of the Manx Museum, home to an extraordinary collection of artefacts and archives that help tell the story of the Isle of Man and its people. Our curators carefully selected over 100 objects to display in the exhibition and the Digital Collections […]

  • HMS Racehorse 18 January 2023

    The 200th anniversary of the loss of HMS Racehorse on 14th December 2022 saw a number of local groups collaborating to share the story and significance.  The tragic events surrounding the loss are thought to have been a catalyst for Manx resident Sir William Hillary to galvanise his efforts to persuade the UK Government to […]

June 2022
  • Street parties and mock Viking raids: a peep into past royal jubilees 1 June 2022

    Students Leo and Myles joined the team of the Manx National Heritage Library and Archives in late April and May 2022 for work-based experience as part of their University College Isle of Man degree course.  One task was to gain experience blogging using the Platinum Jubilee as inspiration.  They take up the story. Queen’s Silver […]

May 2022
  • The Atholl Papers: The Post-Revestment Turmoil 25 May 2022

    At the end of the last Revestment blog, the 3rd Duke and Duchess of Atholl had been forced to sell their lord proprietary rights over the Isle of Man to the British Crown, with the Atholls’ brief reign as the Lords of Mann coming to an end on 17th May 1765. This came about because […]

March 2022
  • The Atholl Papers: The Revestment 31 March 2022

    I make no claims of being well-versed in Manx history. But I do know that the Atholl-era witnessed one of the Isle of Man’s defining moments; the first step upon a path that would eventually lead to the island’s current status as a self-governing nation. I am talking about the Revestment; when in 1765 the […]

February 2022
  • The Atholl Papers: Project Update 23 February 2022

    How the past ten months have flown by! It only feels like ten minutes ago that a not-so-gentle nurse, with her trusty nasal swab, gave me an eye-watering introduction to the Isle of Man. But as the half-way point in the project fast approaches, it acts as a stark reminder that time is very much […]

November 2021
  • The Atholl Papers: Captain Dow and the Dutch Dogger 24 November 2021

    Smuggling! If there was one thing that the Isle of Man was famous for in the eighteenth century, it was its major role as an entrepôt (think modern-day ‘fulfilment centre’) that serviced the illicit trade throughout the British Isles. There were numerous reasons why the island and its merchants, native and foreign, were able to […]

October 2021
  • The Atholl Papers: The Jacobite Rising of 1745 28 October 2021

    The Atholl family and the wider members of Clan Murray have a complicated relationship with Jacobitism; one of divided loyalties, which saw family and clan members pitted against one another in all three risings (1715, 1719 and 1745), in the name of either a Hanoverian king or the ‘Pretender,’ James Francis Edward Stuart. William, Marquess […]

September 2021
  • The Atholl Papers: The Case of Carolina Elinora Mahon 30 September 2021

    I must confess that I went down a bit of a rabbit hole, back in May, when I first came across correspondence and others papers relating to the apparent abduction of a 13/14-year-old Irish heiress, Carolina Elinora Mahon, by members of the Corry family of County Monaghan, Ireland, in October 1749. But what I initially […]

August 2021
  • The Atholl Papers: The 2nd Duke of Atholl’s Inheritance of the Isle of Man 26 August 2021

    For the poor souls amongst you that managed to get through my first blog post and, having decided you hadn’t suffered enough, have come back for more, we turn to the rather dry (but very important!) topic of how a Scottish noble family came into possession of the Isle of Man. It is here that […]

July 2021
  • The Atholl Papers: An Introduction to the Project 27 July 2021

    It was, perhaps, with some trepidation that I stepped aboard the Steam Packet for the Isle of Man, back in March, possibly making a foolhardy decision to relocate to an unfamiliar land to start a new job whilst the world was, and still is, in the grip of a pandemic. It also did not help […]

  • Manx Language Foillan Films Archive 19 July 2021

    Nicola Tooms, Assistant Curator at Manx National Heritage, explains more about the Foillan Films Archive now available to watch on iMuseum: Click to Watch The Film Archive (part of Manx National Heritage Library and Archives) contains a number of films made by Manx language filmmakers Foillan Films. These films have been recently digitised and I’ve […]

February 2021
  • Unlocking Our Sound Heritage – an Exciting New Project You Could Be Part Of! 5 February 2021

    Around 600 sound recordings, carefully selected from Manx National Heritage (MNH) Library and Archives, are set to be digitised and made available online thanks to the ‘Unlocking Our Sound Heritage’ (UOSH) project, a UK wide project to preserve and provide access to thousands of rare and unique sound recordings. These recordings have become at risk […]

December 2020
  • This Is Christmas – Photographs from Manx Press Pictures Archive, 1950s-1970s 2 December 2020

    Katie King, Community Learning Officer for Manx National Heritage, explains more about the Manx Museum’s latest exhibition: I have been working with our fabulous Manx Press Pictures archive for a number of years, having curated our This Is Summer (2017) and This Is Winter (2019) exhibitions and associated digitisation projects. Manx National Heritage holds over […]

November 2020
  • Film of Viscount Montgomery of Alamein’s Visit to the Isle of Man 5 November 2020

    “Out With The Flags and Bunting!” Newspaper headline from Mona’s Herald, 11/05/1948 Manx National Heritage Library and Archives holds original amateur film footage of “Monty’s” 1948 visit to the Isle of Man, which is now digitally available for the first time on iMuseum. Click here to watch! Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein spent two […]

September 2020
  • Rushen Camp: Second World War Internment on the Isle of Man 25 September 2020

    This article is the last in a four part series about Civilian Internment on the Isle of Man during the Second World War.  Rushen Camp The second camp to be opened on the Isle of Man was very different from all the others on the Island as it was run by the Home Office rather […]

  • Hutchinson, Onchan & Peveril Camps: Second World War Internment on the Isle of Man 18 September 2020

    This article is the third in a four part series about Civilian Internment on the Isle of Man during the Second World War.  Hutchinson Camp Just off the Douglas Promenade is Hutchinson Camp now probably the most well-known of the Manx internment Camps. It opened in June 1940 and held 1,100 internees in boarding houses […]

  • Douglas Promenade: Second World War Internment on the Isle of Man 11 September 2020

    This article is the second in a four part series about Civilian Internment on the Isle of Man during the Second World War.  Following the opening of the Mooragh Camp and the arrival of the first male internees on the Island, several more camps were created around the Island in rapid succession. The greatest concentration […]

  • Mooragh Camp: Second World War Internment on the Isle of Man 5 September 2020

    This article is the first in a four part series about Civilian Internment on the Isle of Man during the Second World War.  Why were people interned? Many things may have been different on the Isle of Man from the rest of Britain during the Second World War – there were no nightly air raids, […]

August 2020
  • Introducing five digitised photographic resources now on iMuseum 21 August 2020

    Over 300 charming, informal photographs of children and young people of Ramsey and the north are now available for viewing.  These were taken in the 1950s and ’60s by Ramsey Grammar School teacher Ernest Webb (1899-1974).  A keen amateur photographer, Webb specialised in pictures of children and landscapes. His images show his skill in putting […]

July 2020
  • Sculpture collection newly released to iMuseum 21 July 2020

    Twenty sculptures from the Isle of Man’s National Art Collection have been photographed and recorded as part of a major project to photograph sculptures across the UK and British Islands. The sculptures are now available to view on iMuseum. Search #imuseumsculpture on the homepage or click here. The new release is part of the Art […]

  • Fishing Folklore: how to stay safe & how to be lucky at sea 3 July 2020

    Folklore and traditional folk beliefs are not just about ‘witches and fairies’ or about quaint old customs or irrational superstitions. Instead they are evidence of the different belief systems which have evolved over the centuries. These helped communities make sense of life in a pre-scientific and pre-literate world and are often about how to be […]

June 2020
  • TT Who’s Who Biographies 11 June 2020

    Manx National Heritage’s TT Who’s Who Digital Volunteers have gone full pelt during the COVID-19 lockdown by publishing nearly 400 biographies of riders from the 1940s and 50s on imuseum.im.    Volunteering entirely online, the team has copied potted biographies from the original TT Special newspapers (already digitised by Manx National Heritage) and added them to […]

May 2020
  • Favourites from the Folk Life Collections at the Manx Museum 6 May 2020

    The Manx Museum may be closed during the Coronavirus lockdown, but it’s still possible to discover more about some of the objects in the National Collections and the fascinating stories behind the objects themselves and the people who made and used them in the past. Here are a selection of some of the objects from […]

  • VE Day Isle of Man, 8 May 1945 4 May 2020

    ‘This is “V” Day, the day which marks the end of the war in Europe; the day for which we have waited for five and a half bitter years’.  That’s how the Isle of Man newspaper Mona’s Herald gleefully reported VE Day to its readers on Tuesday 8 May 1945. This year marks the 75th […]

April 2020
  • John Miller Nicholson: a Manx National Artist 3 April 2020

    The following text comes from a series of newspaper articles which were written for the MNH exhibition ‘John Miller Nicholson – A Manx National Artist’ held at the Manx Museum, Douglas – the articles were extended versions of the text on the exhibition graphic panels. One of the aims of the exhibition was to provide […]

February 2020
January 2020
  • Isle of Art: The History of the Douglas School of Art 7 January 2020

    A Place to Nurture Manx Art From 1880, a common thread has linked the work of many of the Island’s artists – their connection with the Douglas School of Art, either as tutors or students and in some cases both. So why was an art school so important? During the 19th century, Britain was seen […]

December 2019
  • Christmas Cards from the Gibbs of The Grove 20 December 2019

    With its origins heralding back to the Victorian era, Christmas Cards were first designed by Sir Henry Cole and his friend, John Callcott Horsley. They were sold for 1 shilling each, which was expensive at the time. In 1840, after the introduction of the ‘Penny Post’, cards were easier to send and the tradition grew. […]

November 2019
  • A Manx Connection to the Eisteddfod of the Black Chair 8 November 2019

    Manx National Heritage is delighted to have received the ribbon presented to Mona Douglas (Manx cultural activist, folklorist, poet, novelist and journalist) when she was inaugurated into the Gorsedd of British Bards at the 1917 National Eisteddfod. The item was one of Mona’s most prized possessions for the remainder of her life; the event was […]

October 2019
  • This Is Winter: Manx Press Pictures 1960s-1970s 4 October 2019

    Library staff member Sarah Christian sheds light on the process of selecting images to digitise for a new exhibition and iMuseum resource.  Following the success of the 2016 exhibition This is Summer at the House of Manannan, Peel and the release of digitised press photographs onto the iMuseum website, this year we celebrate This is […]

August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
  • Definitive TT database launched 3 June 2019

    Manx National Heritage, the national heritage organisation for the Isle of Man, has teamed up with Official Isle of Man TT Races website to deliver the definitive archive of every TT Race since the event’s inception in 1907. The results of every competitor who has ever started a race around the TT Mountain Course are […]

May 2019
  • The Castletown Metropolitan Regatta 9 May 2019

    One of the newest items to be added to the Manx National Heritage collections is a circular cream cardboard badge, with Castletown (I.O.M.) Metropolitan Regatta Official embossed in gold on it. The Castletown Metropolitan Regatta was an annual event from c.1858-9 onwards with a series of sailing races around the Castletown bay. These sailing races […]

April 2019
  • Moving collections is eggciting! 1 April 2019

    We have just expanded some of our stores so that our natural history collections, which are currently dispersed over numerous locations, can be kept in one place. One of the groups I am working on at the moment is the egg collection, which seems very fitting for Easter! Believe it or not, egg collections themselves […]

March 2019
  • Explore the Isle of Man before photography 4 March 2019

    Over 300 watercolours from the Isle of Man’s national art collection have joined other public and private collections from around the world to create a free online website of watercolours painted before and around 1900. Watercolours of the landscape, buildings and people of the Isle of Man by artists including Archibald Knox, Robert Evans Creer […]

February 2019
  • Work Heritage, Study Heritage- My Life As a Working Student: 4 February 2019

    Who would choose distance learning? Who would choose to study in the evenings for twenty hours a week, alongside a full-time job? That person would be me. I am addicted to two things in life, heritage and knowledge. If the heritage sector is the bread and butter I eat; my thirst for knowledge is the […]

January 2019
  • Redress, Retrenchment and Reform! First World War Petition in favour of a new Governor 3 January 2019

    Names from a petition containing over 2,000 signatures are now published to iMuseum. The petition was circulated in 1916 by the War Rights Union, who was unhappy with the government’s failure to deal with the decline in tourism and its impact on the Manx economy. Visitors arrive at Victoria Pier at Douglas during the hey day […]

December 2018
  • Pubs, Pints and Poppies 4 December 2018

    Explore Your Archive is an Archives and Records Association (ARA) initiative, which aims to connect more people with their local archives service. www.exploreyourarchive.org Each November Archives services across the British Isles are invited to join in by hosting their own special events. At Manx National Heritage Library and Archives, we are always been keen to […]

November 2018
  • Explore Mann at War: stories of Manx men, women and children in conflict 2 November 2018

    Officially opened in advance of the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, Mann at War is a new gallery at the Manx Museum commemorating the role of Manx men, women and children in conflict from the 1700s to the present day. Explore Mann at War is a digital interactive which tells the stories of people who have […]

  • We Will Remember Them: Isle of Man Great War Roll of Honour (1914-1918) 1 November 2018

    The names of 1,300 Manx individuals who gave up their lives in the First World War and 180 Manx individuals honoured for bravery and exceptional service are now recorded on iMuseum. The names have been transcribed from a roll of honour in book form; originally published in 1934 by the War Pensions Committee. The roll […]

October 2018
  • Lives told in their own words: first-hand written accounts in the manuscript collection 1 October 2018

    Nearly four hundred fascinating Isle of Man related diaries, memoirs and travel journals are lodged with Manx National Heritage. We value these for the insights, opinions, anecdotes and information they contain, even when simply recording everyday life and routine.  Perhaps you know of other such material still in private hands that might be made available to us […]

August 2018
  • Moving News: Collections Management in Focus 1 August 2018

    In mid June 2018 I joined the Library and Archives team at MNH and since then I have enjoyed finding my feet and helping practically in this varied role. One way to learn about the printed collections is to jump in at the deep-end of the collections management pool. I was given the task of […]

July 2018
  • The Manx General Strike of 1918 3 July 2018

    Arguably the worst incident of labour unrest ever to occur on the Isle of Man came in the summer of 1918. This was the so-called ‘Bread Strike’ (or Manx General Strike) and it was the product of simmering resentment over a number of uniquely Manx issues. Captain Moughtin (Image ref: PG/8655/3296)   It affected virtually the […]

June 2018
  • Ramsey Retailer In Spot of Bother Over Saucy Postcards 18 June 2018

    We were recently contacted by iMuseum user Dr Anthony Manning, who uncovered his family history using Newspapers Online. Dr Manning’s research focused on the Mills family, who owned a series of businesses in Ramsey. The last of these was the Joke Shop on Ramsey’s West Quay which closed its doors for the final time in 2018. […]

May 2018
  • Maps and plans of the Isle of Man now on iMuseum 21 May 2018

    Cathy Clucas, Library & Archive Assistant at the Manx Museum (2011-2017) recently completed a four-year project to create an online catalogue of Manx National Heritage’s historical maps and plans. Iron Drill Hall erected at ‘Hermitage’ Peel Road, Douglas, I.O.M. for Major Stephen (1895-1896). Ref: P.6095 Now searchable on iMuseum, the collection includes commercially published maps, […]

March 2018
  • Mystery Artist of ‘Bradda Head’ Identified 29 March 2018

    The identity of the painter of ‘Bradda Head, Isle of Man’ has long been a mystery at Manx National Heritage, until March 2018, when all was revealed by Art Detectives from Art UK . The painting shows in the foreground a number of people in an open boat (believed to be the Port St Mary […]

February 2018
  • Playful Pasts at the House of Manannan 1 February 2018

    Who remembers Saturday afternoons spent in Toymaster or Colebourn’s Computers? Take a trip down memory lane at the House of Manannan’s exhibition Playful Pasts: Our journey with Toys, a celebration of toys and play on the Isle of Man. Image ref: L22854/6. Presentation of popular Scalextric set and cars to prize winners in Toymaster toyshop, […]

December 2017
  • Explore Your Archive Week 2017 1 December 2017

    Ahoy there! For Explore Your Archive week at the Manx Museum (18 to 26 November) the Manx Museum Library and Archive opened up its nautical archive. The theme was Mann on the High Seas and visitors were able to get up close to items such as historic Isle of Man Steam Packet Ledgers, customs records and […]

November 2017
  • We’re Getting Musical with MINIM-UK 7 November 2017

    Manx National Heritage’s collection of musical instruments is now included in a major new virtual museum, MINIM-UK (www.minim.ac.uk) featuring sound, pictures and information about the UK’s most important musical instruments. 5,000 years of musical heritage from 200 UK collections is brought together for the first time in a major new website documenting 20,000 historically significant […]

September 2017
  • Dr Dave Burnett explores Manx National Heritage geology collection 26 September 2017

    Back in the 90s I did my PhD on the rocks of the Isle of Man. Since then I’ve been working as a geologist in London so it was great to have been given the opportunity to get reacquainted with some of the Island’s rocks through the geology collection held at the Manx Museum. Dr […]

  • Unlocking stories from the Archives: The Transvaal Manx Association 4 September 2017

    Did you know the Manx people have always been great travellers? One such place they travelled to was the Transvaal. The South African Republic often referred to as the Transvaal, was an independent country in Southern Africa from 1852 until 1902, lying north east within South Africa and just north of the Vaal River. The […]

June 2017
May 2017
  • Manx herbarium: flowering plants and ferns now on iMuseum 10 May 2017

    Thanks to the work of Andree Dubbeldam of the Wildflowers of Mann and volunteer Joyce Quilliam, Manx National Heritage has over a thousand herbarium records on iMuseum, many of which include photographs captured by Andree and Joyce. The photographs show an historic herbarium (a collection of preserved plant specimens) collected from around the Isle of Man. […]

March 2017
  • New design for iMuseum Newspapers & Publications Website 22 March 2017

    Manx National Heritage, the national heritage agency for the Isle of Man, wants you to discover what made the Island’s news in days gone by with the re-launch of the iMuseum Newspapers & Publications website, www.imuseum.im/newspapers/. Image: Robin Hall and Jimmy MacGreggor, reading Holiday News, June 1961 (ref: PG/13633/1/1961/195/1) Hundreds of subscribers both on Island […]

February 2017
  • Login to newspapers online: step-by-step guidance 16 February 2017

    Want some help navigating newspapers online? Here’s our step-by-step guide to login: 1. Click the ‘Login’ button on the homepage: 2. You will be directed to Government Online Services. Please enter your username and password and click Login. Please be aware that once you’ve logged in, Government Online Services (for security reasons) will time-out a […]

  • ‘Round Mounds’ Investigation Reveals Rare Bronze Age Object 7 February 2017

    A project to investigate prehistoric “round mounds” on the Isle of Man began this autumn, led by Dr Rachel Crellin at Leicester University and Dr Chris Fowler at Newcastle University.  The mounds were built over human burial sites and are found throughout the British Isles and in Continental Europe.   First appearing in the Neolithic, round […]

December 2016
  • Dissertations and theses now on iMuseum 7 December 2016

    From December 2016 people can browse through references for over 550 dissertations, theses, essays and academic reports with Manx subject matter, available for study in the Reading Room at the Manx Museum. Topics chosen for undergraduate, postgraduate and post-doctoral work are far ranging and include studies within marine biology, archaeology, politics, geography, history, musicology, Manx […]

November 2016
  • This Is Summer: Manx Press Pictures 1960s-1970s 10 November 2016

    In defiance of winter, This Is Summer sees the release of 1,000 new images onto iMuseum which we’re sure you can tell us more about.  From the thousands of Manx Press Pictures photographic negatives held by Manx National Heritage, one thousand have been selected and digitised from the 1960s to 1970s.  Together they give a […]

October 2016
  • The Banking Records of George Quayle & Co. 12 October 2016

    Project Archivist Eleanor Williams worked on an exciting project with the Manx manuscript archives. Here Eleanor tells us more: I have been researching, writing and promoting top level archive descriptions to Manx National Heritage’s iMuseum  and Archives Hub – a website which brings together descriptions of thousands of the United Kingdom’s (and now the Isle […]

August 2016
  • Chris Killip images now on iMuseum 8 August 2016

    Stunning black and white images of Isle of Man people and places, taken by Manx-born photographer Chris Killip between 1970 and 1973, have been added to iMuseum. Our hugely popular exhibition ‘Chris Killip’s Isle of Man Revisited’ recently closed at the Manx Museum – the evocative images featured are now available to view online. PG/14734 Chris Killip © Kent Rodzwicz Here’s what […]

June 2016
  • Cabinet of Curiosities at the Manx Museum 30 June 2016

    From the miniscule to the massive, we’ve got it all in our new Cabinet of Curiosities at the Manx Museum. Have a peek at a puffer fish, or measure your hand against that of a Manx giant. See an electric shock machine or compare a tiny sugar sculpture to an oversized humbug. Chosen by our […]

May 2016
  • Conservation of The Giant Deer Skeleton 18 May 2016

    Generations of visitors to the Manx Museum have enjoyed the Giant Deer Skeleton. In fact the skeleton is a significant and very complete example that has not been conserved since it was put on display over one hundred years ago. In 2015, as part of refurbishment work encompassing the deer display, the skeleton was removed for […]

April 2016
  • First World War Internment Camp Newspapers 5 April 2016

    What was a typical day for a First World War Internee on the Isle of Man? The recently digitised – and for the first-time complete translation into English – of the German First World War Internment Camp Newspapers onto iMuseum offer a rare insight into what life was really like at Knockaloe Camp (on the outskirts of Peel) for internees of the Great War over a century ago. But back to this question of what was a typical day in the life of an internee. I got to thinking about this when I chanced on this small, illustrated article from Lager Ulk, 18 November 1917. From daybreak to sunset here’s how one internee, W. Heinen, thought to describe (and draw) ‘A Day In The Life of a P.O.W’.

January 2016
  • Illiam Dhone’s Cap 12 January 2016

    Cap worn by Illiam Dhone (William Christian) This kind of cap would have been worn in the evening at home, and was probably very comfy.  It isn’t the same cap as depicted in the famous portrait of Illiam Dhone (1954-6561) but it is of the same age.  It is made from fine linen and is […]

December 2015
  • Remembering the Palace & Derby Castle Company 18 December 2015

    I’ve just returned from a lovely reminiscence afternoon at a Douglas care home with one of our memory boxes on the theme of ‘Entertainment and Leisure’. The box is full of fabulous artefacts and archives from our collections – including a selection of playbills and leaflets from the Palace Ballroom and Derby Castle in the […]

  • Viking Age Women in Man 17 December 2015

    The stone crosses that can be found in many of the parish churches across the Isle of Man provide us with some of the earliest depictions of people.  These fantastic artworks were recorded in pen and ink by the first Director of the Manx Museum, PMC Kermode, in the early 1900s.  This drawing is of […]

  • First World War Internees 15 December 2015

    First World War Internees inside an Internment Hut, Douglas or Knockaloe Camp, Isle of Man (© Manx National Heritage PG/7870/41784) The addition of over 12,000 First World War Internee records onto iMuseum was particularly significant to me, having spent an extended period collating, checking and adding to the existing database. Unfortunately, many of the records […]

November 2015
  • Picturing the Victorians 10 November 2015

    The Victorians were not only the inventors of photography but the first to experience it.  Over 70 years they used it to define themselves and their world, the first in a long line of generations to do so.  The Manx National Heritage Library & Archives Photographic Archive contains some of the earliest known photographs of […]

  • Archibald Knox Collection 10 November 2015

    © Manx National Heritage (1959-0317) Archibald Knox, Art Nouveau artist and designer for Liberty & Co., London (1864-1933) iMuseum gives online access to our entire Archibald Knox collection.  Funds, including an Island of Culture 2014 grant, has enabled Manx National Heritage to commission the best and latest in digital photography, capturing high-quality digital masters and easy-to-access […]

  • What A Triumph 4 November 2015

    © Manx National Heritage (PG/13633) I received a very interesting letter recently which tells an interesting story about this photograph from the Manx Press Pictures archive.  The car to the foreground is Tony Pond’s famous Manx Trophy Rally winning Triumph TR7 V8  from 1978. In May 1979, Mylchreest Motors held a Motor Fair at Summerland, […]

  • The Nation’s Paintings 4 November 2015

    Manx National Heritage has worked closely with ArtUK in recent years, encouraging greater public access to the National Art Collection. At the Manx Museum we care for a rich and varied collection of art, but we don’t have the space to display the collection in its entirety – only a small percentage of our art […]

October 2015
  • Bavarian Musicians in the Isle of Man 30 October 2015

    © Manx National Heritage (PG/8224/18/40) The Lahmers family story: Jacob and John Lahmers were a couple of Bavarian musicians that came to the Isle of Man in the 1800s, they were both married to Manxwomen and their families were born and brought up on the Isle of Man. Unfortunately when WW1 broke out the by […]

  • Newspapers & Publications from the Isle of Man National Library 30 October 2015

    Manx Newspapers are available online from 1792 to 1960 and can be used by family historians to find out more detail about the lives of your ancestors. Details of births, marriages and deaths may be found that give more information than in the parish registers of the time, such as addresses and names of other […]

  • Quayle Bridge House Papers 23 October 2015

    The letters of the Quayle family of Bridge House, Castletown fascinate archivist Wendy Thirkettle (Manx National Heritage Library and Archives) who is coordinating a project to release descriptions to iMuseum.  Wendy is concentrating on correspondence written during the lifetime of George Quayle (1757-1835), owner of the historic vessel Peggy. Information about George can be gained […]

  • First World War 15 October 2015

    We’ve recently commemorated the centenary of the First World War, revealing through service records, photographs, objects and real life stories the Island lives caught up in the turbulence of war. Men and women across the Island served their country from 1914-1918. One such individual was Second Lieutenant Robert ‘Roy’ Corlett from Douglas. Manx National Heritage […]