Isle of Man history chronicled in new book

The University of Huddersfield’s Professor Tim Thornton has edited two new volumes of a prestigious series chronicling the history of the Isle of Man.

The volumes of the New History of the Isle of Man are part of a series which brings together the latest research into the Isle of Man’s history from its physical formation before the last Ice Age right up to the present day.

The newly released volumes cover the period 1405─1830. Part I deals with the Island’s political and constitutional history and Part II deals with the Island’s social and economic history.

Professor Thornton, the university’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, has a keen interest in and knowledge of the Island’s history, and his other published work has covered the Channel Islands, Wales and Durham.

Commenting on this latest publication he said: “The appearance of these new volumes is another important milestone in the study of the history of the Island.

“They draw on contributions from a large group of experts with insights into many different and fascinating aspects of the Isle of Man in a period which has sometimes been overlooked, but which saw many important developments in politics and the constitution, and in social, economic and cultural life. And it is a period which has proved to be populated with some remarkable and dramatic events which are bound to stimulate further interest in the field.”

The New History series was set up by the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Manx Studies and the Isle of Man government as a millennium project designed to offer a new understanding of the Island’s story which was last presented in detail by the distinguished Manx scholar A.W. Moore in the late nineteenth century. For this new series a wide range of original research has been commissioned from a large group of scholars from the Island and beyond.

The period 1405─1830 was a period of enormous change for the Island. It begins with the rise of the Stanley family, later to become the earls of Derby who owned the Island for many generations to the final departure of their successors, the dukes of Atholl which heralded the start of the modern era.

Pictured above are: Chair of Culture Vannin Chris Thomas MHK, Dr Mike Hoy, Prof Harold Mytum and Prof Tim Thornton.