Isle of Man miners in North West Durham

[Elliven]

I have recently come across an old newspaper advertisement announcing that a man intended to apply for a full public house licence for a beerhouse he owned in Stanley, North West Durham.  Nothing strange in that - except it was called "The Isle of Man"- which was a pretty exotic name for a pub serving some of the poorest people in England and none of the locals could ever afford to travel there.

Later, I found a group of at least four streets, and possibly more, which all had IOM names as well as others that showed no names.  I think you will agree that Douglas Street, Laxey Street, Ramsay Street and Peel Street are IOM names and the people who lived in them were probably from your island and were working in the coal mines here.  These houses were built before 1895 and were demolished in the 1950s and were not in any way luxurious.

Can anyone please tell me if it is likely that Manx people would travel this far for mine work?  Would they feel a strong enough urge to come this far for difficult, dangerous and dirty work?  Would they have mining experience?  And, specifically, are there any typical surnames I should look for when trying to trace them? 

I would also like to know when there was a larger scale migration from the island as there were a lot of houses in these streets and the beerhouse mentioned above was built around 1870.

Thank you in advance.
Elliven

[JenB]

Hi Neville 

The earliest census in which I can see Ramsay Street is 1901.
I can’t see any evidence at all of anyone from the Isle of Man living there.
Have you checked the places of birth of people living in the other streets you mention in order to back up the conclusion you’ve come to ?

[hanes teulu]

I can see the streets you mention on this 1895 map apart from Laxey St
https://maps.nls.uk/view/120935022#zoom=4.7&lat=10396&lon=6210&layers=BT

An item in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle, 4 Jan 1898 indicates it may have been built later?
Also, see Shields Gazette about herring failure 1886

[JenB]

I can't find anyone born in the Isle of Man living in Stanley in 1881 and only one in 1891 

(but I expect someone will soon be along to prove me wrong  )

[JenB]

Deleted - posted twice in error

[AlanBoyd]

In terms of the theory you are proposing there are two possibilities:

1) The streets were named by the builder/coal owner to attract or please the hypothetical migrants.

2) The hypothetical migrants somehow decided upon the names of the streets.

Both of these seem unlikely to me. A more likely explanation is that the builder/coal owner—who had to name the streets something–landed upon an IOM theme; perhaps it was they who had some connection with the island?

I suspect that I have  mentioned before in another context that the street in County Durham where I was born was named after one of Lord Londonderry's racehorses, and many of the other streets in the town were named after his various residences, relatives, employees and horses.

[JenB]

Agree completely with Alan - I can't see any evidence at all of Isle of Man immigrants living in this area (sorry Neville  )

[Elliven]

hanes teulu,

The works mentioned in that article were the streets, pavements, road surfaces, drains etc.  I think drains would not normally be a major factor but if all these streets were left undrained the water might flow straight down and cause damage to the railway lines and embankments.

All the actual houses were built by that time so 1895 has to be the starting point.

If you look at that map, Laxey Street was the one short street running at right angles to the others and a couple of houses on the opposite side of the road.  All of it is now demolished and has a supermarket and a car park over it.

Neville

[Elliven]

AlanBoyd,

I agree with you on both counts.  I don't think the Joicey family is particularly connected to the IOM, just they used a little more imagination in naming them.  I don't think they would be bothered about what the streets were called but they do sound a bit better than Ethel Street, Jane Street, Percy Street and Theresa Street!  But it is odd to find a group of streets and a beerhouse all with Manx connections and all in one small area.

At the time we had huge numbers of immigrant workers from all over the United Kingdom and Ireland to the coal mines in Stanley and the steel works in Consett.  So why not from the Isle of Man?

Neville