Isle of Man miners in North West Durham

[BushInn1746]

The Isle of Man Tourist Board regarding Author, Richard Townley Esq., who wrote Townley's Journal about the Isle of Man, have noted - Unknown Author.


Online source ...
Richard Townley Esq. of Townley, Lancashire, was a notable figure known for his correspondence and interest in natural philosophy/science (like hydrology) and history, connected to figures and events around the late 17th/early 18th century


I suspect a relative of the above or one of the Townley Family with these landholdings in many Counties of England including Lancashire, Durham and elsewhere, may have written Townley's Journal, about the Isle of Man.

ADDED: Or Townley's Journal was published in 1790?


A search of "Townley Hall" in Lancashire says ... refers to Towneley Hall, a historic former family seat near Burnley, now a museum and art gallery in Towneley Park

ADDED: Townley Hall was once part of the vast Townley Estates and purchased by the council for a Museum and Gallery.


Isle of Man
However, it seems that Richard Townley, Esq., (Townley's Journal, like a Diary) must have a lodging in Douglas Isle of Man, because he writes this ...


Douglas 22nd January [1790] (1790 in square brackets added by other person)

22d. I WAS very much surprised; in looking out at the window, to see the streets, so very dry last night, all afloat this morning. I suspected, therefore, there must have been a change of wind, during the night ; and so it proved.; for it had returned to the favourite point of South-west. The whole day proved very dark, and uncomfortably soggy, with a continual drizzling rain.

THE Liverpool packet boat came in the last afternoon, with two young ladies, belonging, this isle, passengers. The mail boat went out this afternoon, for Whitehaven, with a very fair wind.

LISTENING to the public-cryer, under my window, this afternoon, I heard it announced (by sound of bell) that the Vicar-General Moore would be here to-morrow; on some mischief, some spiritual prosecution, or persecution, I fear; unless, in imitation of his brother Vicar-General, Mr. Christian, he be bringing a cast-away horse to be raffled for. About three weeks ago, the last named gentleman sent one to be disposed of in that gambling way, at the rate of fifteen guineas. In order to induce gentlemen to become adventurers, in the clerical lottery, a friend to the church offered to give ten guineas for him, to the lucky person, if wishing to part with his valuable prize : so we we will suppose there was only a modest craving of five guineas, from the laity, for a poor parson.


Manx Vicar General Moore up to 1783? But there were other people with surname Moore linked to the Manx church.

Christian, is a Manx surname too.


The family were extremely wealthy, Richard Townley, Esq., wouldn't need to work and I suspect he had a lodging in the Isle of Man and wrote about many subjects. It would have been one long holiday for him, to follow his interests.


The Manx place names used at Stanley, Durham, England, may have been chosen by one of the Townley / Towneley family?


Mark

[BushInn1746]

In 1859 the Burns brothers, mentioned in our previous posts, sunk a new shaft in West Stanley Colliery and named it The Kettledrum Pit.  Co-incidence?

The site of West Stanley Colliery lay within Charles Towneley’s estate.

Agree.
In my reply #57 mentioned a farm at West Stanley (in a Court Case) was owned by Col Townley.

The Townley Family had 40,000 acres of property and land in several Counties, when Claims were made to the British Government, resulting in an Act of Parliament (see my previous pieces, replies 56, 57, 59).

The Durham parts were known as the Vane Tempest Estates which came into the Townley family Reply #59.

Mark

[AlanBoyd]

This is getting way off-topic, but it does illustrate the point I made in reply #5 on the naming of streets, and Neville may be interested.

The 24 January 1890 edition of the Newcastle Daily Chronicle contains a report of the marriage of Miss Mabel Ann Towneley, the daughter of John Towneley who was the younger son of Peregrine Edward Towneley and the younger brother of Charles Towneley (see reply #61). At this point the Towneley estates had been divided between Charles and John Towneley's descendants, and it appears that Mabel got the Stanley estate (although curiously this isn't directly alluded to in the Towneley family Wikipedia page).

The bridegroom was Lewis Henry Hugh Clifford, 9th Baron Clifford of Chudleigh.

As you can see from this map view from 1895, a Clifford Road was being developed at that time on Towneley land, perpendicular to the earlier Towneley and Mary Streets. Clifford Road and Mary Street are still there.

https://maps.nls.uk/view/120935022#zoom=4.9&lat=9915&lon=5154&layers=BT

[BushInn1746]

Yes, and it would seem one of the Townley family may have been Richard Townley Esq., writer of the book also known as Townley's Journal about the Isle of Man.

That was possibly how the Isle of Man names may have been inspired at Stanley, Durham.

Mark

[MollyC]

I haven't actually commented yet that Havanah seems to be another "distant land name", and interestingly it was in a different parish from Isle of Man.  I think we have moved on from the existence of this curious type of name to "Why did they choose that particular name?" and there are some suggestions for Isle of Man.  So why Havanah? Are there any connections with Cuba?

[Elliven]

MollyC,

There is no way to prove this but in 1762-1763 Britain occupied Cuba.  For centuries British privateers and even the Royal Navy harrassed Spanish shipping along the Spanish Main (which included Cuba) and, by this time, Cuba was taking pre-eminence over Hispaniola as the major Spanish base.  The British occupation ended, more or less amicably, when Cuba. was exchanged for Florida.

This would lead to celebrations in Britain and was timed just 28-29 years before the distribution of land in the Enclosures Act.  This was still in living memory and would be a likely reason for naming the area Havana.  It fits with your earlier explanation to me of how British places were given foreign names.

I cannot claim this to be a fact - but it is a possibility.

Neville

[AlanBoyd]

Neville beat me to that connection, but here is my version with support from parish records:

In reply #16 I reported that Isle of Man first appeared as an abode in parish records (at DRO) in 1805. Here are earliest records for Havannah, which seems to be older:

Lanchester, All Saints, 1764
Washington, Holy Trinity, 1769 (possibly a different Havannah?)
Tanfield, St Margaret 1776
Ponteland St Mary the Virgin 1793 (almost certainly a different Havannah)

As explained in reply #51 at the time of the tithe survey "The Havannah" (as labeled on the tithe map) was in an exclave of Lanchester Parish embedded within Tanfield parish, so it probably not surprising to find Lanchester and Tanfield records.

It's clear from newspaper reports in the late 18th century that "the Havannah" was the term (and spelling) that was used at that time.

During the Seven Years War Britain held "the Havannah" from 1762 to 1763 when it was returned to Spain as part of the Treaty of Paris.

[BushInn1746]

Seems, Richard Townley, Esq., who wrote about the Isle of Man was a Colonel residing on the island for about two years.

The 1960 newspaper refers to 1789 and the then Governor of the Isle of Man Edward Smith, using Great Meadow, as his Summer residence and the Antiquarian refers to Colonel Richard Townley's Journal.


Isle of Man Daily Times, 29th March 1960

This interesting fact was disclosed by a past president of the Antiquarian Society, Mr. Neil Mathieson, F.S.A. Scot.. who discovered an extract in Colonel Richard Townley's Journal (now in the Manx Museum). Col. Townley wrote that in September 12th 1789 he had called upon the Governor of the Island at "Big Meadow".


Another Isle of Man newspaper (1st May 1889) refers to Colonel Townley residing there 1790 and 1791.


Barrack Street, Douglas was named after the Barracks there, so probably based in the Barracks.


A possible is Colonel Richard Townley of Belfield Hall, nr Rochdale, Lancashire, but not 100% confirmed to be the one on the Isle of Man c.1789 - c.1791.

If he was linked, it would show that the Townley Family had a link (albeit only a few years) with the Isle of Man.

Mark


Added:

Other mining families have named places on their English Estates after places they had connections with abroad.

So perhaps they had links with Havannah as well.

[BushInn1746]

There does seem to be a brief link by the Townley Family to the Isle of Man

https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/townley-richard-1786-1855

Richard Greaves Townley 1786 to 1855

Townley belonged to a cadet branch of the old Lancashire family of Towneley. ...
 ... William Greaves, who was commissary of Cambridge University, 1726-79, married the daughter and heiress of Beaupré Bell of Beaupré Hall, on the Norfolk-Cambridge border near Wisbech, and took the additional names of Beaupré Bell. Richard Townley’s only surviving son and namesake was educated at Cambridge, served as sheriff of Lancashire, 1752-3, and in 1791 published at Whitehaven a rather tedious Journal kept in the Isle of Man. He died at Ambleside in 1802. With his first wife Ann, daughter of Thomas Western of Abington Hall, Cambridgeshire, he had an only son, Richard Greaves Townley, the father of this Member.

Mark