'Taxes, taxes, taxes more taxes!'. Notice campaigning against expenditure of public money on the Douglas breakwater construction and the removal of courts to Douglas
Date(s): 1860s
Creator(s): Brown, James
Scope & Content: 'Half a million of the public money laid out at Douglas. Ramsey, Castletown and Peel to starve and the country to go to the poorhouse for the next 50 years! Taxes! Taxes! More Taxes! Manxmen be wise ere it is too late, hold meetings in every parish and protest against the wrong'.
Printed by James Brown, Times Office, Wellington Street, Douglas. The production and distribution of this poster by reforming newspaperman James Brown fits with his critical stance against governmental decisions and the self elected Tynwald.
Administration / Biographical History: In the nineteenth century it became a point of concern that the harbours on the island were insufficient for the increasing numbers of vessels coming to the Island and for safety reasons. It was decided that three breakwaters would be built: the largest and most expensive at £50,000 and 1100ft long to be in Douglas; the others at Peel (£10,000) and Ramsey (£6,000 - in total around £8 million in 2022).
These breakwaters were to be built of a wooden frame filled with rubble and stones, designed by the Scottish engineer James Abernethy. Work at Douglas began in 1861 but came to a standstill in June 1864, and in February 1865 the breakwater at Douglas was destroyed by a hurricane (for a satirical poem about the breakwater’s destruction see the correspondence section in the Manx Sun of Sunday 11 February 1865). The cost of building these breakwaters was a point of contention amongst some of the island’s population. The breakwater was a frequent topic of discussion throughout the 1860s and appears often in the newspapers of the time, both in debate but also frequent warning notices about the dangers of approaching the construction sites during the blasting of stone.
Language: English
Extent: 90 x 57 cm
Item name: notice
Collection: Print & Poster Archive
Level: ITEM
ID number: P.5083
Record class: Private
Subject tags : #MM100LIBRARY&ARCHIVES