'Resistance, persuasion and the social contracts of impressment in the Isle of Man 1750-1815'
Date(s): 2018
Creator(s): Kneale, Dave
Scope & Content: Naval History Research Project paper with bibliography completed as part of MA coursework in naval history. In this 5,200 word essay the author offers the Isle of Man as a modest case study in the complicated realities of provincial recruitment to the Royal Navy via press gangs, a process of 'constant negotiation, compromise and the violent consequences of transgressing agreed social boundaries' (p.1).. He considers how impressment was conducted, attempts to gauge the success of recruitment based on the available evidence and argues that the issue of impressment permeated the whole of Manx society, not simply a maritime fringe. In assessing surviving evidence Kneale analyses Manx Folk Life Survey contributions and Atholl Papers documents in the MNH manuscript collection among other resources. Appendix one contains selected quotes from archival sources; appendix two is selected quotes from Manx Folk Life Survey accounts; appendix three is a table showing the 'five nations' approach to the Battle of Trafalgar showing the contribution of the Isle of Man as a percentage of the national population; appendix four is a list of Manx-born sailors and Royal Marines at the Battle of Trafalgar'.
In his closing remarks Kneale reflects that impressment 'appears to have left little social and cultural evidence beyond fragments of folk memory and myth, with traces emerging by accident in a survey that was asking different questions. We can never hope to measure how many stories were lost in the near-death of the Manx language: outside Onchan Parish School, a 14-year old schoolboy was saved by Manx women throwing stones; a century later the last native Manx speakers had stones thrown at them for daring to speak in their mother tongue'.
Language: English
Extent: 38 pages
Item name: project paper
Collection: Manuscript Archive
Level: ITEM
ID number: MS 14928/1
Record class: Private
Access conditions: No regulations or restrictions are implemented on this material. Viewable by request during library opening hours at the Manx National Heritage Library and Archives, Manx Museum, Douglas, Isle of Man. Advance notification of a research visit is advisable by emailing library@mnh.im