Set of stocks from the town of Ramsey
Date made: 19th century
Maker: unknown
Description: These stocks were used in Ramsey in the early 19th century for the punishment of offenders. They were found in a house on Waterloo Road, formerly occupied by General Buck. Manx Annals record that in July 1814 a woman was ordered a month's imprisonment and to be put in the stocks in Ramsey for two hours each Saturday during that time, for obtaining goods under false pretences. Public floggings for theft were also commonplace in this era.
The two wooden blocks are bound with smithy made iron bands. There are four recesses, indicating that two victims could be punished concurrently.
The stocks were a popular form of punishment and torture in Britain from the middle ages until the last recorded use in the 1870s. The nature of the punishment was in part humiliation (the victim was exposed to public insult and assault, often involving throwing of refuse or even urine) and also exposure to the elements, as a person confined to the stocks for several days would be completely unprotected from the weather.
In 1610 it was " by generall consent as afforesaid proclaimed, that as oft as any man or woman shall be found drunk hereafter, the Party soe offending, if not of ability to pay a fine, shall be for the first time punished in the Stocks, the second time to be tyed to the Whipping Stocks, and the third time to be whipped therein." By another law passed in 1655 it was enacted that, " If any servant hire more than twice, he shall be whipped at the parish church on Sunday, or at the market in the Whipping Stocks." This punishment, though long since obsolete, was not legally abolished until 1876. By the 72nd ecclesiastical law " whosoever shall swear an oath (by taking the name of God in vain) shall for the first time pay 12 pence,and sit one hour in the Stocks; for the second time two shillings, and so double to be for every such offence, to be levyed by the churchwardens and afterwards disposed of by the ordinary to pious uses." [A.W.Moore 'Folklore of the Isle of Man.']
Measurements: overall: 27 cm x 45 cm x 62 cm
Materials: iron, wood
Object name: stocks
Collection: Social History Collection
ID Number: 1954-0707