THE MANX ANCESTRY CENTRE - Opening The Doors To The National Memory
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THE MANX
ANCESTRY CENTRE
Opening The Doors
To The National Memory
The creation of
THE MANX ANCESTRY CENTRE
in the old Government Analysts Building,
Kingswood Grove, Douglas
(December 2008)
Manx National Heritage,The Manx Museum,
Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 3LY
Telephone: 01624 648000 • Email: enquiries@mnh.gov.im
Contents
What are the reasons for the Manx Ancestry Centre? 2
What is the Manx Ancestry Centre? 4
What is the demand? 6
What is the current position? 8
What will be the benefits? 9
Financial support and costs 10
Consultation 11
Opening the doors to the national memory...
1
What are the reasons for
the Manx Ancestry Centre?
The search for ‘roots’ and personal family histories is one of the
biggest growth sectors of interest in heritage across the UK, and
the rest of the Western world
A recent news article in the Manx press carried the following story:
“Two Manx-born teenagers living in America have reached out across the Atlantic to young Islanders
……..14-year-old Mim Blower and her 16-year-old brother Matthew may live in Virginia but they are
very proud of their Manx ancestry and visit their friends and relatives in the Island most years.
They hope North American youngsters will gradually get to know the Island. In fact, if enough members
join they would like to set up an informal exchange program.”
(IOM Today, 8.9.2008)
The links to ‘roots tourism’ are being vigorously exploited
Genealogy was identified by Scottish tourism chiefs in 2002 as an essential part of the long
term plan for the industry. Since then, tens of thousands of North American tourists have visited
Scotland every year, many of which have ancestral links and undertake genealogical research.
Clearly, in Scotland the digitisation and release of family history archives has stimulated and
expanded the country’s tourism industry.
Likewise, the British Tourist Authority offices in New York deal with hundreds of thousands
of enquiries annually from people interested in visiting the British Isles as heritage tourists and
explorers of family history. Equally important is the effort that the Irish Government has put
into developing roots based tourism which has stimulated considerable investment in preserving
and promoting the country’s national archives.
Further a field the Norwegian Emigration Centre is hugely successful in attracting people
from North America and the UK of Norwegian descent by working in tandem with Heritage
Tours of Norway which always includes visits to the Genealogical Centre in Stavanger.
To develop the links with the greater Manx Family worldwide
Manx organisations and people with familial links to the Isle of Man exist in several parts of the
developed world and the potential for the Isle of Man to exploit the heritage connections with
the many thousands of Manx people abroad was well proven by the 1979 Manx Millennium
homecoming, when over 630,000 people visited the Island from all corners of the world.
The greater Manx Family worldwide is an untapped source for roots tourism. The new Manx
Ancestry Centre will harness the influence of these world organisations to enhance and deepen
the concept of Manx identity.
2
What are the reasons for the Manx Ancestry Centre?
To respond to local interest and enthusiasm in Manx roots
Interest from residents in the Island in tracing their family histories is growing exponentially.
Public demand to access the historic archives and records is creating new requirements for the
Manx National Heritage Library which holds the very records which family historians need to
further their researches.This unique facility recorded over 82,000 visits during the last 14 years
and nearly 40% of these were family historians.
Maximise the potential through use of new technology
Now there is huge potential for ordinary people, with no specific training, to quickly access digital
copies of the historic records which contain their personal family histories and to visit the places
where their ancestors lived, loved, worked and died.The many TV series’ which feature this
kind of personal search, with various celebrities asking the question “Who am I”, are further
indications that this market will grow massively in the future.
The development of the new Manx Ancestry Centre will:
W further enhance a sense of national pride in the roots of Manx heritage,
W further develop Manx identity internationally,
W bring additional, sustainable and appropriate visitors to the Island.
To update and grow existing Library & Archive facilities
In the Isle of Man, there is currently no centralised facility where this kind of access to
digital records is possible. However, the former Government Analysts building, immediately
adjacent to the Manx Museum complex and easily accessible in central Douglas, offers the
opportunity to provide a much requested facility for the public to be provided with a new level
of digital access to all the core documents for the research of Manx family history.
Manx National Heritage has developed a relatively inexpensive regeneration project for the
building which was left in a semi-derelict condition following the departure of the Government
Analyst operation. There is a clear duty to repair and provide a new use for this Government-
owned property.
‘Building blocks’ already in place
The project is already acting as a catalyst to attract private financial support for the
digitisation of records. Over £1million has already been pledged towards the digitisation of
the historic records and photographs which will be available to the public in the new Manx
Ancestry Centre.
The project has received full planning permission and the tender price received for the
development is within the budget allocated in the Government capital programme for the project.
3
What is the Manx Ancestry Centre?
The Main Purpose
The Manx Ancestry Centre is a public building in the nation's capital which
gives unprecedented digital access to family history resources and the
national memory.
The purpose of the Centre is to stimulate national pride in the
achievements of ordinary Manx people and to support the positive
promotion of the Isle of Man.
How does it fulfill Government policy?
'To protect and promote the well-being of the family and provide for the
economic and social inclusion of all the Island's community'
'With the use of modern technology, which is now even more important than
ever before, we can provide for greater efficiencies in public services, ease of
access to Government information and greater openness.'
(Government Strategic Plan 2007-2011)
Contributing to the support of the local construction industry
The Centre will enable residents & visitors alike to:
Research their own Manx family histories
Develop links into the greater Manx Family scattered wordwide
Find support resources for the Manx National Curriculum
Gain easy access to the historic Manx Land & Property Records
Have access to the National Film & Sound Archive
Where will the Manx Ancestry Centre be?
The Centre will be situated in the former Government Analysts building in
Kingswood Grove, Douglas, adjoining the existing Manx Museum complex.
We propose to:
Transform the current dilapidated building
Add a new public entrance to the old building
Red: The Manx Ancestry Centre Add a single-storey corridor to the side
Blue: Manx Museum Complex Provide public access, all year round
The Manx Ancestry Centre
can open in 2010
4
What is the Manx Ancestry Centre?
What facilities will it contain?
The Centre will employ new technology including plasma screens, film and
audio digital-play terminals and individual-user computer terminals.
Staff will be on-hand to assist the public and provide expert advice, enabling
easy access to family history resources and other records, including:
1.4 million photographs (from the 1850s to 2000s), including 1,000s of
portraits of generations of Manx people and places
Baptism, marriage and burial records from early 1600s to modern times
Wills and testamentary papers from 1600 to 1910
Census returns, 1841-1901
Church court records, 1640-1874
Manx Newspapers, 1790s to 20th century
Property deeds, c. 1695-1910
Land holding records, 1507-1910
Films and Sound archives of the Island, 1919 to the present day
Who is the Centre for?
The Centre is for the Island’s community and international visitors, with a
broad user potential including:
Family Historians
Tourists searching for their Manx ‘roots’
Schools studying the Manx National Curriculum
Legal community
Commercial media (TV & Film)
Voluntary organisations
The business community
The Centre will be flexible:
Equipped with new audio-visual and digital technology
Flexible use and public access
Broad user potential
5
What is the demand?
Political Demand
In the July 2007 sitting of Tynwald, a question was asked querying the quality
of the MNH microfilm resource, to which the Chief Minister replied:
‘I am sure, like most of our population, the conservation of our history in all different
forms is something that we hold very dear. I would hope that MNH would ensure
that these papers and other documents are maintained and retained safely for the
nation and also, if necessary, using new technology to ensure that the documents
and so on are kept and safeguarded for the long term future.’
Are people interested in Family History?
'Who Do You Think You Are?’ - the BBC’s celebrity family history programme
attracts 6.5 million viewers (29.5% of all viewers)
40% of the 82,000 individuals who visited the National Library and Archive
Reading Room in the last 14 years were family historians of which about half
came from overseas. (UK, America, Australia)
‘With co-operation between Manx National Heritage and ourselves we can see a
bright future for all those who surely wish to trace their roots on the Island. We
sincerely support this project’
Isle of Man Family History Society Committee
Manx Family History Societies worldwide:
Isle of Man Family History Society. 900 on-Island and 1,400 worldwide
members. (in its 30th year, patron Hon. Anne Craine MHK)
North American Manx Association. 850 members (founded 1928)
There is also the World Manx Association, along with numerous other
Manx societies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
What is Roots Tourism?
121,952 people visited the Island in 2007 in the ‘visiting friends and family
'There are a million market’ (up from 94,438 visitors in 1997). The rising figure indicates a
Manx in North growing ‘Call to home’. (Isle of Man Department of Tourism and Leisure)
America that will one
84,000 overseas visitors went to Ireland in 2007 to trace their roots.
day dig into these
resources at the Manx 400,000 US tourists visit Scotland every year, many in order to undertake
Ancestry Centre to find genealogical research.
their roots.'
The’VisitBritain’ survey, 2007 (overseas respondents)
Sally Dahlquist, President of • a third strongly agreed that researching their ancestry in Britain evoked
the North American Manx 'a strong feeling of coming home'
Association
• all said they would do further ancestral research in the UK
• 75% of Australians and 90% of New Zealanders spent 15 or more nights
in the UK when researching their ancestry
6
What is the demand?
The Manx Ancestry Centre will support the
Department of Education’s Manx National Curriculum
The Manx National Curriculum requires children to access resources such
The Manx Ancestry
as census materials, maps and historic photographs & film.
Centre will service
the needs of the
The Manx Ancestry Centre would enhance and make exciting the teaching
of the Manx National Curriculum National Curriculum,
the Island’s land
It will enable: registration
legislation and the
Individual learning on computer terminals
Isle of Man film
Group teaching using touch-table technology industry.
Combining a visit to the Manx Museum
'It is important that children experience the world beyond the classroom…
To have the Manx Museum and the Manx Ancestry Centre in such close proximity
means that, workshops, museum visits, research projects and associated class work
can be linked, enhancing learning.'
'Inter-generational schemes such as the 'Tell Me Project', involving both primary and
secondary school children, can be further enhanced by having a dedicated learning
environment for children and adults in the Manx Ancestry Centre and will increase
the ability for school groups to participate further in these type of projects.'
Jo Callister, Advisory Teacher for the Manx Curriculum
The Manx Ancestry Centre will meet the needs of the Legal Community
10% of total visitors to the National Library and Archive Reading Room in
2007 were legal clerks, to whom 1,556 legal records were issued.
Property deeds and ancient land records are essential to meet the
requirement of property and land registration legislation for 'perfect title.'
The Land Registry is committed to digitising its deeds to improve the
service they provide to the Island’s law firms. By having the pre-1910 deeds
available electronically in the Centre, we will be not only complementing
this but catering for public research requirements as well.
The commercial media will use the Manx Ancestry Centre
Since 1995, 88 TV and Film productions have been filmed on the Island, of
which 4 major films have been shot already this year.
Provision of a 'one stop shop' for TV & Film companies researching
locations and the back catalogue of historic Island film footage.
7
What is the current position?
The Isle of Man trails other nations in this area
The Tynwald Millenium Homecoming of 1979 saw over 630,000 people visiting the
Island from around the world. Nearly thirty years on, the Manx Ancestry Centre can
help to develop the obvious potential of roots tourism.
Jersey Archive
£5.9 million purpose-built facility opened in 2000
Houses the Channel Islands Family History Society Collection
(in addition to the National Archive)
Popular, high profile 'What's Your Story' Family History Campaign (launched 2008)
Scotland’s People Centre, Edinburgh
£7.5 million purpose-built centre opened in 2008
All family history resources digitally available
Shetland Museum and Archives
£11 million for the entire building which opened in 2007
Digital access to the history of every family that lived or lives in Shetland
Norwegian Emigration Centre, Stavanger
Established in1986
'Promotes increased contact between Norwegians and friends of Norway around
the world.'
Works in tandem with Heritage Tours of Norway
The National Library of Wales
£20m project to digitise the books, art works and documents housed by the
National Library of Wales
200,000 hours of sound archives, 250,000 hours of video and 800,000
photographs will also be scanned
Each word individually searchable throughout the collection, meaning that research
which could take months will take just seconds
The Isle of Man trails other nations in this area
1979: Tynwald Millennium Homecoming - over 630,000 people visited the Island
from around the world. ‘
’Operation Roots’ was launched asking people of Manx descent to get in touch with
the Island from around the world.
121,952 people visited the Island in 2007 in the ‘visiting friends and family market’
(up from 94,438 visitors in 1997).The rising figure indicates a growing ‘Call to home’.
(Isle of Man Department of Tourism and Leisure)
8What will be the benefits?
Opening the doors to the national memory
Regeneration: Manx National Heritage will transform a dilapidated building
in the nation's capital as part of the Manx Museum complex into a valuable
asset for the Island's community.
Local Construction Industry: The project is fully tendered and a local
construction company has been successful; project value of £1.25 million
with the local construction industry and suppliers.
Family: The Centre will be a community asset which will promote the
study of Manx family history and provide a new level of access to the
primary source for Manx family identity.
Safeguarding the National Memory: Improve physical access to digitised
historic resources and professional staff housed in a modern environment.
Community: The Centre will provide a flexible venue equipped with the
latest audio-visual and digital technology which has the potential to serve a
range of users from voluntary organisations to the business community
whether during business hours, evenings or weekends.
Education: A high quality facility, in close proximity to the national museum,
which will support individual learning and group teaching of the Manx
National Curriculum through comprehensive digital access to key elements
of the national archive.
Tourism: The centre for Manx roots tourism which can be promoted
internationally, stimulating a growth in ancestral tourism which will have
broader benefits for the Manx economy.
Legal: Commercial benefit to legal community.
Commercial: Benefit to TV & Film industry and international promotion of
the Island.
Nation Building: The Manx Ancestry Centre will be a place in the nation's
capital devoted to stimulating national pride in the achievements of ordinary
Manx people and our Island family.
Public Delivery of the National Heritage Record
Manx Biological Records National Sites and Museum Collections
Centre Monuments Record
9Financial support and costs
What are the costs to Government?
£ 000s
Capital Cost: 1,251
Includes:
• Restoration of the derelict building and construction costs 1,101
• Fit-out, computer equipment and furniture 150
Revenue Cost: 97
• Includes all staff and running costs
In addition, MNH has been promised
partnership funding and services from:
Genealogical Society Funding In-kind work
Digital Imaging of key family history resources, valued at
i.e. parish registers, census returns, wills, deeds, etc. $1,000,000
MNH Trustees Charitable Funds: £570,000
Digitising Manx Newspapers, 1793-2007
Friends of MNH £100,000
Assistance with digitising sound and film archives
Anglo German Family History Society Donation: £2,000
Digitising 3,000 glass plate photographs of
World War One Civilian Internees on the Isle of Man.
10Consultation
Department of Education
Department of Tourism & Leisure
Information Systems Division,Treasury
Isle of Man Registry
The Church in the Isle of Man
Isle of Man Family History Society
International Manx Societies
Public comments of support for the Manx Ancestry Centre
Department of Tourism & Leisure
“Roots” tourism continues to grow as more people around the world look to identify with
their ancestors. Research conducted in 2006 revealed that ancestry travellers to the UK
spent an average of £1680 per trip - three times more than average.
Over the centuries many Manx born have left this beautiful Island to make their mark on
the world. Now members of that worldwide extended family are searching for information
on their ancestors and this can be seen each Tynwald Day when the Homecomers marquee
is invariably full. This proposal for a Manx Ancestry Centre will help tap into this desire to
seek out family history and provide a much needed centre for study and research.
Allan W. Paterson, Director Information Systems Division, Treasury
Applying 21st century technology to the national archive is a real example of joined-up
Government. Manx National Heritage and Treasury’s ISD are working closely together to
both secure the archive and open it up to a much wider audience than has been practical
heretofore. Digitisation of the National Archive has a real customer focus reflecting MNH’s
unique brand values, but building on the platform of common services already developed and
used by the One Mann on-line services.
Mike Fayle, Chairman of the Friends of Manx National Heritage
The Friends of Manx National Heritage now number over 6,000 members. The new project
for the Manx Ancestry Centre will be a major boost for interest in this part of our Manx
heritage and will stimulate greater interest in the Island internationally. The project was given
overwhelming support by the Committee of the Friends who will be making a major
contribution of at least £100,000 towards the project. The project also received strong
support from the Friends at their recent general meeting.
The Isle of Man Law Society
The Isle of Man Law Society gives the most enthusiastic support possible to the Manx
Ancestry Centre project. Being itself an entity of 149 years in existence, the Society values
Manx history highly and sees this Centre as a very welcome addition to the already
exemplary facilities we have supporting the history of the Isle of Man.
11Consultation
Venerable Brian Smith, Archdeacon of Sodor and Man
With the current interest in researching family history, the establishment of a Manx Ancestry
Centre will be extremely useful to many people. Increasingly, clergy are approached to give
access to church records, which sometimes are kept in a number of different venues. It will,
therefore, be a tremendous step forward, not only to have all the details in one place, but
also freely available through a digital record of the registers.
Dot Tilbury, Philatelic Bureau Manager, Isle of Man Post
The Isle of Man Post Office has for a number of stamp issues consulted the Library's
extensive photographic archive, reproducing fascinating images both of the Island and its
people. How much better if, at a click-of-a-button, we could access thousands of such
images. Having a facility like this in Douglas would certainly be of enormous help and
inspiration in coming up with new ideas for future stamp issues. I look forward to the idea
progressing.
Richard Butt, Editor of Isle of Man Newspapers Ltd
The newspapers Manx National Heritage wants to digitise in its proposal would make
fascinating reading. As we all know, the Isle of Man does heritage magnificently well. Its
newspapers are no exception. Many people still remember titles such as the Mona's Herald
and the Isle of Man Times with fondness. Titles such as the Manx Sun, the Manks Advertiser
and the Manks Mercury and Briscoe's Douglas Advertiser are remembered now only in
archives. They're all treasure troves of information about our past.
The lessons from those newspapers are lessons in what's made the Isle of Man the nation it
is today. I'm delighted that Manx National Heritage is proposing to make newspapers from
Brown and Fargher's era available more readily accessible to everyone in the Manx Ancestry
Centre. It is sure to be a valuable resource.
Isle of Man Family History Society Committee
With co-operation between Manx National Heritage and ourselves we can see a bright
future for all those who surely wish to trace their roots on the Island. We sincerely support
this project
Sally Dahlquist, President of the North American Manx Association
There are a million Manx in North America that will one day dig into these resources at the
Manx Ancestry Centre to find their roots.
Mary F. Kelly, Manx Liaison, North American Manx Association
The proposed Centre, when used in conjunction with the Manx National Archives and the
many resources of the Manx national museum in Douglas, will be a wonderful attraction for
visitors who desire more than sight seeing when travelling to the Isle of Man. The prospect
of having a Manx Ancestry Centre in Douglas, where people will be able to consult all the
national Manx archives electronically and easily locate relevant objects and stories right there
in the national museum is very exciting.
Gillian M. Hughes, Secretary of the San Diego County Manx Society, USA
We are excited to learn that Manx National Heritage is proposing the Manx Ancestry
Centre. A facility such as this would be an invaluable asset to the Island, knowing its rich
San Diego history. Those of us of Manx heritage who live abroad have a great interest in learning more
Manx Society about who and where we come from. On our frequent visits 'home' many of us spend hours
poring over records at the Manx Museum in Douglas. The proposed centre would provide
tremendous resources for young and old alike to learn and take pride in their heritage.
12Consultation
Alice Cannell, President of the Cleveland Manx Society, USA
We are very much in support of your proposal to develop the Manx Ancestry Centre.
It will be very helpful to visitors and residents to learn more about their Manx Ancestors.
This new technology will make for much easier access. Cleveland
Manx Society
Doris J. Alff, Wisconsin Manx Society, USA
I've attempted to look for information about my ancestry when visiting the Isle. Its been
extremely difficult for one who is not familiar with the Isle and has limited transportation and
time. It would be very helpful to those of us who come from afar, if historical records could
be available in one easily accessible location. A Manx Ancestry Centre would make a trip to Wisconsin
the Isle more meaningful to the members of our Wisconsin Manx Society, as well as others Manx Society
who value their Manx ancestry. We hope it will come to fruition.
Brian Christian, President of the Canterbury Manx Society, New Zealand
Canterbury Manx Society would like to offer our backing to your project. We think it would
be a wonderful asset and be much used by Societies around the world. Canterbury
Manx Society
Jody Morey, American Family History Researcher
I would love to have the Ancestry Centre in Douglas. Douglas is much easier to travel and
walk around in and would be much easier to find. Also, it would help if it was open more
hours than other places have been. That would make it much more accessible. I would
really like to do some more searching through records and fill in some blanks I have. I think American Family History
there would be a possibility of more space to work in which would encourage more people
Researcher
to visit. I think some of my relatives in the Isle of Man would also enjoy trying out a new
Ancestry Centre. If I can arrange it, I would like to join the North American Manx to a
homecoming in summer of 2009.
Marshall Cannell, American Family History Researcher
This is a fantastic idea. Years ago, when Noreen Cottier was alive, I would go to Peel by bus
because she would open the Center for me without my having to worry about the hours
when it was open. After her death I tried to go but the hours it was open, the bus schedules, American Family History
and the time it would take out of my stay in the Isle of Man (including long waits for buses Researcher
in the Peel bus garage to stay out of the rain) discouraged me from going back to the Peel
Center. If the family records and documents were available in Douglas it would be an
important factor in deciding to go back to the Isle of Man.
Andrew Kaufman, Chairman of the Association of Jewish Refugees
The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) is delighted to hear of the proposal to the Tynwald
to develop the Manx Ancestry Centre in a building adjacent to the Manx Museum in
Douglas. The proposal - to provide Island residents and visitors with digitalisation of their
Manx family history as contained in, inter alia, newspapers, photographs, oral history
recordings, and film collections – will clearly be of considerable benefit to researchers.
...many of our members have greatly benefited from records kept by the MNH Library.
Jeannette Spence, Secretary of the Anglo German Family History Society
Many of our members have German ancestors who were interned on the Isle of Man. Our
Society supports the proposal to develop the Manx Ancestry Centre in the building next to
the Manx Museum where we understand there will be digital access to so many Manx
records pertaining to family history, including church records and newspapers, etc. It is
about time that your small island had some recognition in the world of family history since
so many counties within the UK have already set up their own centres for such records
relating to their county. It will surely bring in even more 'Roots Tourists' who will stay in the
Island's hotels and visit places of interest, giving a boost to the Island's economy.
13Opening the doors to the national memory...
Visit the Manx Ancestry Centre
and you can explore:
1.4 million photographs, from the 1850s to the
present day including 1,000s of portraits of
generations of Manx people and places
14 Manx Newspapers from 1793 to 1958
amounting to 400,000 pages of newsprint
The National Moving Image and Sound Archive
with its 1,000s of hours of the sights and sounds
of the Island from 1919 to the present day
Parish Registers and Census returns telling
the real stories of generations of Manx families
from the early 1600s to modern times
The history of the Manx landscape told through
the complete archive of deeds and land holding
records from 1507 to 1910
an x Fa mily toge t
M he
w i de r...
o r ld ..
h e w
B r i ng i n g t
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