Sources for the Isle of Man Christian Family

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Isle of Man
Surname/tag: Christian

Primary and Secondary Sources

Apart from parish records, primary archive sources for the Christian family are:

• The Christian Annals in the Manx Museum, a detailed compilation by the widow of the last owner of Milntown,
• A genealogy of the Christians deposited in the College of Arms, by John Christian Curwen in 1798 and
• A legalized pedigree of the Christian family, in the Genealogical Office of Dublin Castle.

Unless they can visit these locations, today's researcher needs to rely on the published works of those who have done so, principally, “The Yesterdays behind the Door”, Richard Glanville-Brown, “Illiam Dhone. Patriot or Traitor”,and “Milntown”. A personal commentary on these secondary sources is below.

A Personal Review of the Secondary Sources

Kennedy-14080 11:23, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

The Yesterdays behind the Door (TYBTD) by Susan Hicks Beach 1956 Liverpool University Press

This is a slightly rambling (she was 90 when it was published) history of two of her antecedent families, the Christians and the Gregories. I own a copy of it, and could if felt necessary scan 2 or 3 pages onto a free-space profile, for example to deal with his wedding.

Richard Glanville-Brown (RGB).

This is, I am told, an amazingly detailed summary of the researches of RGB into the antecedents of the Christian family all over the world produced by him in 2005 on CD. It has been used as a source by all the subsequent historians and by for example The Peerage. I have attempted unsuccessfully to contact him to acquire a copy.

I have used it as source where there is a detail which is supported by RGB (for example in earlier versions of the profile) where I cannot verify the detail in any other way, as on William's date of birth.

‘Illiam Dhone. Patriot or Traitor’ (JKD) by Dr Jennifer Kewley-Draskau” Profile Books, 2012.

This is a comprehensive up to date account of his life and place in history. It is advertised by all the websites but no one has it in stock, except on Kindle. It is not otherwise available digitally. The Amazon web site has a partial version of it as a preview which I have used for the one quote I have taken from it in the profile (with an acknowledgement).

“Milntown“ Second Edition (DW) by Derek Winterbottom Alondra Books 2017

This is a history of the Isle of Man home of the Christian and Edwards families by a respected local historian. It is not available digitally.