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William Parsons: Isle of Man Holidaymaker by Abigail S. Cobley | Barnthorn Publishing
84 PagesISBN 978-1-917120-70-8Colour Images William Parsons, solicitor, councillor, and Mayor of Nottingham (1863–1864), holidayed on the Isle of Man with his family and friends many times between 1833 and 1851. His lively descriptions of places and people, and his personal ‘Manx Code’ in which he pledged (not always successfully) to stay sober, help us picture him and his world. His visits took place before the building of the Laxey Wheel (1854), the Isle of Man Steam Railway (1870s), the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway (1876), and the Manx Electric Railway (1890s). For him, travel was by foot, coach, horse, or boat, through a Manx landscape rich with history, character, and discovery.This book brings together Parsons’ Isle of Man entries with contemporary illustrations, revealing a beautiful and changing island. Travel with Parsons, his family, and his companions aboard the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s first vessel, Mona’s Isle and on Tynwald I with ‘my old acquaintance’ Captain William Gill. Learn about Manx superstitions and the working mines at Laxey, and accompany Parsons and his party as they drink to friends at the summit of Snaefell. From a special sitting of Tynwald Court to a lost watch, from an iron tyre coming off a coach wheel to the kidnapping of seagulls, join Parsons in his adventures on the beautiful Isle of Man.
