the Isle of Man, Britain : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about the Isle of Man. You may be able to find further references to the Isle of Man in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Isle of Man Bartholomew
Man, Isle of Bartholomew
MAN, or ISLE of MAN an island, with adjacent islet of Calf of Man and several skerries Imperial
Sodor and Man an insular diocese Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to the Isle of Man within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
William Camden Smaller Islands in the British Ocean 13
George Head Arriving in the Isle of Man 4
George Head Point of Ayre and back to Douglas 3
William Camden Northumberland 2
George Head South from Douglas 2
George Head The west coast of the Isle of Man 2
George Head The Foxdale Mines and the Calf of Man 2
William Camden Wiltshire and Hampshire 1
William Camden Yorkshire: West Riding 1
William Camden Durham, Lancashire and Westmorland 1
George Head Ramsey; a Manx Wedding 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Injebreck 1 2
Baldwin 0 2
Cronk Y Voddy 0 2
German 0 2
Snaefell 0 2
Glen Wyllin 1 3
Kirk Michael 5 2
Marown 0 2
Union Mills 0 2
St Johns 4 2
Laxey 3 2
Braddan 4 2
Ballaugh 0 2
Onchan 0 4
Lonan 0 2
Douglas 38 2
Foxdale 2 2
Sulby 4 2
Dhoon 0 2
Peel 19 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for the Isle of Man. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
EUBONIA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
ILE OF MAN William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
ISLE OF MAN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
MAN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
MANAW William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MANING William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MAN ISLE OF John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
MAN OR ISLE OF MAN John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
MENAVIA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MENAVIA SECUNDA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MENOW William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MONA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MONABIA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MONOEDA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
SODOR AND MAN John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
TYNWALD COURT John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
YLE OF MAN William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.