RootsChat.Com
Independent Islands => Isle of Man => Topic started by: mikegunnill on Wednesday 22 June 16 10:30 BST (UK)
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Hello:
I am researching a house in Hythe, Kent called Tynwald. I wondered what the origin of the IOM name was? Trying to work out any connection.
Grateful for your help please?
Thank you
Mike
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The Parliament of the Isle of Man is called Tynwald, and has been running continuously for over 1000 years!
(Kind of strange that the English Parliament is often called "the mother of Parliaments"?!)
It is of Norse origin, and has the same roots as Thingvellir (Iceland) - or more correctly Žingvellir - and the Norwegian Tingvoll.
The name is derived from the Old Norse word Žingvǫllr meaning the meeting place of the assembly, the field (vǫllr→wald, cf. the Old English cognate weald) of the thing.
There is an annual open-air assembly on Old Midsummer's Day; now held on 5th July, Tynwald Day.
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Thank you for your reply. I noticed of course, you have a different spelling to me!
Mike
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That was a typo! Or dyslexic fingers :-[
(Or maybe crumbs in the keyboard?!)
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OK thank you. I assume that there must be a connection somehow to the house name in Kent from the IOM. It is an unusual name and spelling to use!
I am grateful for your reply
Mike
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Holidays on the Isle of Man? It was a very popular holiday destination until the early 1960's.
Connections with TT (Motorbike racing)?
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This is more 1824 to 1835. I take your point about holidays.
Mike
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There is a place in my neck of the woods which is thought to be a Viking meeting place with a name from the same verification.
http://www.thynghowe.org.uk/index.html
BTW I went past Tynwald in the I of M last week. I thought it would be on a hilltop which it isn't
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"Thing" is also the origin of the place-names Tain & Dingwall. Norse rule in Scotland only ended by the defeat of Haakon IV by Alexander III at the battle of Largs then by the annexation of Orkney & Shetland to the Scottish crown in 1468 by James III who married Margaret, daughter of the Danish king Christian I.
Skoosh.
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A little more about the Dingwall connection:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-24579645
Imber
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This is more 1824 to 1835. I take your point about holidays.
Mike
The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (the current ferry company) was founded in 1830.
There were other shipping companies before this, but they were a bit irregular?!
The Isle of Man had a Garrison, at Castle Rushen, Castletown.
Was there any military service?
BTW I went past Tynwald in the I of M last week. I thought it would be on a hilltop which it isn't
What you went past was Tynwald Hill - allegedly built using stones and soil from all 17 island parishes. It is all of 12ft high!
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Yes I had always got the impression it was something much higher than it actually is.
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But then the politicians might fall off?! ;D
The Lieutenant Governor, together with the Sword-Bearer and the officers and members of the Legislative Council, occupy the highest level of the Hill; officers and members of the House of Keys occupy the next level. Other officials are accommodated on the lower levels and at the foot of the mound. A tent covers the top platform.
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Hi Mike
My wife and I have recently purchased Clyme House in the grounds of Tynwald in Hythe and I too am researching Tynwald with a view to producing a small local interest book. Did anyone ever reply to your question? Are you still researching the property and would you be willing to share information gathered?
Best wishes
David
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Hello:
I was researching Lionel Lukin the inventor of the lifeboat, who lived in Hythe before his death. My information at the time was that he lived in Tynwald, Hythe, this proved to be incorrect.
Sorry I couldn't help
Good luck
Mike
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(Kind of strange that the English Parliament is often called "the mother of Parliaments"?!)
Yes it is often called that, often by MPs who should know better. The actual quote is from the mid-Victorian writer John Bright who said "England is the mother of parliaments". Being mid-Victorian he quite possibly meant Britain.
He also originated the phrase "muddle through" but he applied that to the USA, so here's hoping.
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Liverpool and Wirral like the Isle of Man were once governed by Scandinavian Parliaments:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thingwall_Hall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thingwall
Blue
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it was (+ still is) a custom for Manx emigrants to name house, township etc after a place on the Island that has some significance for them
Hythe was possibly still a port then and many Manx joined (or were impressed into) the RN and retired often near a
port - trace back the owners and see if there is a distinctive Manx name -
the Island became a holiday resort from late 1830s - and for working class of NW England from the 1870s