Local government in the Isle of Man was formerly based on six sheadings, which were divided into seventeen parishes (today referred to as "ancient parishes"). The island is today divided for local government purposes into town districts, village districts, parish districts, and "districts", as follows:
Four town districts: Douglas (city), Castletown, Peel and Ramsey Two "districts": Michael, Onchan Two village districts: Port Erin and Port St Mary Thirteen parish districts: Andreas, Arbory and Rushen, Ballaugh, Braddan, Bride, Garff, German, Jurby, Lezayre, Malew, Marown, Patrick, Santon
Sheadings The Isle of Man was historically divided into six sheadings (Manx: sheadinyn): in the traditional clockwise order, they are Glenfaba, Michael, Ayre, Garff, Middle, and Rushen. The sheadings are now significant only as:
the districts of the Coroners (although two pairs of sheadings are now combined for this purpose), and the basis of certain electoral constituencies (now somewhat loosely). The Coroners are responsible for process-serving and enforcement of judgments, not for holding inquests of death; that function is carried out by the High Bailiff, who is ex officio Coroner of Inquests. The origins of the term sheading are unclear. There are three main possibilities:
from the Norse word skeid – meaning ship-assembly, with each sheading providing men for a warship. from Middle Irish seissed meaning "sixth part" – with the sheadings having been a 14th-century Scottish introduction. from the Middle English word for an administrative division, scheding – with the sheadings having been introduced following English rule in the late 14th century.
Parishes The parishes have ecclesiastical roots and are thought to have been introduced to the island in the 11th century from Scotland, the bishopric having been established in the 10th century. Civil parishes also existed from at least the late 15th century, their boundaries diverging significantly in some cases, where one or more Treens might pay their ecclesiastical tithes to one parish, but their Lord's Rent to another. Parish boundaries broadly followed physical features such as rivers and watersheds, but there were many detailed divergences. For example, a mill and its croft, located on the west bank of a river, could be included in the adjoining parish east of the river by a loop in the boundary. The parishes within each sheading of the Isle of Man are currently:
Ayre – Andreas, Bride, Lezayre Garff – Lonan, Maughold Glenfaba – German, Patrick Michael – Ballaugh (Balley ny Loughey), Jurby (Jourbee), Michael (Maayl) Middle – Braddan, Marown, Onchan (Kione Droghad), Santon Rushen – Arbory, Malew, Rushen (Rosien) The above are historic parishes; the ecclesiastical parishes of the Anglican church have been altered considerably to reflect the geographical distribution of the island's population.
Reforms in the 18th to 21st centuries
Town districts An Act of Tynwald of 1777 provided for the appointment of a High Bailiff for each of the four towns, Castletown, Douglas, "Peeltown" (Peel) and Ramsey, with various judicial and administrative responsibilities. The Towns Act 1852 provided for the first elected local authorities in the Island, enabling a board of Town Commissioners to be elected for each of the four towns, with responsibility for street cleaning, lighting and sewerage. However, the Act was not adopted by any of the towns, and special Acts were passed establishing Commissioners for each town: Douglas 1860, Ramsey 1865, Castletown 1883 and Peel 1884. The boundaries of the town districts have been extended over time to incorporate new developments. In 1896, Douglas was incorporated as a municipal borough by the Douglas Municipal Corporation Act 1895, which replaced the Town Commissioners with a municipal corporation entitled "The Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Douglas", acting through a borough council, consisting of a mayor, aldermen and councillors. In 1989 the office of alderman was abolished, leaving the council composed of the mayor and councillors. The 18 councillors are elected from 6 wards, each for a four-year term expiring on 1 May 2012, 2016, and so on. The mayor is elected annually by the councillors, usually (but not necessarily) from their own number. Although there are no longer any aldermen, the corporation's legal title is unchanged. As its name implies, it is a body corporate, but the borough council is not.
Village districts The Public Health Act 1884 permitted the creation of elected sanitary authorities for sanitary districts. Port Erin was the only sanitary district so defined. The Local Government Act 1886 provided for elected boards of Village Commissioners and the creation, by resolution of Tynwald, of new village districts. The existing sanitary authority of Port Erin became a board of Commissioners. Port St Mary was created a village district in 1890, Laxey and Onchan in 1895, and Michael in 1905. In 1986 the existing village district and parish district of Onchan were merged to form a "local government district of Onchan" under a single body of Commissioners (but with a separate consultative "rural committee" representing the former parish district). In 1989 the village district and parish district of Michael were similarly merged (but without a rural committee). In both cases the current districts are described simply as "districts" and are neither parish districts nor village districts.
Parish districts The Local Government Amendment Act 1894 created boards of Parish Commissioners for 17 parish districts, each of which comprised so much of the corresponding ancient parish as was not comprised in a town or village district. As noted above, Onchan and Michael parish districts have since been amalgamated with the corresponding village districts. The powers of Parish Commissioners are somewhat less than those of Village Commissioners.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
