The Isle of Man Purchase Act 1765 (5 Geo. 3 c. 26), also known as the Act of Revestment, purchased the feudal rights of the

Dukes of Atholl Duke of Atholl, named for Atholl in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland held by the head of Clan Murray. It was created by Queen Anne in 1703 for John Murray, 2nd Marquess of Atholl, with a special remainder to the heir male of ...

as Lords of Man over the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, and revested them into the British Crown. The Act gave effect to an earlier contract between Charlotte, Duchess of Atholl, and the Government of the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...

, represented by

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ...

, to sell the Atholls' feudal rights over the Island to

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

for a sum of £70,000. The authority to conclude a contract for the purchase was given under a

private Act of Parliament Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...

in 1726, but as an Act of Parliament of 1609 had conferred the feudal rights over the island upon the Atholls, primary legislation was required to terminate those rights. The Act came into force upon the granting of

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

on 10 May 1765. The payment to the Duchess of Atholl was to be made no later than 1 June 1765. The Act did not go as far as had been proposed: for a period there had been plans to merge the Isle of Man into the English county of Cumberland. This had met with fierce resistance from the inhabitants, led by the then

Speaker of the House of Keys The Speaker of the House of Keys () is the principal officer of the House of Keys, the lower house of the Isle of Man legislature. The Speaker is elected from the membership of the House at its first sitting after an election. He is responsibl ...

, Sir George Moore. The

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of the Act was "An Act for carrying into Execution a Contract, made pursuant to the Act of Parliament of the 12th of his late Majesty King George 1st, between the Commissioners of his Majesty’s Treasury and the Duke and Duchess of Atholl, the proprietors of the Isle of Man, and their Trustees, for the purchase of the said Island and its dependencies, under certain exceptions therein particularly mentioned." Having taken effect and therefore being effectively " spent", the Act was finally repealed by the

Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1976 The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1976 (c 16) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. It implemented recommendations contained in the seventh report on statute law revisi ...

Subsequent rights sold

Under the Isle of Man Purchase Act, the Atholls still retained their manorial rights, the patronage of the

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, and certain other perquisites. These were sold in 1828 for the sum of £417,144 (over £20,000,000 in modern terms). This was accomplished by two Private Acts of Parliament: * ''"An Act empowering the Lords of the Treasury to Purchase all the Manorial Rights of the Duke of Atholl in the Isle of Man"'' . 3410 June 1824 * ''"An Act to empower the Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury to purchase a certain Annuity in respect of Duties and Customs levied in the Isle of Man, and any reserved sovereign rights in the said Island belonging to John Duke of Atholl"'' . 3410 June 1825

References

{{UK legislation Government of the Isle of Man Manx law Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1765 Repealed Great Britain Acts of Parliament

Subsequent rights sold

See also

References