Manchester Memoirs, Vol. xlv. (1901), No. 8. 17 



part of the population, and that upon his failure the 

 chorus of " I told you so's " was very loud. His son, 

 Lieutenant Thomas Livesey, R.N., died of yellow fever, in 

 the West Indies, in September, 1803. 



Richard Dawson was Lieutenant Governor of the Isle 

 of Man in 1776. His son. Colonel Thomas Dawson, of 

 Strangford, is the gentleman alluded to in the letter. 



Lord Henry Murray, the fourth son of the third Duke of 

 Atholl, at this time lived in the Isle of Man as his brother's 

 agent. He died when quite a young man, as Ryley says 

 in his Itinerant, "a martyr to dissipation" early in 1805. 

 He was born in 1767. In 1786 he married Elizabeth, 

 the daughter of Mr. Richard Kent, of Liverpool, by whom 

 he had one son and five daughters. About the time of 

 these letters, Lord Henry Murray was Colonel of the 

 Second Royal Manx Fencibles, who were sent to Ireland 

 during the disturbances which culminated in Vinegar Hill. 

 Lord Henry Murray was the acknowledged leader of Manx 

 society, and failed to injure his popularity even by a 

 confirmed love of practical joking. 



Mr. John Backhouse was Lord Henry's brother-in- 

 law, and his companion in the escapades he perpetrated 

 at the expense of friend and stranger alike. Apart from 

 this he was a kindly and well-meaning man, and like his 

 intimate he died sooner than he should have done. 

 Ryley's first performance at Douglas was interrupted by 

 Mr. Backhouse in what we should consider a somewhat 

 strongly flavoured manner. 



The Mr. Stuart mentioned is in all probability Captain 

 Robert Stuart of the Second Royal Manks Fencibles. 



The next letter is dated February 2nd, 1796 : — 



It has been entirely owing to the late very heavy Gales of Wind, which 

 has greatly interrupted the correspondence of this Island, that I have not 

 before this acknowledged the receipt of your Letter which accompanied the 



