Bridge House Papers

This large private collection was amassed by the Quayle family of Bridge House and was donated to the Manx National Heritage Library by Miss Quayle and her sister Mrs Tomlinson. The Quayles had included four Clerks of the Rolls (keepers of the official records) as well as other prominent figures. The Bridge House papers contain a number of manuscript indexes, analyses and working aids which were clearly prepared from the original records. Consequently although the papers themselves appear to date back only to the early eighteenth century, they provide a secondary source for much earlier events.

The collection is subdivided into several thousand items, each of which is archived under its own MS (manuscript) number. A few documents of particular interest are noted below.

The Book of Precedents (MS 510C) is a manuscript index of significant judgements in the Manx Courts. It was prepared in the circa 1720 by John Quayle and covers all of the surviving records (primarily Lib Scac, Lib Canc and Lib Plit). Given the extent of these series, and also the difficulty in reading some of them (given the use of latin, abbreviations and early script) this is a valuable resource.

MS 509C is a 1724 manuscript index of significant entries appearing in Libri Cancellarii. This pays particular note to entries involving land (such as bills of sale) which are generally not covered in the Book of Precedents

MS 509C is a similar 1725 manuscript index of significant entries appearing in Libri Scaccarii. This likewise pays particular note to entries involving land (such as bills of sale) which are generally not covered in the Book of Precedents