Name

Captain Matthias Christian

Biography

Commander at Ramsey, of the Christian family seated at Milntown in Lezayre. In August 1750, Captain George Dowe of the Whitehaven customs sloop Sincerity lured him aboard and presented pistols to his breast, 'with terrible oaths, said that for the turn of a shilling they would blow his brains out.' Dowe threatened to level his guns at Christian's house and batter it to the ground. After three hours, they extracted a five-hundred-pound bond. The cause: Dowe's crew had earlier boarded a Manx wherry with firearms and cutlasses, and the Manx authorities had imprisoned them. The clash followed the fault line between the Lord's jurisdiction and the King's.

Active Period

fl. 1750s

Place

Ramsey

Milntown, Lezayre

Family / Group

The Christian Family

Period

Atholl Lordship

Role / Office

Commander at Ramsey

Military

Book Chapter

Chapter 6