Records of the Trustees of the Common Lands: Rent Book

The series comprises 1 handwritten rent book - consisting of 174 folios - which evidences the actions undertaken by the board to realise the body's obligations under The Disafforesting (Commoners) Allotment Act, 1866. In this case, the ongoing management of Common lands via the collection of rental monies.

Each folio furnishes the following information: the name of the property, the acreage, the annual rents payable, the date payable, the lease date, the tenant's name, the tenant's address as well as an account of rental monies received from the tenant.

The rent book includes a number of pasted enclosures which are attached to its fly cover, namely: 3 newspaper cuttings concerning the public auction of common lands on 12 Feb 1921, the 17 Aug 1925 and the 12 Nov 1932; and a handwritten enclosure entitled 'Valuation (from Assessment Board) May 1929' which details the acreage and value of a number of mountainous parcels of land held by the board.

In addition, there are 8 loose enclosures of handwritten and typed correspondence relating to the settlement of outstanding ground and gate rentals due from leasees.

The Trustees of the Common Land were established on foot of The Disafforesting (Commoners) Allotment Act, 1866. This legislation vested the management of the People's interest, or the Commons, in the hands of trustees with one trustee representing each of the Island's sheadings. The Trustees of the Common Lands were later restyled as the Common Lands Board in 1915. In 1950, the functions of this board were in turn vested in the newly formed Forestry, Mines and Lands Board.

This series is currently subject to a B2 closure period of 84 years under the Public Record Order 2015 due to statutory data protection restriction laid down in the Data Protection Act 2002.

Please contact the Isle of Man Public Record Office for further information: public.records@gov.im

For information on visiting the Isle of Man Public Record Office please see our website: www.gov.im/pro

Please see our website for catalogues: www.gov.im/pro

Series level description created by Gavin Rowan, IOMPRO, 30 Dec 2016.

Selected for permanent preservation in Nov 2015, Angela Skitt, IOMPRO.

Records in consignment C631 were transferred to the Isle of Man Public Record Office as a temporary consignment under section 3(8) of the Public Records Act, 1999 in Apr 2010 by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Forestry, Amenity and Lands division). The records were fully transferred to the Isle of Man Public Record Office under section 3(4) of the Public Records Act, 1999 in Jan 2016.

No accruals are expected.

Also held at the Isle of Man Public Record Office:

• S28 - Records of the Trustees of the Common Lands: Minute Books; and
• S58 - Records of the Trustees of the Common Lands: Account Book.