Following is further information taken directly from the introduction to the Index on the microfiche edition.

Between 1837 and 1839 Ecclesiastical Tithes were abolished in the Isle of Man and a system devised of commuting them for a one-off payment calculated on a principal sum of 25 years purchase.  For this purpose, a Register of Landowners was made.

In 1860 a Lunatic Asylum Act was passed and again, in 1864, an assessment of landowners was made. The reason for this new set of land records was to utilise the  rents assessed on each owner to pay for the planned new asylum!

James Woods was a surveyor and for a time was Town Clerk of Ramsey. Having access to both documents he conflated the information to produce his Atlas. Thus the reference numbers marked 't' relate to the 1839 Cummulation of Tithes, the others to the Asylum Survey of 1864.

The Isle of Man's historical land divisions are:

There are six Sheadings distributed among 17 parishes.  The boundaries of these derive mainly from the crest of the central mountain range and run outward to the sea.  This reflects the Celtic strip use of land, giving access to both good and poor arable land as well as to peat and the sea.

Parishes were subdivided into about 10 to 12 Treens.  The word implies three and J.J.Kneen relates it to a statement in a medieval ballad:  "In every third of a township they made a Keill (chapel) for the people therein to come and pray".

A Quarterland is a division of a Treen, though the fraction is no longer literal. Quarterlands correspond to the English Manor.  They constitute the principal ancient customary estates of the country according to AW Moore, and vary in size from 40 to 150 acres.

These are the ancient divisions and the registers retain them, the numbers and boundaries very closely as they were in earlier maps.  Naturally the present holdings no longer fit the boundaries, so occupants may hold parcels in several divisions.

Traditionally, there are four categories of holdings:

1.  Predominantly, there is the Quarterland or Farm Land. There are some 770 Quarterlands of which some 130 were originally Church Lands - Abbey Lands (from the monasteries dissolved in 1538) and Bishop's Barony, still persisting.  There is now no difference between any of these, except that Lord's Land and Ecclestiastical Land each kept separate registers after 1538.

2.  Smaller parcels of land in towns and villages called 'Cottages'.

3.  Mills were listed separately

4.  Important is the category of 'Intack'.  This was originally common or waste land not included in Quarterlands but from time to time licenced to be enclosed - 'taken in'.  Land taken in to an adjoining estate is sometimes called an 'easement'. Naturally this category was constantly changing in numbers.

As mentioned, the Island has 17 parishes.  These are:  Andreas, Arbory, Ballaugh, Braddan, Bride, Conchan (now commonly known as Onchan), German, Jurby, Lezayre, Lonan, Malew, Marown, Maughold, Michael, Patrick, Rushen and Santan.

For a history of each parish see A MANX NOTEBOOK where can be found far more indepth coverage than can be placed here.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE INDEX:

The Index has been compiled from the Gazetteer section of WOODS' ATLAS for the primary purpose of aiding those tracing their Manx ancestry.  It is hoped however that its use will not be restricted to genealogists but will find favour with local and social historians alike.

James Woods has listed property owners by Treen or Quarterland etc., with plan references, within each parish. I have taken these owners, some 6800 entries, and listed them alphabetically, by name, for the whole Island. 

The entries have been listed as follows:

Alphabetical by surname, then by christian name or initial, then by Parish, then by numerical order of the plan reference number. (NB  The plan reference numbers are those used on the maps in the Atlas section of Woods' publication and their source is explained above.)

Where their is plural ownership, a listing has been made for all names.

eg CALLISTER, Thos & COWIN Ann will also be found under COWIN Ann & CALLISTER, Thos.

In the case of common names, (eg William CALLISTER) I have not endeavoured to establish which entries refer to the same person; however entries by parishes and plan numbers should assist with indentification of individuals. Note should also be taken of the fact that in many cases proprietors owned land in more than one parish. (eg. EM GAWNE).

When a listing in the "Plan #" column appears as follows:

    222

  (222) etc,

it indicates that that property is made up of more than one, or part thereof, parcel of land, even though it is owned by the same person, eg.

Proprietor        Treen/Intack   Qtrld/Int #   Parish    Plan #  Area

BACON,Cesar  Intack                Pt.42               Lezayre      94       2   2   2

BACON,Cesar  2nd Sulby       Pt. Cleanaugh  Lezayre (94)   23  0  14

Areas of land in the right-hand column are given in acres, roods and perches.

Abbreviations:

 "Pt" or "pt" = "part of".

"qtrld" = "quarterland"