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Biography
William Dhône Christian
b. 14 April 1608
Last Edit: 05 Nov 2007
Born: 14 April 1608; Place: Milntown, Lezayre, Isle of Man[1][2]
Father: Deemster Ewan Christian
Mother: Katherine Harrison[3]
Spouse: Elizabeth Cockshutt, daughter of George Cockshutt, circa 1632. [4]
Death/Execution: 02 January 1662/63 at age 54.
Place of Death: Hango Hill, Isle of Man.[5] .
Buried: January 1662/63
Place of Burial: Chancel, Kirk Malew, Isle of Man. [6]
William Christian also went by the nick-name of Illiam Dhône (or in English, Brown-haired William). [7] He was Steward of the Abbey lands in 1640,[8] and gained the rank of Commande in the service of the Insular Militia[9]. He held the office of Member of the House of Keys (M.H.K.) in 1643.[10] In 1643 his father made over to him the estate of Ronaldsway.[11] He held the office of Receiver-General of the Isle of Man in 1648.[12] In 1651 he made terms with Colonel Duckenfield who came to take possession of the Island after the defeat and execution of James, Earl of Derby. [13] He held the office of Governor of the Isle of Man between 1656 and 1659. [14] In 1660 at London, England, he was arrested on an action for 20,000, which he had embezzled while Receiver-General. [15] On 12 December 1662 at Isle of Man he was again arrested for the same charges.[16] He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.[17]
William was the greatest of Manx Patriots, and after the Restoration, Charles, the 8th Earl of Derby, had Illiam Dhône arrested and tried as a traitor to the Derby family. He was condemned to death by a packed Court of Justice on 29 December 1662. The real reason for the execution was to wreak vengeance on Illiam Dhône for the leading part that he and his family had played in frustrating the Earl's persistent attempts to change the old feudal land tenure into a leasehold tenancy, a deep-laid scheme, which would have rendered all land in the Island the personal property of the Earl and which the landed proprietors such as Illiam Dhône, Deemster Ewan Christian, Governor Edward Christian and some 800 others stubbornly resisted. This struggle had lasted long, and would certainly have been successful, but for the Christian's strong opposition. After the execution, Earl Charles confiscated Ronaldsway, but, on petition to King Charles II, he was ordered to restore it to the heir. However, the Earl then so persecuted the Christians that he succeeded in his endeavour to drive Illiam Dhône branch of the powerful Milntown and Ronaldsway clan out of the Island. His sons then settled in Ireland.
