The Ramsey and District Probus Club lunch on March 9th was attended by 31 members and by 3 guests. Our speaker was the President of Tynwald, the Hon Clare Christian MLC. As the first Lady President she gave us a fascinating and very thorough account of the progress towards democracy and inclusivity in the governance of the IOM since 10th century Viking days. It was an excellent history lesson well illustrated by her many pictures and charts.

Starting off with the 10th century Viking ‘thing’ (the original Tynwald which comprised Barons, a Privy Council and 32 members of the Keys, (half from the IOM and half from the Scottish Isles) Madam President took us through all the many ins and outs and ups and downs during the ensuing 11 centuries!

Memorable more recent milestones included:

1830 First Lieutenant Governor appointed – he held the purse strings!
1881 Franchise extended – IOM first country in world to give votes to women.
1919 Universal suffrage introduced
1986 Photo shown of the first Council of Ministers featuring David Cannan and Allan Bell
1990 Sir Charles Kerruish elected from field of 4 as the first President of Tynwald
2011 His daughter, Clare Christian, becomes the first Lady President – her 5 year term ends in July this year.

We are always delighted to welcome guests to our monthly lunches. Our next lunch meeting on Wednesday April 13th features a talk by Chris Robertshaw MHK whose topic will be ‘Re-inventing Government in the Isle of Man’. Should you be interested in attending as a guest or finding out about Probus membership please contact our Club Co-ordinator, Bernard Pile on 817349 or our Secretary, John Christal on 812565. Our meetings are held at Ramsey Golf Club and the 2 course lunches cost ?17 – annual membership costs ?16.

PROBUS VISITS 2016 (open to members and wives/partners)

Monday April 18th Ballanorman Goat Farm (‘Kidding Chaos’!) (near Wild Life Park) to see rare breed goats, Angora rabbits, free range chickens – some of the 100+ goats will be kidding at this time.

Other visits arranged are to Manx Radio Studios on Wednesday July 20th and to Ramsey Grammar School in late June (actual date to be confirmed). The President of Tynwald has also offered to host a visit to the Government Buildings.