William Christian

William Christian (born April 14, 1608—died Jan. 2, 1663, Hango Hill, Isle of Man) was a Manx politician regarded in some circles as a patriot martyr.

Christian was the third son of Ewan Christian, one of the deemsters (judges) of the Isle of Man. In 1648 Christian was appointed to the post of receiver general by the 7th Earl of Derby, lord of the Isle of Man. In 1651 Derby left for England to fight with the armies of Charles II against the forces of Parliament; in his absence, he placed Christian in command of the island militia. That same year, however, the earl was captured by Parliamentary forces at the Battle of Worcester, whereupon the Countess of Derby, Charlotte de la Tremoille, initiated a fruitless attempt to ransom her husband’s life through the surrender of the island to Parliament. Christian headed a revolt against the countess, but at the same time he negotiated independently with the Parliamentarians. In October of 1651, Christian cooperated in the landing of a Parliamentary fleet under Colonel Robert Duckenfield, and by November the countess surrendered the castles of Rushen and Peel, thus yielding control of the island to Parliament.

Christian continued in the office of receiver general until he was appointed governor of the Isle of Man in 1656. Two years later he fled amid charges of corruption, but he was arrested in London for debt and imprisoned for a year. Upon release from prison, he returned to the Isle of Man, where, in spite of the Act of Indemnity (c. 1661), he was arrested by Charles, 8th Earl of Derby. After a trial whose outcome was unfairly influenced by the earl, William Christian was executed by firing squad at Hango Hill. Christian is celebrated in the Manx ballad Baase Illiam Dhône (“The Death of Brown-haired William”) and by the reference to him in Sir Walter Scott’s novel Peveril of the Peak (1822).