The Isle of Man is a small thirty mile long by ten mile wide island that has been populated by humans since the Mesolithic period. It is one of the British Isles in the Irish sea off the coast of England. Parliament purchased the royalties including the Isle of Man in order to control any trade that harmed England’s revenue. Britain removed the Lord of Man and declared themselves the overlord. When they became the overlord they chose to use the legislative, executive, and judicial powers through the influence of the Lord of Man who claimed the island was his property. The Isle and its people were mostly dependent on Britain beginning in 1765 until 1866. At the time Mary Barton was published in 1848 Britain had owned the Isle for decades but had allowed for the Manx Tynwald to exercise limited control over its people. In the novel Will Wilson goes to visit his uncle who lives in the Isle of Man. Mary Barton rushes to find him as he is the only one who can clear Jem Wilson’s name.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Isle of Man". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Sep. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/place/Isle-of-Man. Accessed 5 October 2021.

Edge, Peter. “The Isle of Man's Path to Autonomy.” History Today, vol. 64, no. 10, History Today, Oct. 2014, https://www.historytoday.com/isle-mans-path-autonomy.

Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton edited Jennifer Foster. 1848, Broadview Literary Texts.