St Matthew's church tower, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1899 (b/w photo)

On the back of this photograph John James Frowde writes, "7.10 a.m. S. Matthew's Tower, Two storeys originally, later three. See two sketches I made from pictures in early maps (Jefferson's Almanacs) early in last century & the porch of the old British Hotel. Had I faced the camera at right angles to this position, I could have got a picture of Gellings Court (James' St.) which would have been useful now. There is not one in existence so far as I know. This old plate, taken by me 45 years ago with a borrowed half p. stand camera, was at that time not considered to be of interest other than a view by me. Now, it is a record of a part of Douglas long demolished, and as such is inserted inthis series, notwithstanding the flaws and scratches the old plate now shews in the print. If there is another view of the porch of the old British Hotel, I have no knowledge of it. The old 'British' was the centre of all that was convivial and socially quasi-exclusive some 70-odd years gone by. (21.4.33 - Mr Wm. Cubbon, Museum Curator, informed me that it was the first time he had seen the British porch. In 1931, New Year's Eve, in Keig's mass of old plates I found one that afforded a peep into Gelling's Court from the Double Corner, and had an enlargement done of the 'peep' for my old chum Bob Quilliam - to his surprise and delight."