HISTORY 

Manx cats originated on the Isle of Man from a population of cats whose common ancestry sprang from the same roots as the British Shorthair.

Records have been found on the Isle of Man that describe the cat as a mutation of the island’s domestic cats. Obviously, both longhair and shorthair were represented in the original mutation as many longhairs were seen on the Island along with the shorthairs

Scientists, believe taillessness results from  a mutant gene, and the breed proliferated because of the genetic nature of the tailless trait and centuries of inbreeding in an isolated island environment which is no small wonder itself.

The first appearance of the Manx Cat in print would appear to be in 1810 referring to some tailless cats owned by Turner (the famous English painter) which were said to be from the Isle of Man.

A further reference in 1834 Magazine of Natural History says that the author saw several in the huts of the peasantry among the mountains  between Ramsey and Peel and that he was told they had come from a wreck of a vessel from Prussia or some Baltic port many years ago. However it is believed this sounds like the Russian ship c.1785 wrecked on Kitterland that allowed rats to escape to the calf and wipe out the Calf Puffins.

A Manx Cat Club was formed in 1901 and it is reported that King Edward V11 kept several at Buckingham Palace and Balmoral following his visit to the Isle of Man August 1902 when he gave instructions for Messrs Alldritt Bros., of Ramsey, to send two to Balmoral and two more to Buckingham Palace

In many myths, the Manx are descended from ships cats that were shipwrecked on the Isle of Man when their ships were sunk off the coast. Since many trade ships docked on the Isle, and all had ship cats, it is hard to tell just what the parent cat really was  but did some of the island cats come off the ships? We will never really know.