| Administrative History | Vehicle registration on the Isle of Man began in January 1906 as a result of the passing by Tynwald of the Highways Act Amendment Act, 1905. The Act introduced compulsory registration of motor cars and motor cycles on the Island and every motor vehicle was provided with a seperate license plate number.
The below provides a brief guide to the index mark numbering system used for vehicles from Jan 1906-Aug 1987:
- Jan 1906-Mar 1935: MN 1 - MN 9999
- Mar 1935- Apr 1936: MAN 1 - MAN 999
- Apr 1936-May 1959: BMN 1 - YMN 999 (excluding A, I, Q, S, Z)
- May 1959-Oct 1964: 1 MN - 9999 MN
- May 1964-Oct 1964: 1 MAN - 999 MAN
- Oct 1964-Nov 1971: 1 BMN - 999 YMN (excluding A, I, Q, S, Z)
- Nov 1971-May 1974: MN 1 – MN 9999 (unissued numbers of 1906-1935)
- May 1974-Jan 1979: MAN 1 A – MAN 999 Y (excluding I, O, Q, S, Z)
- Jan 1979-May 1983: A 1 MAN – Y 999 MAN (excluding I, Q, S, Z)
- May 1983-Jul 1985: MAN 1000 – MAN 9999
- Jul 1985-Aug 1987: 1000 MAN – 9999 MAN
Vehicle registration has been the responsibility of various boards and departments including the Isle of Man Highways Board and the Isle of Man Highways and Transport Board. Records of vehicle registration continue to be maintained by the Isle of Man Government to the present day in computerised form; the sequence of vehicle registration cards was discontinued during the 1980s after introduction of a computerised database. Vehicle registration is currently (Aug 2023) the responsibility of the Vehicle and Driver Licensing Office at the Department of Infrastructure, Highway and Services Division. |
| Custodial History | Records from A52 were stored at the Sea Terminal Vehicle Licensing Office from 2005-2015. During 2015, they were briefly stored by IMS (Isle of Man Post Office). In December 2015, they were transferred by the Department of Infrastructure to the Isle of Man Public Record Office under section 3(4) of the Public Records Act 1999. Prior to 2005 it is likely that the cards were stored at the Central Government Offices in Bucks Road, Douglas, although this has not been confirmed.
The records of A202 were received by the Manx Museum and National Trust in 1980. In February 2015 Manx National Heritage and the Public Record Office were approached by the Vehicle and Driver Licensing Section of the Department of Infrastructure to take in more vehicle registration records. These records were selected for permanent preservation by the Public Record Office. Permission was given by Manx National Heritage Trustees on 5 September 2019 for the Manx National Heritage-held records to be transferred to the Public Record Office in order to rationalise vehicle registration holdings in one archival repository. Records were held at Manx National Heritage Library and Archives prior to transfer to the Public Record Office in February 2021. |